Advice for new Makerspaces/Hackerspaces/Creative Spaces

[Manda Maggs]

Hi! I'm an artist/maker, and I'm trying to get a makerspace up and running in my city. Mostly at this time, I want to get a handle on structure, budget, and the division of responsibilities so that as we gain more interest and enter into discussions around funding and how our supporters can get involved, I’ll have some real answers and examples. I’ve been tasked with developing a basic business model and tentative budget to present to our City staff for consideration (I am trying to negotiate the rental of a City-owned property for the space). I've been contacting makerspaces and hackerspaces around BC and posing the following questions to them. If any of you would be kind and generous enough to help me out by answering some of them, I would be very grateful. For the purposes of being brief, I'm referring to all types of shared creative spaces (creative common spaces, co-ops, hackerspaces, makerspaces, fablabs, STEAM workshops etc.) as 'makerspaces'. 

1. What structure is your makerspace? Not-for-profit, co-op, programming for a larger organization, municipal-run, etc.? What are the advantages/disadvantages of your structure? How long did it take to get from initial planning stages to operational makerspace? 
2. Where did you get start-up funding (if any)? (Grants, sponsorship, founding members, loan, etc)
   
3. Who are your primary users, and what are they wanting to get out of the experience of a makerspace (entrepreneurs looking for room to build a business, artists looking for studio space, hobbyists working on own projects, creative people seeking social outlet)?
   
4. How do you manage liability? 
   
5. Do you have community partners (schools, galleries, museums, libraries, businesses)? What do those relationships look like and how do they benefit your space? 
   
6. What is your estimated operating costs over a year? 
   
7. What impact has the makerspace had on your community? Would you be willing to share any feedback or testimonials you’ve received?  
   
8. What are the various ways you generate revenue besides memberships? (custom fabrication, commissions on sales of member’s products, obtaining sponsorship, fundraising events, etc.)
   
9. Do you run workshops or other programming at your makerspace? Do you pay your members to run these activities? 
   
10. Does your makerspace have a social/community benefit beyond providing a place for makers to collaborate/work alongside one another? (for example, a free bike repair station for homeless people, tool library, or discounted memberships for at-risk youth, etc).  If so, how is that going - is it a good balance with your other activities? 
    
11. Do you have any other advice for getting started? What did your space do well, and what would you have done differently? Where do you see your makerspace in 5 years?
    

Thank you in advance!

[Darcy Whyte]

I think its important to have enough people to sustain the space before starting.

--

Art+ inventorArtist.com | Makerspace hack613.com | Aviation rubber-power.com

Contact: da...@inventorArtist.com | 613-563-3634 by appointment

--

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

[Grant Fraser]

Hi Manda my name is Grant and I am the former treasurer of the Kamloops Makerspace

1. What structure is your makerspace? Not-for-profit, co-op, programming for a larger organization, municipal-run, etc.? What are the advantages/disadvantages of your structure? How long did it take to get from initial planning stages to operational makerspace? 

We are a registered non-profit under the societies act. We don't have charitable status 

1. Where did you get start-up funding (if any)? (Grants, sponsorship, founding members, loan, etc)

Funds would have come from founding members and fundraisers. The first location was in the basement of Kamloops Innovation. 

1. 
   
2. Who are your primary users, and what are they wanting to get out of the experience of a makerspace (entrepreneurs looking for room to build a business, artists looking for studio space, hobbyists working on own projects, creative people seeking social outlet)?
   

All of the above. The mix of users changes back and forth over time. 

2. How do you manage liability? 
   

We have a liability waiver that you have to sign before using any of the equipment and we carry liability and directors insurance. 

2. Do you have community partners (schools, galleries, museums, libraries, businesses)? What do those relationships look like and how do they benefit your space? 

Homeschool groups and special needs groups like using our facilities. They pay a fee for access and the students access to the equipment. Groups have to provide their own supervision.    

1. 
   
2. What is your estimated operating costs over a year? 

About $50k. We are leasing an old building. Rent and heat are about half that total.

1. 
   
2. What impact has the makerspace had on your community? Would you be willing to share any feedback or testimonials you’ve received? 

We've had lots of positive feedback but we don't track it.  If Kile is reading this he may have more to add.

1.  
   
2. What are the various ways you generate revenue besides memberships? (custom fabrication, commissions on sales of member’s products, obtaining sponsorship, fundraising events, etc.)

We hustle. We find partners that pay to use the facilities and we do fundraisers. We recently got NSERC funding by partnering with the BIg Little Science Center. We don't do custom fabrication. There are members that use the facility to make money and they make donations back to the space. There is no formula.  The City of Kamloops has provided partial funding for equipment and some companies have sponsored us with either cash, discounts, or donated equipment

1. 
   
2. Do you run workshops or other programming at your makerspace? Do you pay your members to run these activities? 

We do many workshops. They are the best way to teach people how to use the equipment. The usual fee structure will be $40 for non-members and free for members. The person putting on the workshop can choose to donate the money to the space or keep all or part of it. We don't pay members. 

1. 
   
2. Does your makerspace have a social/community benefit beyond providing a place for makers to collaborate/work alongside one another? (for example, a free bike repair station for homeless people, tool library, or discounted memberships for at-risk youth, etc).  If so, how is that going - is it a good balance with your other activities? 

We have a free open house every Wednesday. We give tours and the public is able to use the facilities for free without membership. If someone has a project they want to work on but can't afford membership they can stop in on Wednesdays to work on it. This is our give back to the community and what justifies the city giving us funding. 

1. 
   
2. Do you have any other advice for getting started? What did your space do well, and what would you have done differently? Where do you see your makerspace in 5 years?

For the first part its all on you. Find 3 friends that can support you. What we envisioned at the start is nothing like where we've ended up. We felt the metal shop would be the most popular and the wood shop was an afterthought. The opposite is true. The first big piece of equipment we got was a laser cutter. It's still the most popular machine. Recently we had a group of pottery people join and that has expanded the scope of what we do. 

If you can make it to Kamloops we can give you a tour and we can talk endlessly about our adventure

 

Thank you in advance!