Bath Factory Arch - Someone else got there first

[Tom Newsom]

Unfortunately today it was discovered that the person Dermot had been speaking to was actually just the site manager. On finally talking to the landlord, he told us that he has already decided to let the space to a microbrewery which is likely to be confirmed in the next couple of weeks. The landlord has refused to accept other offers in the meantime but has said a few other arches will come up "soon", including the one two doors down.

This now means we have two choices, Access West Norwood, or staying homeless while holding weekly meet-ups and looking for a new home/waiting for "soon" to happen.

We are meeting next Wednesday (6th August) at The Florence for the weekly meetup from 19:30, please RSVP

[Matthew Press]

Can't make next Wednesday.

My vote is to go ahead with the weekly meetings while waiting for an arch/ something else to turn up.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South London Makerspace" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to southlondonmaker...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Tiago Rorke]

So sad :(.

I'll be there at the florence wednesday, my vote is also to stick with the weekly meetings for now.

[Drew Maughan]

Of the two choices, I'd say stay homeless and hope something else comes up.

[Andrew Black]

I vote to go with Access W Norwood

[Gordon Endersby]

The arch in the bath factory A few doors down has been reposessed by the landlord.
Maybe we can express interest in that and try and get first dibbs on it.

If thats an option we can stay homeless till its available.
With weekly meet ups.

Gordon

[Matthew Copperwaite]

My preference is to stay homeless too but the problem is that we'll have a bunch of members paying for very little in return. This would allow our bank balance to build up but it seems likely we will lose members this way.

[Richard Armstrong-Wood]

That's a shame...

sort of need to know what soon means really - I think waiting the 2 weeks is definatly worth while just to see if it falls though and I am happy to wait longer for an arch. But if "soon" turns into months and months maybe rethink west norwood is it likely to go if we don;t snap it up? - taking as it comes seems like my vote.

I might be in France on the 6th.

[Dermot Jones]

Gorden, I have already discussed the repossessed arch with both landlord and site manager.

Knowing that we are interested may well speed up the process.

D

[Tom Newsom]

PS: Sorry to pre-empt you on this announcement Dermot. I'll let you take the reigns :from here )

D

[toby @ tobyz]

On 30 Jul 2014, at 15:00, Matthew Copperwaite <matt...@gmail.com> wrote:

> My preference is to stay homeless too but the problem is that we'll have a bunch of members paying for very little in return. This would allow our bank balance to build up but it seems likely we will lose members this way.

We discussed the homeless+membership thing quite a bit at last week’s meeting. We can’t second-guess what the wider membership thinks, but what seemed to fit the data best is that people are paying for the development of SLMS as a project, rather than requiring use of space today.

So my take on the appeal to membership was that being homeless is less of a problem than SLMS being perceived to a stagnant project. I think as long as the weekly pub meetings are fun and progress can be seen on our permanent home then things should be fine. If we’re still in that position in six months time, I think we have bigger problems than members starting to leave.

A little warning that “what fitted the data” is also my personal view, so perhaps I’ve had some post-hoc fun here, but I think that was the conclusion of others too.

[toby @ tobyz]

On 30 Jul 2014, at 14:08, Tom Newsom <tom.n...@gmail.com> wrote:

> This now means we have two choices, Access West Norwood, or staying homeless while holding weekly meet-ups and looking for a new home/waiting for "soon" to happen.

My vote is to stay homeless. I don’t think it makes any difference in the calculus which Bath Factory arch it is, providing it doesn’t delay the actuality of one of them happening in the next say two months.

[toby @ tobyz]

On 30 Jul 2014, at 15:34, Richard Armstrong-Wood <richard.arm...@gmail.com> wrote:

> west norwood is it likely to go if we don;t snap it up?

Not from what I remember of the discussion. The particular space currently has a tenant who hasn’t been able to pay rent for quite a while now, they have been supportive but would prefer to support a project that can pay.

Toby

[Tom Lynch]

My concern is more people leave as they see nothing actual in return and this really worries me as people should be members to support the idea of it not to just take but some people haven't understood that.

Sent from my iPhone

[Sarah Barber]

Quite worried abut assuming we can have the next arch. The phrase 'soon' rings alarm bells to me. If a tenant is moving out, the landlord should know when surely? Do we know why he can't give more concrete info? It might be because no-one has actually decided to move out in which case I don't see the point in assuming anything. If he does know of a tenant moving out perhaps we can convince him to come up with a concrete date and if we like the other arch (I assume we will), we could start drafting up a contract in advance.

I wouldn't want to be homeless for any more than 2 months as I think it will affect membership. My instinct is most people are members because they want to use the space and if theyre not turning up regularly it's either because they are too busy or because theyre waiting for better tools. I'm not sure how many people just want to support the project - probably just a few core members.

Personally I can cope with pub meetups for a while but I don't think we should discount Access west norwood as a stop gap as it's quite cheap and better than a pub. I think let's try and chase up this new arch but if we don't find anything in a week or 2 we should consider Access West Norwood.

[Tom Lynch]

Hey

To be fair we would have been closed for way more than two months with the arch renovations as it's a massive job and I don't think that these these arches are going to work..

Frankly we don't have a choice. We need to find another new home so again we need people to get looking and we need people to redouble their efforts as there weren't many suggestions before now...

Everyone needs to spend a couple if hours a week looking...

Going to streets, looking out the window on a bus or train etc...

Tom

Sent from my iPhone

--

[Dermot Jones]

The landlord, site manager and estate agent know we're interested and that we're ready to move quickly.

The agent suggested that another suitable arch might be comung up in September. He might have been thinking of this one too. I'll check.

There is a process they need to go through with the current tenant who seems to being evicted.

There is also a possibility that the original arch deal might fall through, in which case we're first in line.

I expect we will know more in the next fortnight.

Dermot.

[Tom Newsom]

A wait of one month seems reasonable to me.

[Hannah Brown]

I'm happy to hold out for an arch space as my personal aim is to invest in a space that i will eventually be able to do some printing from (just a long table and a sink will be fine to start with). However i do understand peoples concerns that members will drop out. I think we need to find out a few more specifics from the landord who owns the arches. I will come to the meeting next week and will keep looking for spaces in the meantime.

Thanks

hannah b

[Tom Lynch]

The arch was repossessed. No one is there ATM. 

Sent from my iPhone

[Gordon Endersby]

The key thing is communication and keeping the members engaged.
The weekly meet up, the blog and the newsletters  and chasing up members who dont seem to be getting the message will all help.

Keep people informed and assured that we arnt loosing momentum.
And try get more of them engaged in the space hunt.

How can we rally the troops?
What can we do to get as many of them to turn up next Wednesday to find out whats happening and encourage them to have a view on what we need and how long is acceptable to wait for it?

The only communication we have is via the internet so we need a rally call in the next newsletter. Mirrored on the blog, forum, tweeted and facebooked.

Gordon

[Ben Hillyard]

Do we know what state the new (possible) arch is in? If it's been lined and/or has toilet it might be quicker to get up and running there than it would have been in the one we've been looking at. 

Ben

[Sarah Barber]

Yeah I see what you're saying. I think 2 months is not so bad when you know there is a definite place to move to. But I think if we kept on looking without finding anything that after 2-3 months people might stop paying their membership. And in that case it might have been preferable to go with west Norwood. However I haven't seen the place and am not really pushing to go there as it seemed small from the photos. I just think it might be better than pub meetups (but only if we haven't got something else sorted for the future). Will try to look out for some alternatives before my hol.

---

From: Tom Lynch
Sent: 30/07/2014 17:27
To: southlondo...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [SLMS] Re: Bath Factory Arch - Someone else got there first

Hey

To be fair we would have been closed for way more than two months with the arch renovations as it's a massive job and I don't think that these these arches are going to work..

Frankly we don't have a choice. We need to find another new home so again we need people to get looking and we need people to redouble their efforts as there weren't many suggestions before now...

Everyone needs to spend a couple if hours a week looking...

Going to streets, looking out the window on a bus or train etc...

Tom

Sent from my iPhone

On 30 Jul 2014, at 17:23, Sarah Barber <sarahb...@gmail.com> wrote:

Quite worried abut assuming we can have the next arch. The phrase 'soon' rings alarm bells to me. If a tenant is moving out, the landlord should know when surely? Do we know why he can't give more concrete info? It might be because no-one has actually decided to move out in which case I don't see the point in assuming anything. If he does know of a tenant moving out perhaps we can convince him to come up with a concrete date and if we like the other arch (I assume we will), we could start drafting up a contract in advance.

I wouldn't want to be homeless for any more than 2 months as I think it will affect membership. My instinct is most people are members because they want to use the space and if theyre not turning up regularly it's either because they are too busy or because theyre waiting for better tools. I'm not sure how many people just want to support the project - probably just a few core members.

Personally I can cope with pub meetups for a while but I don't think we should discount Access west norwood as a stop gap as it's quite cheap and better than a pub. I think let's try and chase up this new arch but if we don't find anything in a week or 2 we should consider Access West Norwood.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South London Makerspace" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to southlondonmaker...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "South London Makerspace" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/southlondonmakerspace/1Pa4y5A0KCs/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to southlondonmaker...@googlegroups.com.

[Tom Lynch]

Hey

Access was turned down already do doubt it will be available for long... Also the reason we are doing the Wednesday nights is because it's hardly any different to uMeet which is a Thursday social around a table for most people.

I also wanted to highlight that we've been looking for spaces for about a year already and I have been working hard on it for 8 months and not found a dot.... It doesn't bode well.....

Tom

Sent from my iPhone

[Gordon Conway]

Hello I'm unfortunately a member who hasn't managed to get down to the space yet due to other commitments so it's really for those using to decided on the next move though i'd like to say that I'm a shift worker so a single night meet up is problematical and really like the 24hr access idea. I joined because of the orignal move to artist arches and the perfect for me herne hill location. I'd also like to say I joined to at least help get the space under way even only by so far by my membership fee so I'm not just going to stop paying if tehre is no space for a while. Anyway I hope to get to a meet soon and get some serious making done this winter.

Yours Gordon

[Gordon Endersby]

Gordon,
Thanks for your support.

Gordon, a different one.

[mstclair87]

A microbrewery would be nice to help us drown our sorrows but it obviously won't be ready soon enough. Therefore suggest having a barbeque at my place (near Tulse Hill), say, next Tuesday. I have a whole lot of home-made cider that needs drinking up.

RSVP in this thread, giving your email address, and I'll send you the address.

Matthew

On Wednesday, 30 July 2014 14:08:04 UTC+1, Tom Newsom wrote:

Unfortunately today it was discovered that the person Dermot had been speaking to was actually just the site manager. On finally talking to the landlord, he told us that he has already decided to let the space to a microbrewery which is likely to be confirmed in the next couple of weeks. The landlord has refused to accept other offers in the meantime but has said a few other arches will come up "soon", including the one two doors down.

This now means we have two choices, Access West Norwood, or staying homeless while holding weekly meet-ups and looking for a new home/waiting for "soon" to happen.

[toby @ tobyz]

That is an awesome suggestion. Is it possible / would it be better to have it instead of one of the Wednesday meet-ups?

(and I can’t come this Tues, but that’s not the thought behind the suggestion)

[Tom Lynch]

Hey,

We've been talking about doing a BBQ one saturday, this week is not a good idea because we need to ensure we get this first Wednesday going...

Tom

[mstclair87]

OK, not Tuesday, then. How about next Saturday?

Matthew

On Thursday, 31 July 2014 12:45:47 UTC+1, Tom Lynch wrote:

Hey,

We've been talking about doing a BBQ one saturday, this week is not a good idea because we need to ensure we get this first Wednesday going...

Tom

On 31 Jul 2014, at 12:42, toby @ tobyz <oper...@tobyz.net> wrote:

> That is an awesome suggestion. Is it possible / would it be better to have it instead of one of the Wednesday meet-ups?
>
> (and I can't come this Tues, but that's not the thought behind the suggestion)
>
> On 31 Jul 2014, at 10:22, mstclair87 <mstcl...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> A microbrewery would be nice to help us drown our sorrows but it obviously won't be ready soon enough. Therefore suggest having a barbeque at my place (near Tulse Hill), say, next Tuesday. I have a whole lot of home-made cider that needs drinking up.
>>
>> RSVP in this thread, giving your email address, and I'll send you the address.
>>
>> Matthew
>>
>> On Wednesday, 30 July 2014 14:08:04 UTC+1, Tom Newsom wrote:
>> Unfortunately today it was discovered that the person Dermot had been speaking to was actually just the site manager. On finally talking to the landlord, he told us that he has already decided to let the space to a microbrewery which is likely to be confirmed in the next couple of weeks. The landlord has refused to accept other offers in the meantime but has said a few other arches will come up "soon", including the one two doors down.
>>
>> This now means we have two choices, Access West Norwood, or staying homeless while holding weekly meet-ups and looking for a new home/waiting for "soon" to happen.
>>
>> We are meeting next Wednesday (6th August) at The Florence for the weekly meetup from 19:30, please RSVP
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South London Makerspace" group.

>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to southlondonmakerspace+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South London Makerspace" group.

> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to southlondonmakerspace+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

[Matthew Press]

Love the suggestion and thanks for the offer. 

I'm not free till after next weekend however.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to southlondonmaker...@googlegroups.com.