Category: Open evening

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TouchDesigner Meetup Dublin @ TOG HACKERSPACE

We are hosting an open TouchDesigner meetup with demos, hands-on learning, and space to share work with others using the software. This is part of a series of monthly events in collaboration with @noid_lab typically on the last Wednesday each month in the space, so this month it’s 29th April, 7-10pm.

Tickets are free – but registration via Eventbrite is required to secure your place.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/touchdesigner-meetup-dublin-tickets-1987679859968

Workshops:

In this session we will be hosting two workshops. The first will be run by Pauric Freeman, the class will offer a deep dive into instancing in TouchDesigner, breaking down the core principles behind this technique and demonstrating how it can be used to create complex visuals. The session will also explore the integration of MediaPipe, showing how real-time gesture tracking can be used to control instanced systems.

Following this, Cailean will be working with.. nodes! but not in the traditional TouchDesigner sense. This small workshop will explore how the behaviour of nodes can be controlled through the Network Editor using Python scripts.

Format:

The session will run for around three hours in a relaxed, hands-on setting. With multiple rooms available at TOG Hackerspace, we can host beginner and advanced activities simultaneously, ensuring everyone gets the most out of the evening. The event will focus on learning, with a combination of scheduled short and long presentations/demonstrations. The last hour will take a more flattened and open approach, allowing the space for people to chat, share, learn, and explore TouchDesigner. Expect an informal, community-driven environment where the format adapts to participants. So if you would like to bring your laptop and learn the basics, share your projects, or connect with other using the software, this meetup offers a welcoming and supportive space to do so.

The event is also a great opportunity to meet other creative technologists and artists, and to continue building the growing TouchDesigner community in Ireland.

Contact us at noidlab.collective@gmail.com to share ideas for future sessions or to express interest in presenting your work.

A special thanks to TOG for allowing us to use the space for these events, and Derivative for supporting the project. The meetups are hosted each month by a group of artists and creative technologists:

https://www.tog.ie

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🚴🧩 Cycles, Clues & Making: A Bike Treasure Hunt for Bike Week

We love making games. Some of our members love cycling. So naturally, we asked: why not combine the two?

As part of Bike Week, we’re running a Bike Treasure Hunt — a relaxed, playful evening where you’ll cycle a short route and solve puzzles along the way.

🗓️ When

Friday 15th May, 19:00
Duration: 2 hours

🎟️ Grab your free ticket here:
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/cycles-clues-making-a-bike-treasure-hunt-for-bike-week-tickets-1987656652554?aff=oddtdtcreator

🗺️ What to expect

This is a ~5km looped cycle starting and ending at TOG, taking in the canal, a local park, and nearby roads. The route is designed to be accessible and low-pressure, using canal paths, park spaces, and quiet streets.

Along the way, you’ll encounter four checkpoints, each with a small challenge:

  • puzzles to solve
  • things to spot
  • simple hands-on making

Complete them all and make your way back to TOG for some food and a chance to chat, compare notes, and see how everyone got on.

đź‘Ą Who is it for?

  • Individuals or teams (if you’re on a team, just have everyone grab a ticket)
  • Families welcome (children should be accompanied)
  • Beginners welcome

You’ll need a bike to take part, and you’ll be cycling on open roads as part of the route.

đźš´ Bike Week

This event is part of Bike Week Dublin and is supported by Dublin City Council.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, there’s plenty more happening across the city — have a look at the full Bike Week programme:
https://www.dublincity.ie/Bike-Week-2026

đź’¬ Final note

This is a bit of an experiment — a mix of cycling, games, and making. It’s meant to be fun, social, and a little bit different.

Come along, bring a bike, and see how you get on.

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DMR Demonstration Evening

If you’ve been DMR-curious for a while (or you’ve a radio sitting there with a half-finished codeplug), this is a great chance to see a full setup done properly, step-by-step.

On Tuesday, 24th March 2026, South Dublin Radio Club, in collaboration with TOG Hackerspace, will host a DMR Demonstration Evening at the club in Rathfarnham.

What’s happening on the night

Jeffrey Roe (EI7IRB) will give a practical demonstration covering:

  • Setting up a DMR hotspot
  • Creating and programming a codeplug
  • Tips and lessons learned during setup (the bits that aren’t obvious until you’ve tried it)

This session will suit:

  • Anyone new to DMR who wants the “what talks to what?” overview
  • Anyone with an existing setup who wants to tidy it up, improve it, or avoid common pitfalls

Want to contribute?

Members who’d like to give a short demo or presentation on other parts of DMR are very welcome to get involved — different radios, different workflows, different approaches all help.

Event details

  • Date: Tuesday, 24th March 2026
  • Free: No Booking Required,
  • Time: 19:30 – 21:30
  • Venue: South Dublin Radio Club, Ballyroan Community Centre, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14

We’re looking forward to a good evening of radio chat, practical demos, and plenty of Q&A. See you there!

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TouchDesigner Meetup Dublin – January

Date: 28th January 2026

Time: 7:00PM – 10:00PM

Tickets are free, but registration via Eventbrite is required to secure your place: 
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/touchdesigner-meetup-dublin-tickets-1980805845606?aff=oddtdtcreator

We are delighted to announce that TouchDesigner Monthly Meetup series in collaboration with TOG Hackerspace will continue heading into 2026. Thanks to the support of Derivative, we will be able to sustain the series for the next six months. In addition to this, we have decided to create a name for our small collective of organisers and practitioners called NĂłidLab. Please give us a follow, as we aim to promote details about upcoming events and plan on sharing some of the BTS behind the meetups.

We plan on re-using the same structure as last year, as we want to keep the project sustainable and accessible for everyone involved. Each session runs for around three hours in a relaxed, hands-on setting. With multiple rooms available at TOG Hackerspace, we can host beginner and advanced activities simultaneously, ensuring everyone gets the most out of the evening. The first two hours will focus on learning, with a combination of scheduled short and long presentations/demonstrations. The last hour will take a more flattened and open approach, allowing the space for people to chat, share, learn, and explore TouchDesigner. Expect an informal, community-driven environment where the format adapts to participants. So if you would like to bring your laptop and learn the basics, share your projects, or connect with other using the software, this meetup offers a welcoming and supportive space to do so.

The event is also a great opportunity to meet other creative technologists and artists, and to continue building the growing TouchDesigner community in Ireland.

We’ve also set up a Discord server for ongoing discussion and planning. Join us there, or contact us @ noidlab.collective@gmail.com to share ideas for future sessions or to express interest in presenting your work: https://discord.gg/6s3WMdH2

A special thanks to TOG for allowing us to use the space for these events, and Derivative for supporting the project. The meetups are hosted each month by a group of artists and creative technologists:

Workshops:

For the first set of demonstrations will be run by two of our orgainsers—Ciaran & Serdar.

Ciaran will focus on utilising POPs to manipulate 3D models created with 2D images. Following this, Serdar will be demonstrating how to build a digital instrument using TouchDesigner and MediaPipe.

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TOG Turns 17: Birthday Open Social, Pizza, Cake, and a Bit of Craic

TOG is turning 17, and we’re marking it the best way we know how: by rolling our regular Open Social Night into a proper birthday session with pizza, cake, and plenty of chatting, tinkering, and general messing.

If you’ve been meaning to drop in for ages, this is a lovely one to start with. If you’re a regular, you already know the vibe: good people, interesting projects on benches, and the sort of conversations that start with “what’s that board?” and end up with someone soldering at 1am.

When and where

  • Date: Saturday 24th January
  • Time: 7:00pm until late
  • Location: TOG Hackerspace

The space stays open until the last member calls it a night, which often means we drift happily into the small hours of Sunday morning. Pop in for 10 minutes or stay for the whole stretch, you’re very welcome.

What to expect

  • Homemade pizza from the TOG pizza oven, rolling out through the evening
  • Birthday cake (because we’re not animals)
  • A relaxed open evening: tours, chats, and a look at whatever weird and wonderful builds are on the go
  • Community craic: talk, tunes, and the usual “oh go on, I’ll show you how that works” energy

Our Open Social Nights are an easy, no-pressure way to see the space and meet the people. There’s no agenda and no expectation that you’re “good at” anything. Curiosity is the only requirement.

Make a full day of it: Finish-a-thon earlier that day

This birthday party is happening the same day as our Finish-a-thon, running 11:00am to 7:00pm. So if you’ve got a project half-done, a box of parts staring at you, or a nagging “I really should finish that”, you can spend the day getting it wrapped up, then roll straight into the birthday celebrations at 7pm.

Have a look here for the Finish-a-thon details:
https://www.tog.ie/2026/01/a-day-to-finish-what-you-started-finish-a-thon-2/

What to bring

We’ll have food covered between pizza and cake, but feel free to bring along:

  • A drink (or your beverage of choice)
  • Snacks to share
  • A project to show off, or something you want advice on
  • A friend who’s curious about makerspaces

We’ve also got plenty of free parking, so it’s handy to swing by with gear, gadgets, or something for show-and-tell.

Come celebrate 17 years of TOG

Seventeen years of TOG is a bit mad, in the best way. What started as a small group of people who wanted a place to build and learn has grown into a proper community workshop full of skills, tools, and good humour.

So come in, grab a slice of pizza, have a wander, meet the crew, and help us celebrate.

See you Saturday 24th January from 7pm.

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A Day to Finish What You Started – Finish-a-thon

At TOG, we love hacking, tinkering, and making things… but we’re also very good at accumulating half-finished projects. You know the ones: the “nearly working” circuit, the “just needs a weekend” code refactor, the 3D print that needs sanding, the costume that needs one final stitch, the repair you definitely meant to do months ago.

So we’re doing something about it.

We’re hosting a Finish-a-thon, a one-day, community-powered mini hackathon dedicated to making real progress on the projects that have been sitting in a box, on a shelf, or in a Git branch called final_final_v3.

Whether it’s coding, crafting, designing, writing, fixing, soldering, sewing, or sorting, this is your day to get it done (or at least get it properly moving again).

Event Details

  • Date: Saturday 24th of January
  • Time: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
  • Location: TOG Hackerspace, Unit 1B Motor City, Kylemore Road, Dublin 12, D12 CF6V

And afterwards

After the Finish-a-thon we’ll roll straight into our monthly social night, but this one will be a bit special, because it’s also TOG’s birthday. 🎂
So: progress during the day, then a proper catch-up in the evening with the gang.

What’s the plan?

Nothing too formal. The whole point is momentum and community:

  • 11:00 AM: Arrive, grab a bench, tea/coffee, and settle in
  • Share what you’re working on (or keep it quiet and just crack on, no pressure)
  • Work through the day, ask questions, borrow a hand, offer a hand
  • No prizes, just the satisfaction of progress, plus the usual TOG encouragement and problem-solving

What can you work on?

Anything goes. If it’s a thing you started and you want to push it forward, it belongs here:

  • Squash that annoying bug in your project or open-source code
  • Finish an electronics kit gathering dust
  • Finally wire up the enclosure, label the panel, tidy the loom
  • Repair something that’s been sitting in the “I must fix that” pile
  • Wrap up a design, write-up, or documentation you’ve been meaning to publish
  • Revive a project you love but stalled on

No project? Also grand. There’s always someone who’d love a second pair of hands.

What should you bring?

  • Whatever parts, tools, and materials your project needs
  • A laptop is usually a good shout
  • TOG has plenty of tools and bits, but assume you’ll take home what you bring (and any half-finished bits you create)

No tickets this time

There are no tickets or registration for this event, just show up and join in.

If you’ve any questions (or you’re not sure if your project idea fits), give us a shout and we’ll point you in the right direction.

See you Saturday. Let’s finish some things. 🔧✨