[Sketching18] Sketching in Hardware 2018, Detroit, July 27-30 CONFIRMATION and WELCOME

[Mike Kuniavsky]

Hi. Welcome to the mailing list for Sketching in Hardware 2018! If you’re 
seeing this that means you put down a deposit for Sketching (if that’s not 
the case, please email rsvp at sketching-in-hardware.com ASAP and we’ll 
figure out what happened).

CONTENTS
  - THANK YOU!
  - Conference Dates/Times
  - Hotel information
  - Summit theme
  - This list and the Slack channel
  - Childcare
  - Bringing new technology?
  - Contact information

THANK YOU
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
First of all, THANK YOU for participating in Sketching in Hardware this 
year. We’re very excited to see all of you.

CONFERENCE DATES AND TIMES
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Sketching in Hardware is divided into two components this year: a 3 day 
summit during which all attendees will have the opportunity to present 
(more on presentations in a later update) and a 1 day charrette, during 
which we plan to design and make in-depth to responses to the ideas 
presented during the summit.

Summit: July 27-29, The David Whitney Building 
(http://www.davidwhitneybuilding.com/)
Charrette: July 30 (optional, but highly recommended!), TechTown 
(https://techtowndetroit.org/)

HOTEL INFORMATION
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We are currently negotiating a special conference rate with the Aloft 
Hotel that’s also located inside the David Whitney Building 
(http://www.aloftdetroit.com/).

We will send an update to this list when we have completed room rate 
negotiations.

SUMMIT THEME: THE NEW MACHINE AGE
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The possibility created by digital technology today to directly alter the 
physical world is perhaps only equalled by the postwar material science 
explosion. The 1950s and 60s gave us metal replacement hips and 
Tupperware. Today we have (or will soon have) woodworking tools that 
compensate for their operator’s imprecision, CAD tools that anticipate and 
correct for errors, sensor-enabled logistics chains, and robots that etch 
musical grooves into frozen lakes (cf Kazuhiro Jo’s Sketching presentation 
last year). The wisdom of lifetimes can be algorithmically distilled, 
extended, shared and embedded invisibly in everyday physical objects. 
Expertise is now a design material.

What are the tools we need to build for and in this world? What are the 
creative and technical possibilities? What are the warnings we should be 
heeding? How should we heed them?

THIS LIST AND THE SLACK CHANNEL
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You may use this mailing list to discuss preparations for Sketching18 and 
to make sure that everyone who is coming can see your message. If you 
prefer, you may join the Sketching in Hardware18 channel on the Sketching 
in Hardware Slack. We’ll also probably create a dedicated Slack for the 
event itself to reduce the amount of noise in the main Slack.

https://join.slack.com/t/sketchinginhardware/shared_invite/enQtMzA5NDI5ODE3MDI5LWQyYzZkYzc1NWRlMzVmNGM1MDRlZGE4MTIwNDAwYzY5NWU0NGQwZjQxN2ZkODkxNDk3MmFlMTgwZWQ1OGQ0OGM

CHILDCARE
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We plan to have childcare available at the event. We don’t yet know the 
costs, but hope to be able to cover all the costs as part of the 
conference budget to make it free to all attendees.

BRINGING NEW TECHNOLOGY?
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Are you bringing things to show off? Please do! We want to see 
unannounced, pre-release, half-baked, experimental, totally great stuff. 
If you're wondering if it's ready, it is. Bring it.

CONTACT INFORMATION
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Throughout the conference, if you have any questions, please feel free to 
email me at mikek at sketching-in-hardware.com. If you need an urgent reply, 
my mobile phone number is +1-415-235-3468. Leah McKibbin is producing the 
event on the ground (THANK YOU, Leah, again!). Her email is 
leah.mckibbin at thingm.com.


-- Mike Kuniavsky, Sketching in Hardware host, ThingM co-founder, PARC 
Inc. head of UX

-- Mike Kuniavsky 
mikek at sketching-in-hardware.com