# **akiya collective | weekly meeting 12/14**

## TLDR
- update from akiya seller that won't be feasible for our project
- now we are looking at other options – renting, and potentially finding a new house (city hall rep will help us)

**other updates**
- working on a one-pager that includes examples of what we do
- contemplating a product change from residencies -- or need extra hands to be on the ground with me running them
- created a new #⁠tinkering channel for creative work + hacking projects

**discussion questions**
- akiya one-pager discussion draft [here](https://www.notion.so/akiyacollective/Akiya-Collective-One-Pager-1b645940eede44afa24b5eb9612978f4?pvs=4)
- product change from residencies to.. local workshops? makerspace / community space that people don't live in? smaller build weeks?

## house announcement
- the situation with the akiya seller is still a bit rocky; we've gotten informed from their real estate agent that A) they're increasing the price by about 30%, and B) restricting our usage of the house to just a few people
- especially regarding the second point, it seems like the project wouldn't be able to achieve full potential with this home. we are currently in negotiatons, with Masahiko representing our side, and should hear their answer sometime in the next few days
- we are now looking at other options -- there's a nearby carpenter who may be open to renting to us (he was renovating his own guesthouse, but is now overcapacity with his other projects). the city hall representative will research to see if there are any other akiya that may be a better fit for our project
- regardless, the case of general conservatism isn't something that's new, and is something that we want to understand better, and work with. trust from the locals is something that is built over time, so being present and active will go a long way
- additionally, it becomes especially important to be clear about the way we can add value in any local community that we take part in. we're working on crafting a one-pager (see below) that will be translated in japanese, to distribute to our city, and others

## other updates
- **personal update:** after running 2 residencies back-to-back, i've taken an honest look at my capacity to keep running these over time
- and while it's been fun for me to do so, something that feels more energetically sustainable for me would be to:
- do smaller build week sessions that are more project-focused
- build something closer to "3rd space / community space" that people don't live in
- have something closer to a co-living setup / less "residency" based and more community members pay themselves to sustain rent costs
- if we do want to continue our core offering of residencies, i feel strongly that we need additional on-the-ground volunteers as house managers
- created a new #tinkering channel for things related to art / creative work, gadgets you're hacking on or looking to try out, and other things you'd like to share

## discussion questions
- akiya one-pager discussion draft [here](https://www.notion.so/akiyacollective/Akiya-Collective-One-Pager-1b645940eede44afa24b5eb9612978f4?pvs=4)
- it seems like "creative residencies" feel varied and hard to explain, we should provide examples for the events we plan to host to make it more clear
- also we should find some kind of reconciliation between project needs / framing, and the resources we currently have