[hackerspaces] question about workshop strategy

[Ben Brown]

We've considered having a mandate for discounting workshop costs for 
members and other perks to incentivize membership for participants, but 
ultimately we decided against it. Right now it's up to the workshop 
organizers how they do it. Members are free to keep workshop materials 
at the space, but outside teachers aren't.

Participants will have an interest in the space beyond the workshop, or 
they won't. Meanwhile, we'd rather have members who have an ongoing 
interest/utility in the space, who are also committed to paying dues for 
more than a month or two before losing interest. Because of that, we 
don't really promote the idea of membership to workshop participants. We 
just promote the space, spread the word and see who comes back after to 
check the us out.

Ben

On 10/11/2013 12:19 PM, john lunger wrote:
> Or you how about 80/20 if not members and then 80/10 if you are member?
>
> Then you are not saying you have to be a member if you are teaching a 
> bunch of workshops there but it is financially an incentive to be a 
> member. Maybe a few other perks involved as well other than just 
> finances. Maybe a teacher forum where the teachers can have a space to 
> share ideas and teaching methods. A free hackerspace teacher t shirt. 
> In the newsletter as promo. Space to keep their stuff but all this is 
> actually perks to be a member anyways.
>
>
> On Friday, October 11, 2013 9:14 AM, Ben Brown <ben at generik.ca> wrote:
> Comments inline.
>
> On 10/11/2013 11:53 AM, Florencia Edwards wrote:
> > Hi all, I wanted to ask you how do you do it with the workshops.
> >
> > 1. How do you divide the winnings between the makerspace and the
> > teacher by percentage?
>
> We encourage members who charge fees for workshops to donate part of
> their profit from a workshop, but we don't require it. That said, we'd
> likely require sometime from an outside group who's using our space for
> their paid event.
>
> >
> > 2. Are all the teachers members? Is it a requirement?
>
> No. We've had teachers from both inside and outside our membership.
> Public events get approved on by the board, so long as they're on line,
> it can be anyone.
>
> >
> > 3. Are workshops for members only?
>
> It's not a requirement. We've had both public and members-only
> workshops, it's up to whoever puts it on.
>
> >
> > 4. If teachers are not members and workshops are not members only, how
> > do the people that go to the workshop relate to the makerspace. How
> > can they make community if they only go for some classes.
>
> (answering #5 as well) We encourage the teacher to introduce outside
> participants to the space and describe what we do, as well as inviting
> them to our Tuesday Open Night, which has happened every week since day
> one. Our workshops tend to be maker-centric, which also helps in keeping
> participant interest in the space, though that's not always the case.
>
> We find awareness to be a powerful tool - even if participants
> themselves don't have much interest in a hackerspace, they know who we
> are and will ultimately spread the word.
>
> Ben
>
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