[General] Hackerspace Information Request

[Greg]

Hello!

I put your questions before the members and here is what they had to say:

We are interns at the Pennsylvania School for Global
Entrepreneurship working with the Allentown Economic Development
Corporation. Currently we are helping them develop a hackerspace to
meet the needs of the residents of the Lehigh Valley.

 Great! We are of the opinion that the world needs more hackerspaces.

We have assembled a list of questions about your hackerspace and
we would be grateful if you would be able to provide us with some
guidance for this venture.

 We will certainly do our best.

General Information
·         What factors lead to the development of your particular hackerspace?

 We first started as a group of friends wanting to innovate
new ideas. Our biggest problem was that we did not have the tools,
knowledge, or space to do so on our own. We had a wide range of skill
sets and many of our ideas overlapped. So, operating on the concept
that a cooperative atmosphere would foster further ideas, we began
meeting once a week in a volunteer's apartment. It soon became obvious
that we needed more room for people, tools, and supplies so we rented
our first shop. The basic philosophy is "Everyone is an expert on
something but not everything." Each member assists where they can
covering any knowledge gaps a project may have.

·         What do you charge your customers; do you charge a monthly fee or rental by square foot?

 We have a completely donation-based system with occasional
fundraisers. Our area has many bright people who may not be able to
afford to pay a a set fee. We did not want to exclude these people and
what they might offer simply because they cannot pay as much as other
people. 

·         Do you provide the equipment for your clients or do they use their own?

 Both. Most equipment is owned or donated by members.
Anything the shop has members are free to use, and many of the personal
tools are shared with those who need them. The tool usage is mostly
self-policed. A member doesn't use a tool unless they know how to
properly use it. Usually that member can find someone who does know how
and learn from them.

·         If you do provide it, what is the staple equipment that you recommend any successful hackerspace acquire?

 There is no perfect answer to this. There are hackerspaces
with CNC mills, metal lathes, 3D-printers, and laser cutters, then
there are hackerspaces with pencils, paper, and a soldering iron or
two. It really depends on what your focus is going to be. As a general
rule, basic woodworking equipment such as saws, hammers, drills, etc,
are important as they allow you to build the hackerspace's
infrastructure. Despite your particular focus, you will still need
workbenches, shelves, and so on.

Demographics
·         What is the typical age group to which you cater?

 We have a wide range of members. We try not to cater to a
specific age group. The only exception is underage people as there are
liability and parental consent issues. Even so, we have people bring
their children with them often.

· What types of projects do your clients generally work on? More
specifically, do you have general distribution among clients who work
primarily with computer software versus those whose work focuses on
manufacturing or the arts?

 Our projects are as varied as the members themselves. We
see many hardware and software projects mostly because programmers and
electrical engineers make up a significant part of our membership but
many take this as an opportunity to expand into other fields they have
wanted to try. Our projects range from gardening to vacuum molding to
wood block carving to surface mount ovens and RC lawnmowers to taking
photos from outer space. Give or take smelting aluminum and building
our own photobooths 

Best Practices & Marketing
·         What would recommend as best practices for a developing hackerspace?

 Debate still rages over what is the best way to do this.  http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Design_Patterns
This link showcases the most common design patterns that have been
used. It really comes down to what would be best for the group of
people you have. We followed the German Pattern without realizing it.

·         What marketing methods have you found to be most successful?

 We have used showcasing projects on Youtube, advertising events on the radio and with flyers, and plain old word of mouth.

·         Do you have partnerships with local colleges, vocational schools, or businesses?

 We don't but we are looking into such things.  Being a 501c3 charity helps out in these situations.

If there is any additional information you can provide which we
may have overlooked or that would be beneficial to our venture, we
would be extremely grateful for all of your help.

 We would be happy to help you if we can.  Let us know if you have any questions.

Regards, 

Greg Brown

--- On Thu, 7/8/10, Zachary Cahn <zcahn01 at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Zachary Cahn <zcahn01 at gmail.com>
Subject: Hackerspace Information Request
To: contact at makerslocal.org
Date: Thursday, July 8, 2010, 6:20 PM

Dear Makers Local,

We are interns at the Pennsylvania School for Global
Entrepreneurship working with the Allentown Economic Development Corporation.
Currently we are helping them develop a hackerspace to meet the needs of the
residents of the Lehigh Valley. 

We have assembled a list of questions about your hackerspace
and we would be grateful if you would be able to provide us with some guidance for
this venture. 

General
Information

·        
What factors lead to the development of your
particular hackerspace? 

·        
What do you charge your customers; do you charge
a monthly fee or rental by square foot?

·        
Do you provide the equipment for your clients or
do they use their own?

·        
If you do provide it, what is the staple equipment
that you recommend any successful hackerspace acquire? 

Demographics

·        
What is the typical age group to which you
cater? 

·        
What types of projects do your clients generally
work on? More specifically, do you have general distribution among clients who work
primarily with computer software versus those whose work focuses on
manufacturing or the arts?

Best Practices
& Marketing

·        
What would recommend as best practices for a
developing hackerspace?

·        
What marketing methods have you found to be most
successful?

·        
Do you have partnerships with local colleges,
vocational schools, or businesses? 

If there is any additional information you can provide which
we may have overlooked or that would be beneficial to our venture, we would be
extremely grateful for all of your help.

Sincerely,

The Allentown Economic Development Corporation and the
Pennsylvania School for Global Entrepreneurship
-- 
Zachary Cahn
845.709.1961
zcahn01 at gmail.com




      
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