[hackerspaces] [wiki] TechShop

[Edward L Platt]

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.

+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.

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 hackerspaces.org 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).

Happy hacking,
-Ed

On Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 1:59 PM, Matt Joyce <matt at nycresistor.com> wrote:

> maybe the correct answer here is not "exclusion" but a better view of
> the data we have?
>
> if we could sort based on key values, such as the tax structure of the
> group, ownership, rental, or squat.  business?  club?  hardware vs
> software?  genetic? burners or other creatives?  academic institution?
>  research oriented lab?
>
> there are many different groups in the world and many ways to apply
> ones self to their community.  Maybe the right answer is to take this
> wealth of data and provide a better visualization of that data.
>
> -Matt
>
> On Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 10:50 AM, David Powell <davepow16 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I have not problem with TechShop being called a hackerspace. There are a
> lot
> > of "Hackerspaces" on the list that could IMO be questionable but not
> because
> > of their profit status.I don't think profit status has anything to do
> with
> > it. Do they provide a space for like minded individuals to share
> knowledge
> > about whatever it is those people may be interested in?
> >
> > One thing that people need to keep in mind is that most hackerspaces
> need to
> > make money in order to keep their doors open. It some communities it's as
> > simple as getting everyone to pitch in some money. In other communities
> > people are cheap and feel like they are entitled to everything for free
> and
> > they want the members of the hackerspace to also deliver service with a
> > smile. It really depends on what works for the area each space is in.
> >
> > We are a non-profit 501(c)(3) but we have plans for selling our
> knowledge in
> > order to keep the doors open. It's a lot of work and most of our members
> > don't want to put in extra effort to make things run smoothly. So the
> few of
> > us who do feel we need to charge people coming through the door because
> the
> > freeloading is not paying the bills. Being a non-profit has a lot of down
> > sides including making sure we are not breaking laws when we sell
> something.
> > If I had to do it all over again I would not have setup our space as a
> > 501(c)(3). I would have started a for profit business and ran it like I
> > owned it.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Discuss mailing list
> > Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> > http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>



-- 
Edward L. Platt
http://elplatt.com
248.320.5061
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.hackerspaces.org/pipermail/discuss/attachments/20130102/78ec7c57/attachment-0001.html>