This email is long, and for that I apologize. I'd ask that you read
it in full, as it may impact items you own or have left at the Hive.
Two weeks ago, when the producer from Channel 9 was visiting the space
to interview us and take video, one thing he said to me struck home a
bit. He said, "This place looks like where old hardware goes to die."
I looked around the space on Tuesday night after the meeting, and I
realized how right he is. A significant portion of our work areas and
our storage areas are filled with old, broken, inoperable stuff. Some
of it is old PCs, some of it is half-working projects, some of it is
stuff where our imaginations and hearts are bigger than our willpower
and time. (As a member of this glass house, do not mistake me as I
throw no stones.)
We need a change. We need more usable space for our members to
complete projects. We need old projects cleared out. We need larger
personal storage space for ongoing projects than old school lockers.
We need more work tables and better organization.
As such, we have formed a plan:
1) It's garbage month. On the eve of our 1st anniversary, it's time
for a reckoning and a serious cleaning. Room by room, we need to
assess what needs to stay and what needs to go. To that end, we have
marked the left hand side of the open area with tape on the floor (see
attached image.)
Between now and the 15th, items should be moved to this area that are
to be disposed. After the 15th, there will be a ~1 week time period
where we won't put anything new here, to give everyone a time to check
it over and ensure that something they value isn't slated for the
trash. I will work with the City to schedule a large and/or hazardous
item pickup for anything moved into this area.
2) Ed will be building (with some assistance) some 3x3x3 cubbies on
the wall outside the dirty room by the double doors. These cubbies
will be designated for members to use to store ongoing projects or
other personal items so as to leave work areas and tools clear of
projects that are in progress. This will allow us easier access to
tools and collective work areas.
3) We will be building a long workbench along the wall left of the
double doors. Under this bench will be shorter work tables that can
be slid out and used for projects or for temporary work space. The
remainder of the large workspace will be used for a combination of
larger tools (lathe, saws, etc).
4) We're going to hold a breakdown day, I believe on a Saturday (I
can't remember if we said the 19th? - Dave or Ed or Paul please chime
in) wherein the trash pile and other items will be stripped for their
usable parts and everything else thrown away the following day. If
you want some wrench time tearing down some electronics and other
stuff, I'd encourage you all to help out!
In order for this to work, we need everyone's help. Nobody wants to
throw away something that is useful to another member, but the
situation has become untenable. If you have brought items to the Hive
in the past year and you know they're still sitting around, please
make the time to come and and determine if they're usable or not and
if not move them to the trash pile yourself.
Between the 8th and the breakdown day, you are welcome to remove your
own items from the trash zone and take them home with you if you don't
want them thrown away, but unless they are slated for use in an active
or ongoing project, we ask that they be removed from the Hive
altogeher. If you feel there needs to be an exception for a
particular object, please ask and we'll handle that on a case by case
basis. (I am sure there are things that will come up.)
The goal of this entire project is a spring cleaning, a fresh start,
and a new way of looking at how we share our work areas and how we
keep stagnated projects and just plain trash (I'm looking at you, pile
of Pentium 2s) from overtaking our valuable work space.
Here's to a cleaner 2nd year!
Jason
