[hackerspaces] Hackerspace crisis plan

[David Francos]

We've got (not-so-cheap) many coworking spaces here...
But you're right, it might be a good idea, a reduced quota for using just a
chair and not having the rest of rights + obligations of the actual
members? (Not the same involvement I mean)


2013/1/23 Ricky Ng-Adam <rngadam at xinchejian.com>

> More ideas from one of our member (Paul) who's not on the list:
>
>
>>    - Going towards coworking spaces is working for Bangkok, Thailand as
>>    their Hackerspace failed after just 6 months.
>>
>>
>>    - Offering rent a desks for small businesses / startups and
>>    facilities usage.
>>
>>
>>    - Also checkout schoolfactory.org as they have some good discussions
>>    going on.
>>
>>
>
> On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 9:38 AM, Ricky Ng-Adam <rngadam at xinchejian.com>wrote:
>
>> Hello David!
>>
>> You already got a lots of good suggestions in this thread to help future
>> your Hackerspace.
>>
>> I'd add that if you want to have members, you need a lot of people
>> walking in.
>>
>> We (Shanghai XinCheJian Hackerspace) have a free open house with guest
>> talks every Wednesday and although we typically get 30 to 40 guests of
>> which maybe 10 are new...  At most one or two of those new visitors show
>> interest in membership.
>>
>> We hit a homerun (meaning someone really active long term) maybe once a
>> month. So you have to find a way to play the numbers to get that one or two
>> percent...
>>
>> The same numbers apply to the workshops. It actually takes a lot of work
>> to make someone see the value of a community; we spend a lots of time
>> explaining it one on one. And realistically, not everyone is in a situation
>> where they can commit to such a community. But I've seen people join after
>> months/years of the initial contact (!)
>>
>> A positive: I'm still astounded at the numbers of visitors that have
>> never heard of Hackerspaces given the coverage we've got in the expat and
>> Chinese press. So that's always lots of headroom!
>>
>> Another: people become more committed when something needs to get done
>> and they do it. Helpful for a nascent community.
>>
>> good luck!
>>
>> Ricky
>> On Jan 22, 2013 7:08 PM, "David Francos" <me at davidfrancos.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi there.
>>> I'm from DegeneratedLabs, Zaragoza (Spain) Hackerspace.
>>> It's probably the first time I write here, tought I've been lurking for
>>> a while.
>>>
>>> We've got a 2-year old hackerspace here, with a nice-as-hell space, but
>>> we've recently lost almost all of our members (three remaining, not much
>>> money)
>>>
>>> We're thinking on alternative economic support stuff, we've got a few
>>> nice things (a 3d printer, two floors (one of them mostly used as a
>>> workshop and the other a a source for talks etc), lots of hardware, tools,
>>> fridges coffe machines, a huge library...)
>>>
>>> Aside from that, we've got very poor access to people (We are currently
>>> FOUR people!).
>>>
>>> We don't have a very good online image, but we're constantly moving it
>>> IRL, trought talks and so on.
>>>
>>> Could you give us any guidance on how to proceed to avoid the
>>> hackerspace's death? Is there any crisis plan developed that can be a
>>> little generic to them?
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Discuss mailing list
>>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>
>>>
>
>
> --
> 伍思力 | Ricky Ng-Adam | http://xinchejian.com | (+86) 186-2126-2521
>
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