[hackerspaces] How To Teach a Hackerspace Class?

[Jamie Schwettmann]

I love teaching classes at hackerspaces!  

> ...  what implications this has for advertising the nonprofitness of the space, etc. ...

On this topic, I think it's totally worthwhile to decouple the idea of non-profitness from the idea of money/goods/ideas changing hands in general, especially in hackerspaces.

There seems to be a huge misconception floating around that a space being non-profit means it can't/shouldn't charge for events/classes/membership/whatever, or allow other kinds of commerce to occur in/around the space, when in fact, those are the most popular ways for educational non-profits to keep their lights on. The major qualifying aspect of what makes an organization non-profit is whether (and how) they reinvest (or otherwise return to the community) any surplus income that arises, not whether they make any at all.  

If your non-profit accidentally makes a boat load of surplus, find a way to spend it awesomely!


- Jamie


-----
Unlock a new Hobby at CollegeofLockpicking.com!



>  I don't think we have a resolution on that, but I'm interested in thoughts from folks here, too!
> 
> -Nate-
> 
> 
> Jerry Isdale wrote:
> Hackerspaces quite often have classes, right?
> sometimes these are for members only, but many spaces teach public classes as a revenue stream (and to build community).
> but hackers are generally not teachers and teaching, especially teaching the public can be difficult.
> 
> How have you prepared for teaching a class?
> Have you tried teaching when you were only a bit more advanced than the students? 
> Sometimes this is necessary when starting a space - bootstrapping member knowledge!
> 
> 
> Jerry Isdale
> isdale at gmail.com
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

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