[hackerspaces] Paid Staff

[Robert Davidson]

Dallas Makerspace has 1,300 members and we have no full time staff and zero
employees.

We do have a porter that cleans 8 hours a day for 3 days a week. (We found
it was cheaper to have someone 8 hours than occasional weekly cleanings)
(We pay a company for this service so no contractor/employee status)
We are transitioning over to a bookkeeper/accounting firm now to handle
documentation for our books.  (Paid Service)
We use a company called parks pantry that provide kitchen services (Think
gas station food and drinks with a kiosk to pay)

One of the reasons I believe we have been able to grow as large as we have
without paid support is automation.

Automate everything that is possible:

Member Management
Access Control
Calendar
Billing

On OSHA I have heard it said under 10 employees and depending on your
classification there are partial exemptions, I would call the inspector and
just ask.

Hope that helps.

Robert Davidson
Dallas Makerspace


On Fri, Aug 19, 2016 at 10:31 AM, Chad Elish <chad at hackpittsburgh.org>
wrote:

> I agree with Pete… As soon as you add Paid Employees, it changes the
> business (and culture) significantly.
>
> HackPGH has a policy that we charge $30/mo and require a minimum 3 hours
> of volunteer time per month… Wether that is working on a group shop project
> or cleaning the space, our members are required to help out.
>
> Rather then actively track the time because that would be a logistical
> nightmare, we work on the honor system. The first rule of our shop is
> ‘Don’t be a Dick’ (Heres a great book
> <https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Be-Dick-Etiquette/dp/1936976021/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471620300&sr=8-1&keywords=how+not+to+be+a+dick>)
> or for the others, ‘Be excellent to each other’. If we see people not
> giving back to the community, we call them out. If it continues, we put
> them on probation, and in extreme cases ask them to leave.
>
> Doing it this way, we see a stronger community develop, friendships made
> and the shop stays clean.
>
> Cheers!
> -Chad
> President | HackPGH
> Pittsburgh’s First Makerspace
> *http://www.hackpittsburgh.org <http://www.hackpittsburgh.org>*
>
> On Aug 19, 2016, at 10:59 AM, webmind <webmind at puscii.nl> wrote:
>
> On 19/08/16 12:41, Bill Shaw wrote:
>
> As Tampa Hackerspace approaches 100 members, we're starting to look
> forward for the best ways to handle growth and scaling without driving
> ourselves crazy. One thing we're considering is whether it makes sense
> to have someone on payroll to take care of some basic things.
>
> For the more established and larger spaces out there, I'm curious how
> many members you had when you added your first paid staff. What was your
> overall budget at the time? Were they part time or full time? What
> responsibilities did they have?
>
>
> Technologia Incognita (one of the hackerspaces in Amsterdam) has about
> 100 members, never had paid staff. We have considered paying someone to
> clean, but a majority of people was against. I think we have paid
> someone once to clean the windows.
>
> Personally, to me hackerspaces are community projects where you run a
> space as a community. Not some rich-kids playground who are afraid of a
> bit of dirty work once in a while. That's what I think about when I
> think of paid staff.
>
> w.
>
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