[hackerspaces] Who currently has the best, most functional hackerspace model?

[Shirley Hicks]

> On Jul 5, 2016, at 2:48 AM, Walter van Holst <walter at revspace.nl> wrote:
> 
> On 2016-07-05 00:11, Shirley Hicks wrote:
>> Hey everyone,
>> For those of you who visit other hackerspaces, who has the best
>> financial and operational model? What organizational models have you
>> looked at/borrowed from in order to improve your space? Looking for a
>> couple to study in an effort to improve how the Red Mountain Makers is
>> operating.
> 
> What do you mean my model?

It’s business-speak. My bad. How are things done or run. In hackerspace speak, the pattern. (you want to adopt a pattern that works, to minimize the work/energy required).

> How would you describe the models of Red Mountain Makers?

We’ve adopted as many of the hackerspace patterns as possible, but are a bit hung up reaching long-term financial sustainability due to member churn. The space we selected to start in required a lot of work and it has burned some members out. Given our community, we also have a shortage of members with some of the key skills that make setting up systems (IT, business) go faster, so that has taken some time. Getting there now. 

We’re also dealing with some  in-group/outgroup issues - mainly between those who’ve been trained in other environments to work tightly as a group (HAM, emergency ops, military) and those who have not.

> 
— Shirley
RMM, Birmingham, AL