Ooh! Another thought. Maybe the badge could even contain a summary of the space's profit/membership/governance structure!<div><br></div><div>-Ed<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 2:18 PM, Edward L Platt <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ed@elplatt.com" target="_blank">ed@elplatt.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div>Looking at things like non-profit status, open/closed membership, and even community governance, you will find plenty of bona fide hackerspaces that fall on either side.</div>
<div><br></div><div>+1 For providing a better view of where a particular space falls on these spectra, rather than quibbling about whether or not to label them as a hackerspace.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Also, the last time this dead horse received a thorough beating, I recall someone suggesting self-identification as a reasonable requirement. So I propose the following: we create a <a href="http://hackerspaces.org" target="_blank">hackerspaces.org</a> website badge (or maybe one already exists) and if a space doesn't display the badge on their homepage, they're fair game for removal (or not, do-ocracy style).</div>
<div><br></div><div>Happy hacking,</div><div>-Ed<div><div class="h5"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 1:59 PM, Matt Joyce <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:matt@nycresistor.com" target="_blank">matt@nycresistor.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">maybe the correct answer here is not "exclusion" but a better view of<br>
the data we have?<br>
<br>
if we could sort based on key values, such as the tax structure of the<br>
group, ownership, rental, or squat. business? club? hardware vs<br>
software? genetic? burners or other creatives? academic institution?<br>
research oriented lab?<br>
<br>
there are many different groups in the world and many ways to apply<br>
ones self to their community. Maybe the right answer is to take this<br>
wealth of data and provide a better visualization of that data.<br>
<span><font color="#888888"><br>
-Matt<br>
</font></span><div><div><br>
On Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 10:50 AM, David Powell <<a href="mailto:davepow16@gmail.com" target="_blank">davepow16@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> I have not problem with TechShop being called a hackerspace. There are a lot<br>
> of "Hackerspaces" on the list that could IMO be questionable but not because<br>
> of their profit status.I don't think profit status has anything to do with<br>
> it. Do they provide a space for like minded individuals to share knowledge<br>
> about whatever it is those people may be interested in?<br>
><br>
> One thing that people need to keep in mind is that most hackerspaces need to<br>
> make money in order to keep their doors open. It some communities it's as<br>
> simple as getting everyone to pitch in some money. In other communities<br>
> people are cheap and feel like they are entitled to everything for free and<br>
> they want the members of the hackerspace to also deliver service with a<br>
> smile. It really depends on what works for the area each space is in.<br>
><br>
> We are a non-profit 501(c)(3) but we have plans for selling our knowledge in<br>
> order to keep the doors open. It's a lot of work and most of our members<br>
> don't want to put in extra effort to make things run smoothly. So the few of<br>
> us who do feel we need to charge people coming through the door because the<br>
> freeloading is not paying the bills. Being a non-profit has a lot of down<br>
> sides including making sure we are not breaking laws when we sell something.<br>
> If I had to do it all over again I would not have setup our space as a<br>
> 501(c)(3). I would have started a for profit business and ran it like I<br>
> owned it.<br>
><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div></div></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">-- <br>Edward L. Platt<div><a href="http://elplatt.com" target="_blank">http://elplatt.com</a></div>
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</font></span></div>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>Edward L. Platt<div><a href="http://elplatt.com" target="_blank">http://elplatt.com</a></div><div>248.320.5061</div>
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