Add the Starter

Gather people, build rhythm, and set gentle infrastructure.

A collective begins when someone makes an invitation. Start small — a table, a chat, a shared activity — and let curiosity guide the form. Rhythm matters more than scale.

Suggestions

• Begin with a recurring rhythm (weekly, monthly) — consistency beats ambition.
• Try to keep the language and terms you use accessible — allow first time visitors to gradually dive into the topic
• Use simple means to organise and communicate: one poster, one shared document, and make use of the permacomputing.net infrastructure (a.o. web hosting and chatroom for your group) and code of conduct. See https://permacomputing.net/onboarding/
• Choose a format that feels accessible for your gatherings — informal meet-ups over rigid workshops.
• Let organisational logistics develop over time, as more people join in. Trust that your understanding of what kind of work, documents, and tools are needed, will become more clear gradually.

Quotes

It was meant to be a single event, but people asked if it was recurring — so it became weekly.[...] Because it’s weekly, it feels non-committal, but consistent enough for reflection. — Ana, London

Start small — a table, four people, and an idea is enough. [...] We announce it as an informal meetup so people feel they can just come, drink something, and talk. — Brendan, Berlin

It’s not a workshop — it’s a living situation. People do what they like, together. — Michal, Prague

Our spaces of gathering are completely digital. Our main one is an XMPP group, where we discuss and share constantly. We also publish in our social network (Akkoma) to know more about our daily lives. Finally, and more rarely, we use Mumble to hear our voices and chat. — Archipiélago I

A lot of people just are intrigued by the idea actually. I've had a lot of conversations where I'm selling somebody a book and they look at the flyer and they say “what is permacomputing?” and I go into my little spiel. People want to learn more about this stuff. — Steve, Philadelphia

Here people interested in permacomputing are those who live the most remotely because they have a need for a kind of resilience. At least in Ireland, that's what I've noticed. When I ran the online [workshop], I was expecting a bigger diversity of people in terms of geography but I was wrong. People from even further away [joined] and they were glad to be able to join online. [...] there are lots of people who literally, as soon as there is a minor storm, lose power and they lose Internet. [...] So, it's really a question of need. — Colm, County Mayo

Somebody – a very nice person who studies at HKU (Utrecht School of the Arts) and is traveling at the moment, came by Varia and had a lot of energy and time and was keen to start it. Then we made a Signal group and a little pad. — crunk and d1, Rotterdam