From day one of my (and everyone else's) involvement with this group, there has been the looming question of "When do we get a hackerspace together?" I have tools and parts to share and more project storage space than workspace at my house. A space to have workshops, meetings, and collaborate would be awesome.
At the MIME, we free-associated about what we wanted in a space, which was awesome. Over the last year I've toured offices in 5 different buildings, and I know other folks have toured a few more. Some had compelling qualities. None of them were Perfect. None made more than a bare majority of the things on the long list of desirable qualities we generated. We briefly talked about the five most recent spaces and their pluses and minuses.
There was a general discussion of dues/perks/what people are willing to pay for access. The general thought for monthly dues was:
$50 key holder
$20 regular member
$10 student / hardship
...and the consensus was that these were in the ballpark. The basic difference is key holders will have 24/7 access and regular members will have plenty of access, but not 24/7. This is not set in stone and may vary by what building we end up renting. There may be other perks, like storage space in a locker or cubbie.
Per conversation with the Space Federation folks, it is best not to run absolutely lean; they suggested rent be ~80% of dues to start, and to actually decrease that percentage as we get more members and prepare for the next space/more gear. Also: Insurance.
Comments
sounds reasonable to me.. of
sounds reasonable to me.. of course finding the actual space is the hard part :)
Wish I coulda made it to the meeting, but was scheduled at the same time as my fathers back surgery ... oh well, seems the meeting went well enough wihout me :)
I digested the suggestions on
I digested the suggestions on the wipeboard into three categories: space attributes, amenities we provide, and cultural/legal notes.
Desired space attributes (they provide):
Amenities (we provide):
General cultural considerations:
I have an RFID reader we can
I have an RFID reader we can use for the door, and on my Amazon Wish List is a supplier for a bag of 100 RFID keyfobs for $88 and an electric door strike plate for about $18.
I can do printing, I just added a bulk ink system to one of my letter size printers and have an Epson 4800 (220ml ink tanks) that prints up to 17 wide by however long you want in sunlight resistant pigmented inks. And I have a vinyl cutter for making banners, door lettering, and backlit signs.
Steve Greenfield AE7HD
A door sign and a backlit
A door sign and a backlit sign for the window would be awesome.
We could backlight the "Walk In" script on the door and light it up if an RFID badge is valid, assuming they let us install an electronic strike plate.
Active venting would be a
Active venting would be a must-have for 3D printing, especially ABS. For people like me, just opening a window isn't enough.
If we ever get a CNC mill, a simply tornado separator could keep the dust from being propelled out over passerby.