geek week 4

phi-yew! what a massive week! there is so much to write about - so much to distil. but i don't want to overload you all so i'll do my best to eek it out in a reasonably logical manner.

the end


monday was a day of endings - the de-install of structural integrity at the meat market and then the AGM at the gallery. i found myself haunted again by my untangling video work, having to disentangle the meters and meters of flags, then same again for lights and extension leads. it was a great opportunity to spend time hangin' out with the crew that made the space happen. i was also able to do an audio interview of them, which will go up on the new version of the site. in fact, sitting them down for an interview felt like a major imposition, but i think it enabled everyone to rest, take stock and to reflect on the project - often an act not afforded the busy.

the AGM went very smoothly and it was lovely to meet a huge swag of the (primarily voluntary) organisation. names and faces began to connect and i was very warmly welcomed. even if i couldn't get the projector working in time :D


the beginning



three new shows started installing this week too. beautiful shows, with far less tech/AV support than the last one. I was able to help out a little, but i really wasn't needed much. *sniff*. it's ok.

this week also had some funding granted to put towards tech equipment. the office had been running on really old macs (G4 PowerPC tower/G5 imac) and i was able to facilitate a good price for a brand new suite of workstations and support equipment/software. it finally went through and i spent most of the week working through the slow process of archiving, installing and updating computers.

i'll write about the process in another post (as much to distill it for myself, as a possible place to discuss it further), but as the new equipment rolled out, it was pretty awesome to see the joy and relief on kelly and phip's faces as they realised how awesome it's all going to be from now on. it sounds like such a small thing to install two new computers and a back-up system. but for these guys, their tech was so fragile, that the change is going to make a MASSIVE difference to them.

for instance - 1GB to copy used to take 2 hours. now? 2 minutes. this upgrade is going to save them so much time, it's not even funny.

and, i'm so lucky to be working with a pair of mac-native, digitally mature lasses who have rolled with the hiccups, trusted that the end product will be worth the ride and supported me through the process too. there were some hairy 'oh fuck, i think i've lost the database' moments that i never want to go through again. these gals just let it all roll out.

at the end of the week (and a very, very late friday finish) my hosts now have working computers, connected, transferred, mostly updated software and only a couple of extra bits'n'pieces to finish off.

the office looks amazing and, interestingly, it was a whole lot quieter in there too! the new systems hardly emit any noise and the keyboards are the sound of a sleeping cat! rather than the clatter of old hardware - even our ears are happy.



in the middle



at the end of the fourth week, it really feels like things are starting to settle in and to go places. i feel very much a part of the organisation now and, as much as i love the ephemeral, it's nice to have some tangible outcomes starting to happen. warm fuzzies.

next week, we meet with the developers. [cue: suspense-filled music. roll credits]