Re: [MhvMkrs] RasPi Roadshow was awesome

[Andrew Bingham]

Hello Stephen - thanks for your input and thanks for coming to the event.  We are currently in discussions to move into an empty modular classroom on the school.  As a board we haven't met to consider the implications of that on our dues yet, we wanted to get the agreement set up first, but I suspect we'll have a different structure going forward.  We'll do a relaunch in the next month or so and let everyone know where it falls.

As a question - if our new facility consisted of

1) A dedicated to MM classroom/electronics shop with tables, cabinets for project storage, soldering station, 3D printer, Raspberry Pi workstations, couches, flat screen TV, etc

2) Another space, potentially shared with the school's FIRST robotics teams if/when they re-start, with messier tools like drill press, lathe, mill, CNC router, wood tools, tables for fiberglass layups, etc

On the school, inside the secure fence line.

What do you think a fair price would be for a key?

Andrew

On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 8:32 AM, Stephen Baer <stephen...@gmail.com> wrote:

I attended the RasPi roadshow last night, and would like to thank the MM's for making it happen. I couldn't stay very long, but the fact that you got the foundation to come out to our little tech haven in the desert was awesome. I'd like to join the club, but as one of the threads discusses, $80 per month is a bit steep, especially for someone on a fixed income and  with no hackerspace currently available. Don't get me wrong; I know the group needs space, tools, materials, guest speakers, etc., and I know these things aren't cheap. I could swing the dues, but my sig-other is going to be mighty curious as to why I pay that considerable (for me) sum to a club with no meeting place. Speaking of which, how large a space do we need? Does it need three-phase? I was planning on setting up a modified shipping container as a workshop at the home/large lot we just purchased, but I don't think that would be big enough for more than two people at a time.

Anyway, hi all! Looking forward to joining you all in making useful and/or pointless gadgets.

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[Perry Chamberlain]

hi Andrew.

I would like to put my two cents in please. hopefully this will be taken as helpful criticism.

I think the big elephant in the room, is the fact the space is in Mojave.

With out  sounding condescending, along with Mojave being an hours drive from any sustainable membership,  the town itself is pretty depressing place to visit.

Many of the past members have been  bright young, transient engineering  interns, looking for a open door into the new private space biz, and come and go with alarming frequency, when they realize the really bad wages and opportunities, being offered by these start ups, that are really struggling with finances.

The ones that stayed were kind of using the space as a private after hours club, or a place to get away during lunch etc.,

which, was probably the only way the space could have started, in Mojave. If the space is to remain in Mojave, the only way it could prosper, is to  get completely free space donated by a govt. entity, like the county, the school district, the state, or the  a large commercial entity like the railway corp., and some form of grant from a science foundation, or Darpa.

I was kind of excited to join, but found when I attended, I was one of only one or two other people, or members who were in the building, the others being core members,  who were really trying to get things moving, and I quickly lost interest.

Most member never attended regularly,  the place was deserted, there was no heat, no cooling, and pretty rough facilities,

What the core group achieved,  was very surprising, and they accomplished quite a bit.

I think the membership, can not rely, on the Mojave space port employees, to keep it going.

A school, or govt agency is going to have to embrace it wholeheartedly, to ensure success.

you are going to need the resident population make up the majority of the members.

There seems to be no local interest at all, in this group, or very little at the most.

I think perhaps a move to Lancaster, or Palmdale, would give you a huge pool of prospective members, and tons of services available to the maker shop.

I think the drive is just too far, from Bakersfield, or Lancaster, to make a go of it.

This is just my opinion, and don't want to offend anyone, but I speak as someone who was dying to have a creative space available to use a lot, and enjoy the company, diverse knowledge, and creativity,  that is usually is in abundance at most successful spaces.

the space needs members.

It should go where the members are.

no flames please.

Respectfully

Perry Chamberlain

[Andrew Bingham]

Hi Perry - I appreciate the comments.  We are going to be moving into an unused building at the Mojave high school this weekend, so some of the support you mention has materialized.  Hopefully this will allow us to focus on having the tools/materials that members need in good working order and working on projects vs worrying about the building and such.  It also allows us to spend some more time thinking about the long term plan, while still being able to engage members and the community.

Andrew

[Ethan Chew]

At current, as a keyholder, I can open the shop for associate members from 10am to whenever on a Tuesday.  I can also keep the shop open on Saturday afternoons.  

What of the other keyholders?

On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 5:13 PM, Christopher Birkinbine <cbirk...@gmail.com> wrote:

I just wanted to chime in, as I have said before, my thoughts and experience mirrors that of Perry.

I am willing to give it a go with the new space however and see where it leads. For a fair price for a key and any time access to the space you described above, I would pay 80.

However I still feel a better 40 package should be available than current. There needs to be, I think more than one night a week that an associate member can count on being able to access the space, since we need a key member to be there. I maintain that these 40 members will make the bulk of membership.