The Mr. Roboto Project is a Do It Yourself (DIY) nonprofit volunteer-run cooperative venue and show space in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Venue: Mr. Roboto Project
Town: Pittsburgh, US

The Mr. Roboto Project is a Do It Yourself (DIY) nonprofit volunteer-run cooperative venue and show space in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Since the fall of 2011, it has been located at 5106 Penn Avenue. The structure of The Mr. Roboto Project was modeled partially after the 924 Gilman St club in Berkeley, CA, combined with elements of the East End Food Co-op in Pittsburgh, PA. The cooperative runs on a membership basis, with its members responsible for the direction of the venue. A board of directors made of between 6-10 elected positions deals with the day-to-day operations. Any member over 18 is eligible to run for a position. Meetings are held once a month, with both members and non-members encouraged to attend. The shows at the venue are primarily booked by local bands and promoters. While there are a wide variety of different musical groups and stylings being presented, many could be placed under the general banner of "punk." The beginnings of what would become the Mr. Roboto Project began in 1998. At that time there were few options for all-ages, DIY punk/hardcore/indie rock shows; most of the shows at that time were done in a handful of punk houses, most notably the Peach Pitt in South Oakland. The only consistent DIY venue was the Millvale Industrial Theater (MIT), which was outside the city limits. In 1998, the scene began to grow, the idea to create a collectively run venue in the spirit of 924 Gilman or ABC-No-Rio was hatched. In January 1999, the first organizational meeting was held at the Peach Pitt. About 15-20 people showed up. At this meeting some of the basic structure of Roboto was formed including choosing to be set up as a cooperative with a Board of Directors rather than a strict collective. The original membership structure was decided at this meeting as well. The name "Mr. Roboto's" was chosen as a working title. Several other ideas were originally tossed out, most having some local significance, such as "The Keystone Collective." However, in th