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I had spoken with Jim Newton in the past, asking him a few things
about TechShop, and how they did it, his thoughts, etc. A couple of
months ago, he was in town talking to the people of Jet, that make
the cnc mills, etc. I Gabriel and I got to spend about two hours
talking to him, discussing the maker movement, what his goals were,
and how things were going for our respective ventures. The TechShop
model is awesome as a business model. They do not buy used
equipment. They buy new stuff, and make sure it's serviced
regularly. They have 'Dream Coaches' that help people with
equipment, watch over the place, and offer suggestions to members
needing help. You have to admit, they have taken the Maker
movement, and made it into a business. I don't fault them for it,
and honestly, I am dying to go see one in action. Now, given that, I
don't think that the Hacker Consortium is destined to operate that
way. <br>
<br>
We have a $100 fee to join, and $40 a month for dues. The $100 a
month goes towards infrastructure costs, and the $40 a month goes
towards electricity, cable, water, insurance, etc. We put the $100
fee in for a few reasons. One, we needed capital to rebuild the
interior of the building, wire it, and improve on it's appearance.
We also put it in there so that we sorted the wheat from the chaff,
so to speak. The idea being that if you were excited enough to join,
and you laid down $100, you wouldn't just join, come here and there,
and when your interest picked back up, re-join by paying $40 and
keep going. Let's face it, unless you have some angel investors that
keep pumping money into the venture, you have to make sure you have
a solid stream of membership dues coming in to pay the bills. It's
been estimated that I've put about $5K into this maker space. I'm
fine with that, as I've gotten way more out of it than I have put
in, based on the friends that I have made, and the fun that I have
had. $5K will buy a lot of hookers, but the event still leaves you
feeling hollow inside and unfulfilled. I'd rather put my money down
to get the HC going than to have meaningless sex for money... Well,
ok. maybe OCCASIONALLY. :)<br>
<br>
The bottom line is that to keep the doors open, we have to have
members, but we can't support it on hugs and smiles, we need people
to contribute. You can do the 'pay as you go' model, or the 'pledge
what you can' model, but we felt that we needed a more solid
commitment. I know that I could pay the bills out of my pocket each
month if necessary, but honestly, I would rather not. If our
membership falls below a level of sustained income necessary to keep
the bills paid, Gabriel and I will open our wallets and make it
happen. <br>
<br>
One of the most interesting things that I learned from Jim Newton
was this... The Hacker Consortium was closer to the model that he
originally wanted to do that is the techshop model that he's
currently doing. I don't think Jim entered into this with a profit
motive. I think he entered into it wanting a space to do the things
that he wanted to do, but it grew into TechShop. He's a talented
businessman, a great speaker, and I think his heart is in the right
place. Oddly enough, he said he has a list of projects he wants to
work on a mile long, but he's too busy working on Techshop to
actually get to do them. It's sad but true. Sometimes you'll be
faced with putting your projects off in lieu of helping members, or
running the space. I do have to say that it's well worth the time
and effort though.<br>
<br>
I know that there are different models. I am not saying that one
model is better than the others, or that ours is best. Depending on
members, location, needs, etc, you may have to change your model, or
come up with a new one. The best bet is to be informed as much as
possible, and both listen and ask questions. Find what is right for
your circumstances, and then do everything you can to make it work.
You may not always be the most loved person on the planet when you
have to make a hard decision, but someone has to.<br>
<br>
-Trevor Hearn a.k.a. SkyDog<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.hackerconsortium.com">www.hackerconsortium.com</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On 10/27/2010 2:25 PM, Jeff Cotten wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:AANLkTi=MN1w=pu6fvrhzUkW+r_q4Qmare_Yd4LKC1d2E@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite"><br>
I've never used this site, but I thought it would be a good tool
for someone wanting to start a for-profit techshop type space.<br>
<br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.kickstarter.com/">http://www.kickstarter.com/</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 1:30 PM,
Christopher J. Pilkington <span dir="ltr"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:cjp@0x1.net">cjp@0x1.net</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt
0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);
padding-left: 1ex;">
<div class="im">On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 09:23:45AM -0700,
Grant Henninger wrote:<br>
> model than most hackerspaces. We want to run more like
a for-profit service<br>
> company than a co-op. One of the reasons we want to
buy a lot of the equipment<br>
> up front is so we have a full set of services we can
offer and keep early<br>
> adopters coming back. However, I think you all have a
good point about ways to<br>
<br>
</div>
So you are adopting something like the TechShop model.<br>
<br>
This model is not a hackerspace at all IMHO, so I think you<br>
should probably seek other input regarding start up costs.<br>
<br>
For example, if I were looking to join a TechShop-type<br>
establishment, I would expect and demand access to a full<br>
compliment of professional-grade tools, as you listed.<br>
(Although, I think you mentioned MakerBot, I'm not sure that's<br>
appropriate for a for-profit workshop, but it might be ok to<br>
start with.)<br>
<br>
For a collaborative, donation and membership supported<br>
hackerspace, I'm willing to put in the elbow grease, extra
money<br>
here and there to fix things and acquire new tools. I wouldn't<br>
be willing to do the same in a for-profit space (unless
perhaps<br>
I was a shareholder.)<br>
<br>
We are starting our non-profit membership supported space on a<br>
shoestring. All the tools that we will have day one will be<br>
member owned and on loan to the space, until we start saving
up<br>
some money.<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
-cjp<br>
</font>
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