OurGoods

Jul 9, 2010

Trade School table @ KS Film Fest

From 6-11pm tonight, we’ll be hosting a Trade School table at a festival of films funded through Kickstarter. Come share your barter stories with us in exchange for basic medical advice from physician Saul Melman, design help from Louise Ma, and foraging advice from me (Caroline Woolard). We’ll take your barter wonders and barter woes at The Old American Can Factory.

Jun 25, 2010

Tuesday June 29th: Idea Party at 106th Street

Taller Boricua asked us to do an event this upcoming week, and Erin Marie Sickler agreed to help out with an Idea Party. She held two at Trade School, and they were really dynamic brainstorming events. You can sign up here.

WHAT IS AN IDEA PARTY?
An Idea Party works like this: We’ll set up groups of up to 10 participants who will present their ideas in the following fashion:

“This is what I want to do:_________; here is my obstacle:_________.”
For example: “I want to have a block party; but I don’t know what the procedures are.” Next, the group will brainstorm solutions and offer information. Each participant presents an idea and shares advice with others.

Who? Have you ever had an idea? Good, you are eligible.
How? Enrollment is limited. Please RSVP with your idea/goal and obstacle by June 25th.

This event is co-presented by The Field & Taller Boricua, with support from Senator José Serrano, as part of The Field’s program Economic Revitalization for Performing Artists.

Jun 25, 2010

We reached our goal on Kickstarter!

WOW. Thanks to all 239 of you!

We’ll let you know what’s next soon…

Jun 18, 2010

Can we make $1,410 in 7 days?

The image above is from a beautiful artwork by Germain Koh. We promise to make Trade School great if we get the chance.

We’ve been humbled again and again by the generosity and hope we’ve received for Trade School. Nearly 200 people were able to donate money so far, and we’ve reached 85% of our goal. The only problem is, we need $1,410 by June 26th to make good on all the pledges! Please help us reach our goal by spreading the word this week about reopening Trade School. If we can make $1,410 or more this week, we’ll begin planning classes!

Jun 3, 2010

In case anyone’s wondering what we do as the OurGoods team, I thought I (Caroline Woolard) should start reporting back. What have I been doing? In the past week, I’ve spent way more time talking about OurGoods than developing the website or bartering with people. I was asked to talk about OurGoods.org at The Walker Arts Center, The Renegade Craft Fair, and The Feast on Good Salon for Internet Week. I used laser pointers for a collective drawing and talked about the power of becoming available at The Walker, bartered with people for a Work Dress at Renegade Craft Fair, and told a story about my path from public art projects to OurGoods at Feast Salon. Thursday: (Minneapolis) The Walker is running a summer long program about The Commons, so I talked about OurGoods as a tool to enrich our cultural commons. I had people make a drawing together with laser pointers to simulate coordinated action. I focused on the potential for diverse connection across disciplines on OurGoods, where barter partners see themselves in relationship to a larger ecology of creative production. They have a video of the whole night online, and you can see me at the 54 minute mark. Saturday and Sunday: (McCarren Park, Brooklyn) At Renegade Craft Fair, we shared a booth with Burdastyle, a website that offers downloadable sewing patterns. Every other booth at the fair was selling objects, so most people were surprised that we offered sewing tutorials and Work Dresses for barter. Louise and I stood by a Work Dress and talked to curious people about barter. It was hard to get people in shopping mode to slow down and sew! I think Trade School is a nice real-time engagement because everyone who shows up wants to be there, but it was nice to meet some DIY crafters at Renegade. Monday: (SoHo) The Feast on Good conference is all about social innovation, but The Feast Salon I spoke at focused on internet start-ups like FourSquare and Catchafire. I decided to trace my interest in OurGoods back to public projects I did like making public seating and subway swings, engaging the tech world in projects that act as excuses for interaction and conversation in public space. I think this approach was the most moving because it’s a personal story with physical objects- it’s not too abstract. Tuesday: (South Brooklyn) We had a 4 hour brunch meeting/eating about re-opening Trade School! Rich, Louise, and I are really lucky because Saul Melman is joining us to help organize Trade School for the fall. If we don’t get enough Kickstarter money, we’re thinking of looking for sponsors so we can pay for insurance, some materials, and 10-30% of our labor. We’d love to get small sums from local businesses, but we’re also going to approach Home Depot and Whole Foods. I’ll let you know what works!

Jun 3, 2010

Walker Open Field

I’m in Minneapolis telling people about OurGoods today. They asked us to come kick off a summer long program called The Open Field.

Mar 31, 2010

We’re the project of the day!

In 24 hours, Trade School supporters pledged over $1,000! We still need $8,000 by the end of June, but I’m hopeful. Do you think we should re-open Trade School? If 5,000 people donate any amount or if we raise $9,000 or more, we’ll do it. Vote for us here.

Mar 30, 2010

Trade School is raising money on Kickstarter!

Help us re-open classes for barter in September! Our goal is to reach $9000 by June 27. Come help us make it happen!

Mar 9, 2010

Potluck, this Saturday.

There were amazing people at Trade School. Please don’t disappear! We want to know you and you should all meet each other. So, we’re having a potluck from 6-9 on Saturday at our temporary space: The Fragmental Museum, 107 Suffolk Street, room 415. Please RSVP at tradeschool.ourgoods.org