Happy to see this discussion growing here on the forum.
Allthough i am sometimes to be found in Zurich,… I have been very active in various regions in Asia over the last decade. And i hope i can contribute to this community in some was or other.
Also i was kinda in charge of organizing that collaboration with x.factory / seeedstudio during the GOSH in 2018, involving 3 prior visits to Shenzhen. I was mostly working with @Violet at that time. Some old article about my presentation at x.factory in Chinese.
For the event in Bali (I am part of the workgroup), we are considering May 2025, and I am personally very interested to meet and prepare smaller events, workshops, hang-outs in Southeast Asia leading up to that global Gathering. That means we could present past activities already at the GOSH2025. So I think to kick of some meetup in November in Shenzhen is a great idea!
@ez_laine is involved as our main partner in Indonesia.
similarly use meetings such as the upcoming FOSSASIA in Hanoi to get more presence of our community in the region. @saadcaffeine @salmanfarisvp salman
I have been just recently organizing smaller asian mini gatherings on Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and i think we can use any opportunity in the upcoming months to build a stronger connection around people in asia working with open science hardware.
A main theme that we have discussed, is the challenge of getting (even though they are small) that little financial support to cover travel amongst people in Southeast Asia. As for some of the more independant researchers, it’s still to high to just pay from the pocket. But at least most people are free from VISA, and i think short visits to Shenzhen is also easy for entry permits.
@Yang @Ellie do you think there could be some travel support in collaboration with you or makerfaire SZ?