[hackerspaces] what is your opinion about the closing of 3rd ward?

[john lunger]

Oh I wanted to add I have also been to San Leandro Co Working as well as Tech Shop in San Jose. 
I did not like the feel of Tech Shop in San Jose. It just didn;t feel like a community there. 
I really liked Sudo Room's feel minus the crazy landlord. The community room part is the best part of it. 
Ace Monster Toys is nice but small. The stairs are hard to deal with when you have kids. 
Judi at San Leandro Co Working is really sweet. However she had someone downstairs complain about the kids when we tried to hold a board meeting there. SIGH! 
I have not been able to make it to Mothership Hackermoms because I am not really a hacker per se. I am not crafty nor techy. Matt Senate described me more of an ORG Nerd because I did start up a homeschooling support network in the San Ramon/Danville area almost 20yrs ago and it is now 300 some members with proms, dances and classes for the kids. I just start stuff where there is a need. 

Carolyn



On Monday, October 14, 2013 3:25 PM, Lisha Sterling <lishevita at gmail.com> wrote:
 


On 14 October 2013 14:41, john lunger <justj1915 at yahoo.com> wrote:

My opinion:
> We are planning to start a new hackerspace in Hayward, CA. 
>I can't tell you how many people kept coming to me to NOT make it a 501c3.
            There are ways to be a non-profit without the full burden of becoming a 501c3 of your own. You could join up with School Factory to get the benefits of being a 501c3 and the community of hackerspaces around the country to help you with advice and ideas. (http://schoolfactory.org)

             As for the question of non-profit or for-profit, the difference has more to do with where the money goes, not where it comes from. If you are a non-profit, your profits go back into the services you exist to provide. If you are for-profit your profits go to shareholders. 

              If you haven't done so already, do go hang out with the folks at Mothership Hackermoms (Berkeley near Ashby BART), Ace Monster Toys (Oakland), Sudoroom (downtown Oakland near 19th Street BART ), LOLspace (near Fruitvale BART in Oakland) and Noisebridge (Mission district in San Francisco, right near 16th St BART), and pick their brains about what's working and not working for them. They are ALL great communities that are dealing with the issues of money and responsibility in different ways. You'll also find that the leadership in these places will tend to be very supportive of your work to start your own space, so don't worry about someone getting weird about another hackerspace being "competition" or something stupid like that. Get all the advice you can, and then pick the path that you think will work best for your own circumstances.


Good luck to you!

- Lisha 
-- 

http://www.alwayssababa.com/
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