Who's working on looking for a permanent DHMN location?

[Lynne Whitehorn]

Are there specific DHMNistas tasked with looking for a permanent location?  One of my other interest groups is thinking about looking for semi-industrial space and I was thinking that maybe we could discuss a possible alliance.

-Lynne

--

Lynne Whitehorn

• Lynne.W...@gmail.com
• wum...@progarts.com
• My public blog (random content)
• Programming Arts (resume)
• 
  

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

Its all still up in the air so maybe we could get together on something.

[Bob Waldron]

alliances are good, should absolutely have discussion, involve at least Paul, Mike P, Erin, Alex and Mark N in discussion, others will no doubt be interested

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

We have no place now and if they get in a place they are willing to
share then I say we do it... Now contracts though, in case the arrange
does not work out.

[Erin Quick-Laughlin]

I'm thinking it's time to form an official committee, with a tight goal.  Who can meet on Monday night?  Lynne when could you meet?

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

if it's not to far from menasha or someone will haul me around, I will go...

[Alex Hunt]

I've got Tues, Wed, and Fri open next week.  If I can't make it, I'll offer any support I can.

Alex

[Jason Kuehl]

I can't go Thursday or Friday's

[j]

I will be showing up to regular meetings very soon, pending the completion of some home projects. I am just outside of Menasha, and would be willing to carpool.

[Erin Quick-Laughlin]

I'm now open on weds  this week.  Lynne can you meet at harmony that night?

[Ed Krejcie]

I would be highly interested in meeting on Wed as well. Please keep me in the loop.
Ed K.

[Erin Quick-Laughlin]

Excellent!  Will do.

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

so we gonna meet on Wed at a place near Menasha so I can go? or would
someone be able to scoop me up?

On Mon, Oct 1, 2012 at 11:26 AM, Erin Quick-Laughlin

[Mike Putnam]

I would like to discuss an alliance as well.

Lynne: When can *you* meet?

Mike

[Lynne Whitehorn]

On 9/29/2012 9:52 AM, Erin Quick-Laughlin wrote:
>
> I'm thinking it's time to form an official committee, with a tight
> goal. Who can meet on Monday night? Lynne when could you meet?
>

Unfortunately, Monday nights are the *only* nights I can meet, but I can. :)



-Lynne

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

but now it's tuesday.... grumble grumble

[Erin Quick-Laughlin]

Or we start a separate group or thread with just the people involved....

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

I want to be involved!!!

Sent from mobile device

[Ed Krejcie]

Me too.

[Lynne Whitehorn]

Here's the simple version:  Some of you (Erin) know that I've been missing DHMN stuff because I'm skating roller derby, which is a bit time intensive, plus our practice times overlap nearly perfectly with DHMN activities.  The league I'm skating with is http://foxcityzfoxz.com/, and isn't the same one Erin's wife has been skating, if you're interested.

As part of our yearly budget review, we're looking at alternate practice places.  Right now we're skating 3 nights/week up at http://www.pcfoxcities.com/.  They're nice and everything, but we're interested in seeing whether we could get a better or more useful deal somewhere else.  We need a space 100'x70' that's completely level, with decent lighting, and that can be heated to at least the 60s during the winter.  Ideally it would have a polished wood (gym-style) floor, but we actually have our own modular floor that we'd like to leave set-up, but it's easy to set-up/take down in a few hours.

We need at least 3 nights/week, but ideally would like to have access every night to maximize potential practice time.  We'd need a bathroom, too.  If it was a great space, we'd want to think about having bouts there, which offers the potential for add'l publicity, exposure, etc., since we often have hundreds of people attending.

Stuff to point out: 

• a huge open space would be awesome for bot wars
• a huge open space would be excellent for shows
• a huge open space would be a great place for objects that shoot things (as long as the floor didn't get messed up)
  
• Skating technology is in the dark ages, IMO, and the intersection of hackers and wheel-sports would be interesting, to say the least.
• Derby people are about the most tolerant and accepting group of folks I've ever met, and they're socially marginalized in many of the same ways that we (nerds & geeks) have been
  
• we'd like someplace in/near Appleton, since we have members in Green Bay and Oshkosh
• we already pay for our practice space, so this isn't a theoretical "if we have the money" thing
• we'd teach you to skate, for free. :)  Hey, *I* learned to skate in 3 months, so that means that anyone can probably do it.
• we'd include DHMN in our promotional materials (in all likelihood)
• we'd be very, very interested in experimenting with streaming video technologies
  
• My personal interest here is that I'd get to do both of my favorite activities in one place, occasionally at the same time
  

As an aside, there are some interesting commercial possibilities in terms for LED accessories for roller skates.  Barb Becker, who owns Skaters Edge and The Gem (roller rinks) here in Appleton is just fascinated by the possibilities I've described for her.  Think about it:  8 wheels = lots of interesting ways to generate power.  I was thinking it would be neat to put pulsing/scanning LEDs under a skate and add a proximity sensor so that if you skated near someone else with the same rig, your lights would sync up.  Stuff like that.  Barb would *love* to sell things like this.  The technology currently being sold is expensive, poorly designed, and not even remotely creative.

Right now, keep in mind that this is budgetary due diligence, but if we could find a space, and especially with a group who had overlapping/complementary needs, we'd be very, very interested.  If DHMN wants to put together a space-committee list, I'll hook up the derby league folks who'd be involved in the decision.

-Lynne
 

[Mike Putnam]

I can imagine a symbiotic relationship with Fox City Foxes.  Assuming we can locate the right building.

One potential area of conflict may be:

Activities like soldering, table saws, drill presses, mills, pottery wheels, etc produce byproducts that probably are not conducive to clean smooth wooden surfaces and skate wheels.  So a building would need to be able to somehow be partitioned so the "dirty stuff" doesn't interfere with the practice place.

If together we can solve for that issue, the benefits of both groups needing an space that's available-every-night, heated, plumbed, has parking, is affordable, etc could be realized.

Mike

[Lynne Whitehorn]

On 10/4/2012 11:28 AM, Mike Putnam wrote:
> I can imagine a symbiotic relationship with Fox City Foxes. Assuming
> we can locate the right building.
>
> One potential area of conflict may be:
>
> Activities like soldering, table saws, drill presses, mills, pottery
> wheels, etc produce byproducts that probably are not conducive to
> clean smooth wooden surfaces and skate wheels. So a building would
> need to be able to somehow be partitioned so the "dirty stuff" doesn't
> interfere with the practice place.
>
> If together we can solve for that issue, the benefits of both groups
> needing an space that's available-every-night, heated, plumbed, has
> parking, is affordable, etc could be realized.
>
> Mike
>

I'm assuming that we'd end up needing to use our modular floor, which is
plastic and easily cleaned. But, the partitioning is just a good idea
because it's a safety and health issue. We'd probably want a little
cubicle for skate maintenance and mods, too.

-Lynne

[Ed Krejcie]

An idea-- I saw and heard ads for this new private school housed inside Grace Lutheran Church on Mason St. in Appleton. http://cooperativeschool.org/

In reading online about The Cooperative School, and Grace Lutheran Church, I have found some particulars that might make this a venue to consider for DHMN and perhaps Fox Cities Foxz.

• The Coop School is small, 20 students with tuition costs over 6k$ per student. Somehow they have 5 teachers on staff and pay a lease to the church.
• It seems that Grace Lutheran is downsizing, and where they once had a school (according to thier site http://www.lutheransonline.com/servlet/lo_ProcServ/dbpage=page&mode=display&gid=00000833277338130111155555, they no longer have one. I'm guessing they still have some space available in addition to a fair amount of good stuff that comes with a school, such as the Coop page mentions, a kitchen, a gym (hear that Lynne?), classrooms, etc.
• Both the Coop and Grace Lutheran seem like they could use some $upport and we're looking for a place to be.
• If DHMN includes an educational component to thier organization, what school (and a progressive one at that) wouldn't want DHMN to share a space with them? I mean, ultimately DHMN brings limitless experiences, tools, supplies, associations, etc that without a doubt could enhance the learning of all involved. A perfect match, right?
• We offer financial relief to the church and the school in the way membership, since with a space, DHMN is likely to attract paying members, and if Fox Cities Foxz happen to throw thier budgeted money for a practice space at the deal, it makes it even sweeter.

In any case, I'm going to call the contact person for the Coop School and see if he wants to meet and just mull over some ideas. As an individual, (and teacher of 17 yrs) I'm hopelessly curious to talk to the people that have founded this school and learn what I can from the conversation. I'll report back.

Peace- Ed

[Ross Larson]

(Disclaimer: I'm a member of an ELCA congregation in Appleton, as well as a member of the Synod Council for the synod where Grace is located.)

Something to keep in mind.  There may be something that will influence the decision making process here.  I believe that Grace is part of the GTZ fellowship, where three Lutheran churches located in downtown Appleton (Grace, Trinity, and Zion) agreed to some sort of partnership in order to function more effectively as churches.  I am not a member of any of these churches, but I am a member of a church (FELC) that helps run an inter-congregational "kid's club" that meets during the summers at Zion.  Our church has had a very positive experience in collaborating together to run that activity, which started as a summer free lunch program for local youth.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from this line of thinking.  However, some churches have very strong opinions about "non-church" activities that occur on church grounds.  Some churches are fine with it, and others are decidedly less so.  This doesn't discount the fact that churches have lots of facility space in the area that could potentially be of use in a way that is beneficial to both the church and the group.  

DHMN and the Foxz may want to discuss if we have strong opinions about using church spaces for activities.  Lynne previously mentioned that derby people and geeks have been socially marginalized in the past, and sometimes churches (though not necessarily this one) have played a part in that marginalization.  We want to create a space in which people feel welcome.

If we do decide to pursue churches as a potential source of meeting space, please keep me in the loop.  I have a fair bit of history in the ELCA church in this area, and I might be able to grease the wheels of progress.

Thanks for reading.  Feedback is welcome.

Ross

[Alex Hunt]

Hi Ed,

The Cooperative School was formed after the collapse of The Academy private school, which my children attended for Pre-K.  While I didn't talk too much with him, I am at least a familiar face to Steven Polansky, the founder.  I am also friends with the school's Chinese teacher.  So if you need backup with personal contacts at the school, just let me know.

Alex

On Thu, Oct 4, 2012 at 1:13 PM, Ed Krejcie <krej...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Lynne Whitehorn]

On 10/4/2012 1:52 PM, Ross Larson wrote:

...

DHMN and the Foxz may want to discuss if we have strong opinions about using church spaces for activities.  Lynne previously mentioned that derby people and geeks have been socially marginalized in the past, and sometimes churches (though not necessarily this one) have played a part in that marginalization.  We want to create a space in which people feel welcome.

Churches are absolutely not an issue for the Foxz, and we've actively discussed this particular point.  They're on our list of places to investigate precisely because church schools often have general purpose gymnasiums that include a full-sized basketball court, which is just about the right size for us. 

Our concern is that because roller derby isn't a "nice" sport, we might have a hard time convincing them we're not thugs, but actual athletes, or at least some of us. :)  In fact, I should point out that you [all] may be thinking of derby as being the kind played on a banked track, with fighting, etc.  That's the *old* style derby.  Most modern versions are flat-track and fighting is strictly against the rules.  It still involves body-slamming people out of the way, but it's mostly skilled-based and not entertainment-oriented.  Details:  http://wftda.com/



-Lynne

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

Woot! Go foxes

Sent from mobile device

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

I really think a building away from a church is ideal. I swear a lot when wrenching on stuff and I just don't want to give the wrong impression. My parents ran a business from home and they swore all the time so it just slips out. 

I would like to us get a place (now that there are more interested parties) that we as a group hold the keys too, be in between Menasha and Appleton, and be close to food/drink. 

Sent from mobile device

[Lynne Whitehorn]

Does DHMN have an idea about a budget for a place? We're (Foxz)
actively looking at warehouse space, and I know we (DHMN) are actively
looking for office/shop space. I'm pretty sure we'd like to spend
$800/month, based on the notion that we'd only be using the space
3-4x/week. There may be some flexibility in that number if we [all] can
get creative in our use of the space.

-Lynne

[Lynne Whitehorn]

On 10/10/2012 11:01 AM, Karl P. Niemuth II wrote:
> if they want to do $800 a month I think we should look at this place:
> http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/205-Milwaukee-St-Menasha-WI-54952/2134261497_zpid/
>

Cool. Zillow's a bit short on details. Do you know more about it?

While we're on this subject, does anyone know a commercial real estate
agent. Might as well use an expert system if we have one available. :)

-Lynne

[Erin Quick-Laughlin]

I'm supposed to contact a woman named Tweet who manages properties for a holding company.  Dropped the ball on this.  I'll schedule it for tomorrow, and spend a little time looking for commercial agents.

[Lynne Whitehorn]

On 10/10/2012 12:34 PM, Karl P. Niemuth II wrote:
> This place was a grocery store and has not had anything in it for years. I think with all our resources pooled, this is the place. I am gonna get some numbers from Menasha utilities when I go pay my bill next.
>
>
Dang! Good catch!

A *grocery* store would be perfect for us (Foxz) assuming no interior
columns (or arranged in such a way that they'd be safe and paddable.)

-Lynne

[Mark Nickel]

Karl, did you have the address for this place?  

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

205 Milwaukee St.

[Mark Nickel]

Wow.  that place is huge.

[Ross Larson]

Looks like it's for sale, not for lease/rent, and the price is $340K

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/17216940/205-Milwaukee-St-Menasha-WI/

That might be out of our price range.

Ross

[Mark Nickel]

well... a 30yr mortgage @ 3% would be about $1,800/month.

:)

[Mike Putnam]

And with an entire roller derby team plus hacker/makers...

$1,800/mo would be $60/mo spread across 30 people paying.

=)

[Mark Nickel]

Very good point... the only downside is that it's a typical 20% downpayment on the purchase of a property...

$340K * 20% = $68K in upfront capital..

Hmmmm....  I know that the place is for sale, but as Karl pointed out, they've been vacant for years which means that someone is footing the bill somewhere in the ownership chain...

I wonder if they would rent the property....

so, thinking out loud here.  $800/month for Derby...  $800/month for DHMN...  

but then we are back to "the normal" other expenses---insurance, utilities, internet.  If we could constrain some of the spaces, we could probably not get killed trying to heat the entire facility for the winter.

Lynn, I can't remember if I've asked this to you or Annie in the past, does the Derby group own their own track pieces?

Mark

[j]

Maybe we could set space aside for artists for rental, kind of like what
bucketworks does.

[Lynne Whitehorn]

On 10/12/2012 4:04 PM, Mark Nickel wrote:
> ...

> Lynn, I can't remember if I've asked this to you or Annie in the past,
> does the Derby group own their own track pieces?
>
> Mark

My league does have its own modular plastic floor. Annie's league
typically skates up at Skater's Edge on the very, very nice wood floor
there.

Why? Want to learn to skate? :) We can make it part of the deal.

-Lynne

[Lynne Whitehorn]

On 10/12/2012 4:24 PM, j wrote:

Maybe we could set space aside for artists for rental, kind of like what
bucketworks does. 

I like this idea.  Kind of like a probably-available space for projects like: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1825673922/the-rabbit-gallery

--

Lynne Whitehorn

• Lynne.W...@gmail.com
• wum...@progarts.com
• My public blog (random content)
• Programming Arts (resume)
• +1 (505) 453-9089 (mobile)

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

Well 205 Milwaukee electric was $5300 a month as a grocery store. I think we would only be a small fraction of that. No coolers and such. I called the realtor and waiting to hear back.

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

I have talked to someone from Bechard and he said the bank owns this
property. He also thinks they are flexible on the price because it has
been on their hands for so long. I really think this is the place for
us and I would be willing to do all the legwork on it. Erin please
send me an email with information on our organizations structure (irs
info etc...).

[Erin Quick-Laughlin]

I'll put something together by Sunday for you Karl.   Where can we meet on Sunday to go over the plan?  I'm flexible and can come down by you if you'd like, otherwise my house is available too. 

Lynne are you available this Sunday?

I'd like to see what it would take to afford the place, and come up with a strategy to pay for it, based 99% on dedicated, paying memberships.

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

It would be great to meet some where in town and Sundays are always good for me. I am willing to drive around the fox valley.

[Erin Quick-Laughlin]

Let's meet in your town, just puck a place.  I can probably be available by 4 pm (forgot about driving back from Chicago).

Erin

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

I think the diner here in menasha would work.

[Erin Quick-Laughlin]

Great.  What's the address? 

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

Third Street Diner

300 Depere Street, Menasha (920) 727-9500

[Erin Quick-Laughlin]

Hi Karl.  The diner closed at 2pm.  I'll hang out here and wait for you.  We'll figure out another place.
Erin

[Erin Quick-Laughlin]

Karl and I met tonight at my place.

We took some really rough guesses at costs to afford 205 Milwaukee with a lot of assumptions.

There's a link to this, which I've sent out to Bubba, Mark Nickel, Lynne W, Ed K, Ross L, Alex H and Mike P.

If you're interested, reply on this thread and I'll send out a link.

Feel free to make mods to this, especially if we can start nailing down more specific values.

At this point, what we determined is it would take $5000 a month, in addition to our current DHMN membership and the Fox's rental, however, there's a lot of ideas on this sheet to compensate, and our membership is only based on the 3 people actually paying right now.  We can also use this as a template for other prospects.

Next steps:  

Bubba: is going to talk w/ some business contacts and find names for us to pitch to (JJ Keller, Convergys, Miller Electric)  We can then use the pitchbook at that point.

Erin: collect membership promises - how many people would actually pay $55 / mo, and commit to at least a year?

Lynne, Mike and Mark: can you take a look at the sheet and play around with it?  

.And to everyone else who has some fire for this project, please reply and tell us how you want to be a part of it!

Erin QL

--
Erin Quick-Laughlin
Agile Coach, Software Consultant, Business Developer

(920) 358-0375

--

Create. Inspire. Share.  http://dhmn.net (920) 659-0637

--

CorpSavvy: Your business writing team.  http://www.corpsavvy.com 

(920) 358-0811

--

Content.Specific. Fast women: fast turnaround.  http://www.content-specific.com
--

LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/erinql

Follow my Tumblr on scientific discoveries, agile practice, programming, and other geeky stuff: http://erinql.tumblr.com/

[Erin Quick-Laughlin]

Also, Bubba and I are talking about getting together regularly on Sundays - anyone else interested?

[Jacob Kasper]

Sundays are good.  Has anyone considered talking with Plexus?  I think they sponsored a thing for FIRST robotics.

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

They are on the list Erin and I talked about, just not listed in the email. I am going to talk to area businesses and get names of public relations and investor contacts.

[j]

$55 /mo would be too much for me.

From: dhmn-di...@googlegroups.com [mailto:dhmn-di...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Karl P. Niemuth II
Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2012 6:45 PM
To: dhmn-di...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: {DHMN-discussion} Who's working on looking for a permanent DHMN location?

 

They are on the list Erin and I talked about, just not listed in the email. I am going to talk to area businesses and get names of public relations and investor contacts.

(920) 358-0375

 

--

Create. Inspire. Share.  http://dhmn.net (920) 659-0637

--

CorpSavvy: Your business writing team.  http://www.corpsavvy.com 

(920) 358-0811

--

Content.Specific. Fast women: fast turnaround.  http://www.content-specific.com
--

LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/erinql

Follow my Tumblr on scientific discoveries, agile practice, programming, and other geeky stuff: http://erinql.tumblr.com/

 

--
Erin Quick-Laughlin
Agile Coach, Software Consultant, Business Developer

(920) 358-0375

 

--

Create. Inspire. Share.  http://dhmn.net (920) 659-0637

--

[Karl P. Niemuth II]

Well maybe you can contribute in other ways... For this group to get and maintain a makerspace, we need to get a lot of things going.

[Jason Kuehl]

Can someone send me the link?

--
Sincerely,
 
Jason W Kuehl
Cell 920-419-8983
jason....@gmail.com