I think there’s enough of a critical mass of pro/hobby framebuilders in the SF Bay Area to warrant some sort of IRL semi-regular meetup. Not sure exactly what this might look like; I believe there was something similar in Seattle a decade or so ago where folks would rotate around and meet at each-others various garages/workspaces and swap ideas. I guess I’m thinking of something along those lines, although I’m open to anything as long as it’s super-casual. Might there be any interest?
Over the years there have been a number of attempts to organize, gather and share among frame makers with poor long term results, for a few reasons I speculate. Personalities, egos, fears of competition getting better and busy lives can get in the way.
Do you have a list of makers in your area? Do you have a definition of a framebuilder you feel the need to include, or avoid? I can see a lot of wannabees showing up. Which isn’t bad but maybe not what is wanted.
Back in the late 1980s the LBSs in Cleveland tried to come together to form a buyer group for insurance and other business expenses reductions (economics of scale with more shops buying from the same insurance co as example). This effort failed fairly quickly, only a couple of monthly meetings before shops started to drop out. There were a few strong owner personality clashes and at least one was heard to say he would never help shop X do better if he could help it. I wondered if this effort had started with a social activity schedule instead of business goals if it might have survived and borne fruit later. Andy
Thanks for starting this thread, Jim! I don’t currently have a space to host events, but would love to attend any meetups down the road (I’m in Mountain View).