This is an amazing space. They have a jaw-dropping range of equipment and the cleanest / largest / best shared work space and private offices I've ever had access to. It's unclear what the specific issues causing them to close are but it's definitely not an issue of quality.
I have no experience organizing and my free time is unfortunately very limited right now but this seems very much like a place that is worth saving somehow...
> It's unclear what the specific issues causing them to close are but it's definitely not an issue of quality.
It's pretty clear that they no longer have enough money to continue operations and were too reliant on non-revenue based sources (grants/partnerships) to keep the doors open which seems to have run dry:
The reality is, our organization is unsustainable in its current form. Our revenue streams over the years have been a mix of membership, ticket sales, and office rentals, but heavily reliant on grants and partnerships. At present, without a significant investor, major partnership, or direct injection of funds, our runway is not long enough to make the changes necessary for building long-term self-reliance.
It's a shame, looks like a really interesting spot for tinkerers and hackers. Let's hope they do get a chance to come back as they say it will remain in some capacity. Sacramento is a long drive from the bay area, where you'd think most of the target demographic resides, but I'm guessing the rent prices on a space make it untenable.
> too reliant on non-revenue based sources (grants/partnerships) to keep the doors open
I looked into joining NYCResistor a while back and the membership fee was quite high (I don't remember it and I don't want to give wrong info). It was the kind of fee that would exclude a lot of people who this kind of space was meant to benefit and undercut the ethos of hacker/makerspaces generally. On the other hand, rent in downtown Brooklyn is really high. It sounds like this space was using grant funding to keep individual fees down and thereby promote accessibility. That's really cool. I am sad to see that they're closing, but this might be better for the community than multiplying membership fee rates or other "revenue" to stay open. It's a hard call and I don't envy them.
NYCResistor does look to drive engagement by discounting membership to $75 a month if you teach 2 classes a year.
Given the ___location, and looking at pricing of comparable west coast makerspaces, this pricing model seems pretty fair.
Without daily active users a makerspace or hackerspace will usually stop growing in membership, leaving it in a lurch where rent is going up, tools aren't getting upgraded, and the space is becoming less viable by the month :c
> NYCResistor does look to drive engagement by discounting membership to $75 a month if you teach 2 classes a year.
That seems like a good idea until you've been through some of the courses I've seen people run at hacker spaces. You need a committee to vet the courses and fire instructors that are terrible.
> but I'm guessing the rent prices on a space make it untenable.
There's quite a bit of industrial space at... let's call it "not entirely unreasonable" prices in e.g. Oakland or other areas further out. As a result, there's really no shortage of makerspaces in the Bay Area. (https://makernexuswiki.com/wiki/Maker_Spaces_In_San_Francisc...)
Community spaces cost real money. You have a choice as a space to price yourself at gym membership levels ($35 to $75 a month), or go higher and add value with storage space, desk space, really nice tools, staff, etc.
Do you want to build a space for occasional use by a random, large assortment of people, or one where the members make consistent, weekly use of the space and value the space highly?
>storage space, desk space, really nice tools, staff, etc.
All of those things besides the tools are a waste of money. The machine shop at my university was free. The foreman filtered morons and transients by throwing a 300-page safety book at anyone who wanted to cross the yellow-black tape. As a consequence everyone who was there really wanted to be.
A low membership price puts it in the range of people who just want access to the tools. The kind of people who would also be hanging out when someone new shows up with an idea and a lot of questions. If boutique makerspaces work, then ask yourself why this place failed.
If you're planning on building a fountain somewhere else that doesn't already have an aqueduct, then yes absolutely, since that becomes a very relevant piece of information in your cost analysis
OP wasn't suggesting anyone build a machine shop and then not charge money, they responded to this argument above:
> Do you want to build a space for occasional use by a random, large assortment of people, or one where the members make consistent, weekly use of the space and value the space highly?
by saying that price barrier is not a prerequisite for quality and safety of a space. People can value the space they're in because they were initiated into the culture, not merely because it costs $120/month.
I agree that there should be government investment in hacker spaces since they are just machine shops that aren't stuck in 1950. The name however was stupid and killed any take up by government. Maker spaces were a slightly better rebranding which at least didn't actively push sponsors away.
>If boutique makerspaces work, then ask yourself why this place failed.
Because at $100 a month it wasn't boutique. If you want the top end you do what universities do: charge $2k a month and give scholarships to the worth while members who can't afford that.
The workshop filled with a bunch of "anarchist" flags where no one is doing anything interesting and members seem more concerned with creating an "inclusive" space than engineering. That wokeshop.
"We are a space for nonbinary people and women (trans, cis, intersex, queer, straight, and not-fitting-into-those-labels). Membership is open to all women and nonbinary people, self-identified."
You know, it's a little crazy that it's men being constantly accused of sexism in the tech industry when there are hard-coded rules for excluding men from places, employment opportunities, and not simply treating everyone as equals.
That is utterly horrifying. It's so nakedly racist and sexist, and proudly so.
I comfort myself with the idea that such rabid hatred isn't sustainable in the long run. People mellow out, society mellows out and becomes ever more accepting. Fifty years from now this sort of thing will seem just as alien as, say, the McCarthy era, or indeed the alternate reality of communist states.
I have no experience organizing and my free time is unfortunately very limited right now but this seems very much like a place that is worth saving somehow...