Nothing you are hearing in the media is true. It is sensationalized crap. It is really sad and unfortunate to me that we are being defamed in this way. We do so much that is amazing, and that has nothing to do with parties. You didn’t hear in the news that other events that have happened at CoLab were things like Haiti benefits and benefits for local artists (where we raised over $3,000 for local artists). None of the good things we have done are newsworthy, apparently.

This stupid party was not newsworthy. It is so sad to me that it is being spun into something it was not. I am speaking personally when I say that all of this is actually working to kill my spirit. I’m wearing down. They’re winning. Congratulations media and Atlanta, you’re working diligently on crushing yet another positive thing that could have helped this city be a better, happier place. Way to go.

FOR ANY MEDIA: If you wish to discuss CoLab or the event from Saturday night, please contact us@colaboratory.net and we will be happy to schedule interviews.

Please note that most of the information being reported by the media is incorrect, and we hope to remedy the misinformation.

Specifically, we were not, and have not been, serving alcohol. We have been working diligently for months to obtain proper licenses and permits.

Colaboratory takes pride in our community and our surrounding neighborhood. We have done a lot of amazing things here, and we hope to continue to do so for a long time to come.

At 3:30am on Saturday (during The Jungle event, which was a GREAT party!), the police visited us reporting a noise complaint. I met them at the gate and offered to gladly have the volume reduced, noting that we had checked the volume earlier and the music wasn’t reaching past the end of the property at that time.

The aggressive police officer in charge then began badgering me about special permits, though we are licensed to have the type of events we do at CoLab. She then asked to see our business license. I explained that I was happy to retrieve it for her and asked her to wait at the gate. She insisted on following me into the building, despite my protests that I did not consent to a search.

In the 30 seconds she was in the building, she appeared to become confused by participants dancing to the music and the UV lighting. Out of her element, she became irate and confrontational. I was then immediately arrested for, among other things, “Running an Adult Dance Hall without a Permit,” which is, of course, a ridiculous charge. They took me to jail and I was there until Monday afternoon because I had to wait for a bond from the judge on Monday morning.

Between the bond and the attorney’s fees to fight the spurious charges, we’ll be set back at least $4000.

If you enjoy what we do here at CoLab and would like to contribute to our legal defense fund, we’d appreciate it.  Here’s a PayPal link where you can help.

And, please consider attending Full Immersion 1.0 this weekend! We’re still on for an excellent all-weekend event, and have opened up day passes on Saturday and Sunday for those who can’t stay the whole time. All tickets must be pre-purchased. There will be no gate sales.

Thanks for all the support our friends have provided in this stressful time!

- Troy

I would be committing a grievous error if I did not express my appreciation for the people who have helped make Co-Lab what it is so far. There are so many people, so I hope I don’t miss anyone! I’m sure I will miss some of Lisa and GBear’s friends, so I hope they’ll thank them separately for me.

Thank you to Sparr, who has spent numerous hours, day and night, helping Justin build out the bathroom, pressure washing the floors, sweeping, moving things and generally being awesome. Sparr is a part of Freeside Atlanta, which is a hackerspace not too far from Co-Lab. (http://blog.freesideatlanta.org/) We hope to work with them as partners for some events and things soon. Thank you Sparr!! (And Sparr’s friend, whose name I didn’t get last night!)

Also thanks to Amanda, who was working with Sparr. I don’t know if she is his friend or someone who came b/c she knew L&L.

Thanks to Atlanta Psy (http://www.atlantapsytrance.net/), who sent out lots and lots of people this past weekend to help. They did everything – pressure washing, sweeping, picking up tire-killing debris from our lot, built things, moved things, planned and schemed. They spent tons of time at Co-Lab, and I deeply appreciate all their time, hard work and kindness. And McKenna appreciated Lily’s visit!

Scottie. Scottie got AtlPsy there, and has been to Co-Lab on several late nights, helping in all kinds of ways, including helping us build the Great Wall of Co-Lab. Thanks for all that you do Scottie, and about caring about this crazy project we’re doing!

Justin and Karissa. Thank you for believing in this thing and getting involved. Thanks for bringing your events to us, and working with us to ramp up for our first shendig! Thanks to Karissa for washing the dishes!

Thank you to Tunna for all you’ve done so far, and especially for getting on board from the beginning!

Thanks to Oji, who has spent two solid weekends with us, sweeping, cleaning, organizing, donating stuff to us, helping deal with the chaos that is the residential area, and for moral support!

Thanks to Sarena, who has been in several times now, and has worked hard on all kinds of stuff, including helping us deal with the nasty glue issue!

Thanks to people who have donated things to us, or who are going to this week: Sean, Candace, Oji, Janiene and Adrien, and whoever dumped off the tires and the countertop

Most of all, thank you to my fellow residents, the Master Colaborators, who have put their blood (literally), sweat and tears, as well as lots and lots of money, all of their time, and arguably at least half of their souls into this project. Thanks for not running scared when you first saw this giant, messy warehouse, and for working hard to turn it into something of which I am so proud! And, I like living with you. We have somehow turned a concrete block and cement floored warehouse into a home! You make me happy, and I can’t thank you enough!

I apologize if I missed people. I know I did. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate you – it means I’m sitting in class and should actually be paying attention!!

Our first event is about to happen! We have gotten so much done! If you haven’t been here in a while, you may not know you’re in the same place when you come back.

We still need furniture and lamps. Also, if you have fabric you’d like to donate, we could use that for decorating.

We are also seeking hammocks/air chairs (not inflatables, but the kind you hang), things that could function as kitchen cabinets or surfaces upon which to set a countertop (this is for the Co-Lab bar), and if you have any kind of neon signs you don’t want, let us know.

We are willing to purchase some of this stuff for the right price (as in, pretty cheap).

Thanks again to everyone that has helped, and to those who continue to do so!!

As an aside, there are two ways to follow what is going on at Colaboratory. First is here – you can add this website to your Google Reader or other RSS feed reader, and see whenever someone here updates this site. Second, you can follow us on Twitter, which is linked to the right of this blog post.