Talk:HacDC Museum

Has anyone been to the Museum of Useful things in Cambridge? Unfortunately it's now closed, but it used to be a combined store and museum, with old and interesting gadgets displayed in cases and above head level around the store. It's the first thing that came to mind when Ben proposed a HacDC museum. The Museum of Useful Things still exists online, but primarily as a store. I couldn't find much on their site about the things in their collection, but there are a few pages (Example).

One thing that I liked about the physical store is that they often displayed old and new versions of the same product (with the new version available to buy). For example, this staple-free stapler was displayed under a model that looked more like one of these guys.

Sounds like a really interesting concept. I'd love to aim for a more expansive display of artifacts, space permitting, and if the Museum is wildly successful, perhaps its own space someday in the distant future. The idea of a store is intriguing, as well. Perhaps as HacDC grows, there could be something akin to the 826 Valencia model, where a fun storefront (They have a Pirate Store, a superhero store, and a Bigfoot Research Institute) is the gateway to a spectacular hacking/teaching space and proceeds are used to subsidize the programs of HacDC. We're a long way from that, but it's something to consider. Ben 19:10, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Name Controversy

There's been some debate about whether to name the collection after our first large benefactor, and whether to identify objects in the collection as having been donated by certain individuals. A suggestion has been made by Derek Cooper to contact the benfactor's family to verify permission to use the name, but to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation, I think it would be wise to see if the group is in favor of naming a part of the collection after the benefactor before asking for permission.

Those in favor of naming the collection after the benefactor

• Ben 15:43, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
• Q 11:49, 12 June 2008 (EST)

Those opposed to naming the collection after the benefactor