We were talking about different types of memberships and things to do to attract more people to the hive in the irc channel. Everyone agreed that the way hive76 has their membership set up is really nice. http://wiki.hive76.org/Membership_Information
I think one of the things holding people back is that for the money it isn’t worth it for many people to join. For $100/month I don’t think enough is offered to make people go “wow”. The way hive76 has it is that every member has to host a class at least once or twice a month depending on your membership level. I think the classes offered so far have all been great, but they are way too sparse. I think having at least several classes a month would be great and a lot more people would become interested in the hive. Another thing is that while there are a fair number of tools at the hive they aren’t very organized. The soldering area is fairly put together, but that’s about it. The other tools like the drill press and the table saw (if it is still there) need to have their own workbench area. If there was an area for those types of tools (woodworking, drilling, etc) that would help bring projects to the hive.
Another thing is the cost. A lot of people (myself definitely included) can’t or don’t want to pay $100 a month to do stuff at the hive. While there is the reduced rate of $30/month I don’t think this provides enough options for most people. Hive76 has it set up so there are three levels at $100, $50, and $15. We already have a $10 and a $30 one, but the extra low cost one would be great. Now they don’t have many extra benefits, but even a few small things such as being able to be in group orders (such as the lady ada one for 40% off) and a few other perks that are already around for members or new ones we can thing of are all great. If this extra low cost one is introduced I do not think that enforcing stricter rules on non-members visiting the hive should be enforced at all. The current method is great for people who want to test everything out and see what the hive has to offer.
So all in all I think the hive needs to offer more content, the tools need to have better work areas, and their needs to be another tier of membership for people who aren’t ready/can’t pay for the full thing. Out of these the main thing I would really say is that the hive is lacking organization and doesn’t offer enough content such as tools and classes to interest most people.
Please add you input everyone, even if you don’t belong to the hive! If you subscribe, but haven’t joined please mention why so we can see if it’s something fundamental that needs to be changed.
I like the idea of a third tier of membership that is even cheaper.
Would we give that tier a @hive13.org account, or would we just come
up with a different way to include that class of people in groups
orders?
I also like the idea that you have to teach at least one class as part
of your dues.
And I agree about the tools. I'd like to see a pegboard or something
get set up for the hand tools. Or if we can't set that up right now,
at least maybe stick some labels on the shelves to tell where tools
belong.
I’m sure that a few extra perks could be figured out for the third tier that wouldn’t degrade from what non-members can do a ton. I think all website stuff should be granted to the third tier also, such as the @hive13.org
accounts, all docs so they can see what’s going on, possibly voting since they are still members after all. They also can also help provide input through voting on what would make them want to upgrade to the next tier. I’m sure a few other things could be thought of for this purpose.
So am I understanding this right? If you are at a $50 tier you must teach a class a month?
I would be OK with that. We could give them a hive13.org account once Google gives us
a student license (hoping they still will).
I think we all agree on what Jon said but Chris Anderson said it right when he called the Hive
a DO-ocracy. In that if you want something done you need to do it. Lots and LOTS of people
will show up at meetings and tell you what you should be doing to make the space better but
far to few people spend their own time volunteering to make the space better.
We originally had a plan to make it so if you volunteered a lot you could do a student
membership even if you were not a student. Or if you made other large contributions
you can have student membership rates. It works ok but I think mandatory class a month
would be a good method for the $50 rate… Also we said that instructors could get paid
for their class time by charging for the classes but nobody has done this yet. I imagine
that option would only be available for ppl not at the middle tier?
FYI, Int0x80 and Myself are working on some software reverse engineering classes. Planning
on having the first class by end of September. More info will be posted shortly.
You are understanding correctly. I am not necessarily fond of the idea of charging for classes. What would be a good way to do it is that if you are a non-member you have to pay a very nominal fee (maybe $5 or less?) to attend a class and if you are a member of any type (including friend of the hive) you get to take classes for free. That makes a lot of sense to me. I understand if you want something done you have to do it yourself, which is precisely what I am trying to do here! I haven’t been able to do tons at the hive because I’m not a member and thus can only come whenever someone else is at the hive. This means normally on tuesday meetings and during those tuesday meetings not a whole lot tends to get done outside of a bit of planning for the hive and maybe a little bit afterwards.
Another idea I think would be absolutely great to have is a “craft night” just like nyc resistor has. It can either be mainly for “friend of hive” (I think that’s the best idea) or it can be for the public, but it is a day every week where people who don’t normally have access can come in for a few hours, say 6 until 10 or 11, and work on projects like they normally would. I think this is a very logical step for people in between (friend of hive), seeing as how members get 24/7 access and non-members only get to come when someone else is there. Not everyone wants to pay for 24/7 access and may just want to have a few hours of work time at the hive a week.
i am all for ideas to bring down membership costs so i am definitely
open to suggestions, since i believe we have lost a fair number of
people for purely financial reasons.
jason bailey had a really good point, which is that if someone's
situation made $100 a month too expensive, but still wanted to give us
money and stay around, why not let them?
Yeah chris, I think that implementing this third tier could help solve part of that problem. Another thing to do is for people who can’t afford it give them the student version even if they aren’t a student. Would that be acceptable?