[hackerspaces] How to create a steady-state makerspace/hackerspace business model

[Al Billings]

On Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at 10:54 AM, webmind wrote:

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> On 04/06/13 19:43, Al Billings wrote:
> > My experience is that this works for a while and people rely on a
> > certain set of volunteers. After a year or more, those volunteers
> > get burned out doing the work for free for everyone and move on (or
> > just quit doing the work).
> > 
> 
> 
> So then it didn't work out to have a hackerspace for that long in
> those cases. It really doesn't say much about hackerspaces in general,
> you can't oversimplify them like that.
> 
> 


Well, you mean other than the fact that we've had a hackerspace for three years this month? I guess that isn't that long...
 
> But if you start paying people to maintain it, where is the line
> between a top-down fablab and a hackerspace?


Why does there need to be a line? Why are you creating a distinction?
 
> If the hackerspace is not run by the hackers, why would it still be a
> hackerspace?


Who said anything about something not run by hackers?
 
> Looking at the article btw, I do not know of any hackerspaces which
> fill in any of those categories. I'm not too familiar with
> makerspaces, but I guess they are quite different from hackerspaces if
> the article's "common types" are supposed to be an accurate
> representation.
> 


What do you think a "makerspace" is since you make a distinction between that and a "hackerspace?" I reject that those words are more than labels on the same thing. "Makerspace" is a creation of commercial interests as a term. It doesn't mean anything.

Al

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