On Saturday, Dec 15th from 4pm - 6pm we had an administrative meeting to discuss core organizational issues and share information on statistics from other Makerspaces. We had thirteen members in attendance, many of whom had participated in the Junk Jam just prior to the meeting.
The meeting was chaired by Tom Tongue, and the powerpoint from the meeting can be found at:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwG-Wi1Dc0buNXk4M0dCLUsxTU0
There was audio and video recordings of the meeting, but with the powerpoint above, all that is really needed is the audio portion of the program, which can be downloaded from:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwG-Wi1Dc0buRkw3Ni1BRzhmZGc
The main points of business that were conducted were:
- Selecting a formal name for the organization. Out of the dozen or so names under consideration, the name "Capital District Makerspace" was selected as the public name of the group. A discussion of whether to use a second name for legal paperwork was tabled for later.
- A quick anonymous survey of what people were willing to pay on a monthly basis for their "ideal Makerspace". Answers ranged from $5 to $100 in a fairly uniform distribution of numbers.
- A discussion of what our priorities should be in terms of Community Building, Establishing a Physical Makerspace, and Projects. The general consensus was that all were important and synergistic, with a strong push for making a Physical Makerspace a reality.
- A discussion about what "Phase I" of the Makerspace should consist of. The general sentiment was that the space should allow people to share tools and have a space where people can use those tools. The space access does not have to be 24/7 to start, since most people are going to want to use it within the usual "free-time" confines of evenings and weekends.
- Elections for a Board of Directors and officers was tabled so that nominations for those positions could be done online. The actual voting for the elections would take place at the next administrative meeting, which will be scheduled in the next week.
- Two committees were formed:
- Space & Funding Committee - charged with gathering information and recommendations regarding Makerspace locations, operations and related issues, and how to fund those operations.
- Events Committee - in charge of organizing general meetings, classes, workshops and special events like Junk Jam or a Mini Maker Faire.
- Meeting Adjourned on time at 6pm.
If you have any questions, comments, revisions or concerns about the meeting, please post below!
--Tom
I just glanced through the notes and noticed a conspicuously absent option for space: buy a building.
I've been volunteering on and off at Troy Bike Rescue (http://www.troybikerescue.org/ but it seems to be down at the moment) for a few years, and they grew out of their old donated floorspace. When I first showed up, they had a few dozen bikes in the front, a big group of hybrid "monster bikes" in the middle of the building area, and a pile of parts in the garage in the back.
Then two of the founding members found a building for auction and bought it for $5000. The downside of course was that it needed a lot of work, but now the work area is a LOT bigger and they can do what they want with it. They put in a small kitchen and finally have a door to keep the small children (who always show up) from running around between piles of frames and wheels, and forehead-height bikes-in-progress. Also as a result of the bigger space, they have probably a few HUNDRED bikes now as opposed to a few DOZEN at the old place.
So buying a building may not be something that Capital District Makerspace is ready to do just yet, but it might work out some time in the future.
It's true, we haven't talked much about this option. Certainly if the right opportunity presented itself, that could be a serious option. What it really comes down to is the economics of the decision. If we could score a tax-auction deal, that might be one way to go. I looked through the Schenectady county tax auction listing a few months back and didn't see anything that popped out at me, but these things show up all the time, we just need to keep our eyes peeled and keep working the other strategies until we hit paydirt.
--Tom
-----------------------------------------------------
Thomas Tongue
Web: http://d0tproduct.wordpress.com/
Web: http://www.ThomasTongue.com/
We've talked about it. However, the group nearly disintegrated before we got past initial steps. Auctions are a good idea, given that our needs are less than what you would normally expect (pretty much solid roof + utilities). That was originally going to be next on our list, once the original "finding space" committee had formed...