Bit of a braindump from Kim about where we are and are going.

How it started - story I've told a lot

Need to add better dates to this for posterity

• Based on inspirations from my life across:
  • Activism: Queer Mutiny North, Ladyfests, G7 protests in Gleneagles, Climate Camp-adjacent stuff, social centres movement (common place / wharf chambers), etc etc
  • Tech: Setting up websites for small groups, thin client networks in social centres, generally what used to be called “circuit riders” by the government (ultra cringe). Tech used to be the one person on a team hacking bits together.
  • Research: PhD straddling acoustics and sociology, taught me a lot about working in a truly interdiciplinary way. Focus on qual interviews / grounded theory
  • Activism + Tech
  • (other combos)
• 2014-15: LGBT history festival?
  • First time I worked with Mark
  • felt like the prototype for what was to come
  • combo of tech, design, innovation, and like actually running the thing combined.
  • jekyll site + ical pull of calendars from google
• Started GFSC meetup group
  • met Viv Slack, worked on Street Support
  • became apparent to me quite how knowledge and culturally siloed tech people were
• Met Stefan, worked on PlaceCal - the Early Modern Age of GFSC
• GFSC company formation
• Ethics and tech reading group years
  • Doing and discussing a range of reading with a range of people
  • I think really key in understanding mission and goals
  • Ursula Franklin especially key to my anarchafeminist understanding of what tech is
• PlaceCal banging head against wall
• Resistance Lab
• 2020 - COVID
• Resistance Lab taser report
• Discord set up
• GFSC meetups - initially trying to bootstrap projects
• Finally getting in funding for PlaceCal + GI contracts
• Journal paper with Stefan - made methodology concrete
• Migration from sole trader to company
• Funding for PHT CIC as spinoff
• 21-23 - constant growth and new staff