Proposal: Keep our lab beautiful!

[Eric Wood]

The transformation that the lab has gone through during the last quarter is nothing short of amazing!  In my view, one of the greatest improvements is the additional room to move around and space for open workbenches that can be used for building stuff.

I would like to propose a relatively small change to an existing procedure that will help the community manage how we use our space as members.  The procedure I am proposing a change to is listed on the wiki as “Tool Acquisition HOWTO”.  Amongst other things the procedure talks about a vote if the new tool requires HeatSync funds for purchase.  I propose that we also require a vote if the new tool requires a non-trivial amount of space beyond what has already been established for a station.  If the new tool is small, temporary or fits into an existing station no vote would be required as we can manage these with parking tickets and the existing station champions.

Do we really need this?  I think we do.  The members of our community represent an almost unlimited number of interests.  Unfortunately, we do not have an unlimited amount of space.  I believe that the use of our space is just as important as card access and that we should manage it in a similar fashion.  There have been large number of recent additions or suggestions I think this is fantastic.  I also believe we need to give these ideas some thought as a community so that we don’t end up in a space that is twice as big but just as cramped as 140 West was.

The proposal:

Existing text: A proposal is necessary if you want to use HeatSync funds to purchase the machine.

Proposed text: A proposal is necessary if you want to use HeatSync funds for purchase or if the new tool or equipment uses more than four (4) square feet of space.  For the purpose of this procedure “tool or equipment” includes tables, permanent displays or anything else that would take additional space.

I look forward to the conversation around this proposal and any suggestions you may have.  Please don’t read this proposal as an attack at any specific idea or suggestion.  That is not the case.  I think we just need to give some thought into how we use the space and our proposal/vote system seems to work extremely well.

Thanks for your consideration.  The link to the procedure that I am referring to is:

https://wiki.heatsynclabs.org/wiki/Tool_Acquisition_HOWTO

[Andrew Moffat]

From what ive seen the tool acquisition isnt a problem because not many tools are purchased more donated. We already have donated tools that cant be used from lack of space. The issue I see is the random donations not going through proper channels. Donations are generally left out on a work bench instead of offered, inventoried, denied or approved then stored right. We have guides established that dont get used much.

[Linda Krecker]

I'd love to know the guidelines. Where are they located?

On Sun, Sep 9, 2018 at 5:04 PM 'Andrew Moffat' via HeatSync Labs <heatsy...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

From what ive seen the tool acquisition isnt a problem because not many tools are purchased more donated. We already have donated tools that cant be used from lack of space. The issue I see is the random donations not going through proper channels. Donations are generally left out on a work bench instead of offered, inventoried, denied or approved then stored right. We have guides established that dont get used much.

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Linda S K Brett, Ph.D.

Artist  |  Educator

Designing Art Studio

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[Jaime Glasser]

I agree with Andrew. Things (sometimes big) appear. And people seem to think if it’s something “hackerish “ like robot kits or computer cast offs we would want them
I think there should be a way to accept only what someone specifically wants to claim or station heads find valuable so they can store or use it in available space .

. I am accepting art supply donations but will make sure to keep going through stuff and only leave what is most useful and in general fit into the 4 drawer cabinet for common supplies.

If someone brings stuff in and it’s left I will go through it, organize it and rid of the rest.

[Andrew Moffat]

By guide I mean the donation receipt. The guide is unwritten. Like a donation of 50 folding chairs, we cant store that nor do we need it. Or a small box of paint brushes is more fair. 

We can make an amendment to the receipt. I guess similar to the current donation receipt with more detail.  Does it work? Is it donation or long term loan? for how long? Kind of a contract similar to the parking ticket system.

[Milton Williams]

There are some really good points here but kind of 2 diverging very similar subjects.  

Let me give you a hypothetical example.  I want to have a water bath printer.  I am going to donate it.  It requires an area about 8'x4', power and water connection.  I have decided that since I am donating it and it is quite pricey I'm just going to install it and everyone else can just deal with it.  I'll just run a hose when it needs to be topped off and I'll just borrow the power from the laser when I need to use it.  

Seriously this is a worst case scenario but it isn't that far off from what we deal with sometimes.  The Fire Department has put us on the list for semi-annual inspections.

I am totally for this.  I (anyone) should not be able to just push what I want on the lab.  we are doing this informally now by telling people their idea is bad or "NO" but it is so subjective.  

The donations process is a whole other issue that is probably more pressing.  I don't know how to deal with it at the moment.  I do get tired of coming into the lab and finding piles of random stuff.  Usually there are gems but we still deal with a lot of junk (my opinion).  

On Mon, Sep 10, 2018 at 4:54 AM 'Andrew Moffat' via HeatSync Labs <heatsy...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

By guide I mean the donation receipt. The guide is unwritten. Like a donation of 50 folding chairs, we cant store that nor do we need it. Or a small box of paint brushes is more fair. 

We can make an amendment to the receipt. I guess similar to the current donation receipt with more detail.  Does it work? Is it donation or long term loan? for how long? Kind of a contract similar to the parking ticket system.

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[Short Tie]

 Having a process for donations may also be good for those that donate. I have been cleaning house of building material, and it seemed that the lab might benefit from some of things that needed to leave my place. I asked about specific items, sometimes was given a solid yes, but then no one on location knew what to do with it, or was given a solid maybe and "a drop it by and we will sort it out". Stuff made its way down to the lab on my schedule, and was kind of just dumped, as there wasn't a well known/published plan for who wanted it or what the plan was for it. I left it cause people said they could use it. I didn't care for a receipt. Some of the donations sat in the same place for a long period (I don't visit often, and they hadn't moved between visits).

I don't want to clutter up the place. I don't always keep up to date with what all the plan is. I am not sure that the donations were at all helpful or just became a "pile of junk" someone dropped off. Now that I hear that donations are often more of a burden than a help, I will just handle disposal in other ways.

Getting a formal process might help make sure there is less junk and the junk that is donated is planned for and known by the community what it is for.

[Jaime Glasser]

Perhaps once we build more shelves upstairs and get storage organized we can have a specific location to put donated goods that need to be vetted...so a Donation Station....then have a donation champion who knows the general working of the lab and familiar with the stations and can talk to folks to see if something “new” would be needed or used and make an executive decision to chuck it, find it a home or pass it on to somewhere else.

Also in a related matter, I know Milton you had been in favor of electronics recycling via a ER2 bin that would be picked up and emptied ongoing basis. If this is something that can be manageable perhaps the donation champion could also be responsible for that too, and encourage other recycling as appropriate. If this didn’t get out of hand it would be a very valuable and positive thing to offer.

Cheers

Jaime

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[Melissa Trible]

One thing that might help with the donation of smaller items/materials: have a designated donations spot.  Maybe get a small bookshelf or cabinet.  Have the procedure be something like you bring in the item(s), stick a date tag on them, then people can either move them to the appropriate station, take them for their own projects, or the like.  Anything there for more than 60 days or whatever gets donated to Goodwill or somesuch.