Archived Record Venus, FL
Sociocyberneering, Inc. filed as a Domestic Non Profit Corporation in the State of Florida and is no longer active. This corporate entity was filed on Monday, February 22, 1971, according to public records filed with Florida Department of State.
From Sociocyberneering to Venus Project
The Venus Project was created by Roxanne Meadows who worked alongside the pioneering social engineer Jacques Fresco. Meadows is a trained architectural illustrator and model maker who studied under Fresco for four years.
"When I first met Jacque Fresco in 1976, he had a nonprofit organization called Sociocyberneering," Meadows recalls. The term condensed the key elements of Fresco's esoteric field, which applies engineering and cybernetics to the study of a social system.
He was using the word 'cyber' before it had been popularized by cyberspace or cyberpunk. However, Sociocyberneering was difficult to pronounce, remember, or spell so upon moving to Venus, Florida, the team called their project The Venus Project to make it simple.
Euripide Sneed: In the 1970s he was having regular membership meetings at his home in Miami. With a weekly group of maybe 10 to 12 followers. Up until then, everything was only on paper, with “nothing” to show the rest of the “non-believing” world. So, the group (called Sociocyberneering at the time) signed an agreement to purchase some land (near Miami where they all lived) and they agreed to make regular monthly payments until the land was paid off. It would take several years to complete the payoff. The group had the vision to “live the dream” in their own little dome community. The community was to be self-sustaining with agriculture and other manufacturing products Fresco had designs for. They even donated funds for some small dome molds, which could be used for acquiring government grants. The group made regular payments, many of them making only minimum wage (most of members were low income, well meaning do-gooders). Whatever it took to make the monthly payments was done, even if it meant skipping a few meals a week. The goal was to show the world “what is possible with futuristic science on your side”.
One day, without discussion, the land that was purchased was sold. A new “legal entity” was created in the middle of nowhere (Venus), so that the investors would not be able to live there and commute to work at the same time. The new entity was called the “Venus Project”. The proceeds from the sold land was “funneled” into this new entity. The original investors in Sociocyberneering would have no “standing” or voting rights in the new entity. There was no other reason to change legal entities except to protect the funds from those who had built up the fund. If the goal was just to locate a nicer neighborhood, the Sociocyberneering entity could have continued to have control and voting rights of the new land. But, not so if you “dissolve” (under the attorney’s advice) the first entity, and create a second entity. Those members who were upset about this surprise move were assured that they were still welcome to “visit” the new entity and new land “anytime” they wanted to. But, they would have NO voting privileges as to how the money would be spent with the new entity. In the beginning, the 2 hour drive from Miami was tolerated, just to “visit” the new property. But, in the end, most of the investors cut their losses, and stopped contributing further, and said goodbye to any money they had deposited.
