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Society Information/Meetings

BUILDING A WORKSHOP GUIDLINE
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Not replying to anyone in particular, just feel this is interesting.


Shuswap Makerspace:

3D printing workshop introduction (3 hours) $105/person

Metal Lathe workshop (3.5 hour) $225/person

Laser cutter certification (2 sessions) $225/person



oops. fixed a typo.

We did change a few words around. The social media is suggested to be given to the board or an approved moderator. The fee schedule more closely represents the current room rental rate. I would be happy to call this done and let the board handle it from here.


There is no document that can cover every possible senario. Its always up to people to make decisions in the end.


A signup sheet still needs to be made.


Edit: The original workshop guideline should be renamed something like "Official Makerspace Workshop Guideline " and kept as is. It still stands as a good guideline for times when the makerspace is hosting workshops.

Grants tweaks look good but I still recommend social posts about board approved workshops are doable by anyone with editor status on Facebook - recommend further that instructors are given editor access to fb page - more ownership and sense of engagement with full control by board anyway.

To remind, only duly elected board members of KMS may be admin status of fb page or website but other authors are encouraged under firm control of the keys to such vehicles. Processes for the accurate and standard publication, dissemination and retention of these records, for purposes both public and private in terms of use, shall be established, debated, agreed upon,and enshrined within the constitution of the Kamloops Makerspace Society, as soon as is reasonably prqc4ical (Agm 2022?)

last tinkering before the meeting

Test Driving Grants guidelines:


Makerspace Member Dougie Doesright wants to host a macramé workshop, cause macramé is how Dougy rolls.


Dougie snags a WORKSHOP APPLICATION from the document caddy in the KMS Lounge or perhaps fills one out online (?) – Dougie ensures his application meets the attached WORKSHOP GUIDELINES, which are also available in the document caddy or online (?) and also checks the Makerspace Calendar (link and access is somehow supplied to Dougie ?).


Dougie works with a handy Board Member to get his WORKSHOP APPLICATION form approved and signed.


Dougie arranges his promotional material or information and forwards it to info@kamloopsmakerspace.com – yet another handy Board Member expedites Dougy’s post onto KMS social Media ? Dougie can then share it on his own social. (Recommend that anyone with access to KMS social media can post an approved workshop – this will reduce Board workload).


Dougie is locked in and stoked – Dougie is more likely to engage the Space and even volunteer! Dougie is chatting up his friends and network about Makerspace and sharing like crazy. Good work, Dougie!


Dougie accepts etransfers (or whatever payment method he chooses), encourages people to signup as Members and get the workshop for free, gets his documentation and materials together and whatever else he needs to do a fabulous workshop, including pre-checking the workspace he intends to use to ensure it is ready for macramé madness. Makers help Dougie, if they can.


Dougie has crushed it and 13 people have signed up, including 3 NEW MEMBERS, who are taking advantage of FREE WORKSHOPS FOR MEMBERS! Dougie has sent them an email confirming they are registered and giving them the info they need, such as where, when, what, why and who to ensure they get the most out of the workshop!


Registration and budget looks like this for Dougie:


9 non-Member, at $40/person $ 360.00

4 Members (3 of them new) at $0 $ 0.00


Materials cost minus $ 86.45

NET proceeds $ 273.55

25% of NET $ 68.38

Subtract $20/new member X3 $ 60.00


Dougie pays Makerspace $ 8.38 (and signed up 3 new Members)

Dougie pockets $205.17 (4 hours of prep, 3 hrs actual class and 1 hr cleanup - Dougie made $25.64/hr


THE BIG DAY ARRIVES and Dougie arrives early to prep the Space and get ready for his workshop – Dougy is nervous, but friendly Makers are encouraging and helpful and do what they can to support him.


Dougies students arrive a bit early and SIGN THE LIABILITY WAIVER AND SIGN-IN SHEET upon arrival. Dougie even asks if anyone wants to signup to be a Member and get the workshop for FREE – Dougie is super solid!


The class goes great, lots of photos are posted tagging Kamloops Makerspace and all is well – the new Members are stoked about the OTHER FREE WORKSHOPS that are posted!


The class finishes, Dougie cleans the Space he used, completes and signs his SIGN-IN checklist, gathers the completed waivers and leaves all the documents at the Office Door. (Dougie is smart and he makes a copy of the signin sheet for himself, so he can stay in touch with his new macramé people!)


Dougie posts, shares and enthuses about how easy it was to do a workshop at Kamloops Makerspace and how friendly everyone was –what a GREAT PLACE to tell your friends about!

I've tinkered with the guidline document. The fee structure is different and more fair. There is a checklist and a feedback form added.

6 works. Sorry for the late reply.

Here is my feedback/recommendations for the proposed Kamloops Makerspace Workshop Guidelines. These suggestions are based on my experience and estimates of what will deliver the intended outcomes, ie “More workshops > more exposure > more Members > more income and volunteers >, repeat.”


Recommend all independent workshops (and Master Classes, as well, for that matter) are FREE FOR MEMBERS, with some exceptions (which is already covered in Grant’s boilerplate). This is a great tool for selling memberships and ensures the Space always benefits.


Recommend independent instructor donates 20% of NET proceeds to Makerspace, not 50% of all fees. 50% just won’t work in terms of attracting enough independent instructors, let alone making them Members. The point is to make the fee structure very inviting for people to become Members and do workshops – that’s the priority. “More workshops > more exposure > more Members > more income and volunteers >, repeat.”


Recommend independent instructors are equipped with (or made aware of and encouraged to highlight to attendees) tools to immediately signup a new Member - ie, the workshop participants should be given the option of signing up as a Member immediately and getting the workshop for free.


Recommend Independent instructors are furnished with, and required to utilize, a standard format Makerspace Workshop sign-in sheet (on a clipboard) for all guests, which participants sign (including email and phone number) when they complete liability waiver. This completed form (or a copy of it) is left at Makerspace office after workshop by independent instructor (signed by them, as well) for verification. This will also ensure contact tracing, if necessary.


Recommend Independent instructors are required to have all guests in the building sign the supplied liability waiver and deliver those docs to office door when finished workshop, along with the instructor counter-signed sign-in sheet for the workshop.


Recommend a checklist is created for independent instructors to follow to ensure they complete the essentials (keep it short) – it could be included on the sign-in sheet, and therefore checked off, signed and delivered to office, as well?


Thanks to everyone contributing to this discussion - I hope to see a robust programme of workshops, 101's and events this Fall through Spring at the Kamloops Makerspace!

Sure. Unless you wanted us all over to sign your cast. lol


edit: We didn't pick a time. Does 6pm work?

Hey all, this meeting had slipped my mind due to other circumstances that will also prevent me from being there in person. Those circumstances being me having broken a leg bone on Sunday.


Can I zoom in?

I've made a draft guidline for discussion. Feel free to edit or comment.

The July 7th Member's meeting did happen, we figured not everyone needs to be involved in creating the guidelines for a workshop/class and have set the 14th as a time for those interested in having input to gather. If you are interested you are welcome to join us

so that means that the July 7thmeeting didn't happen?

14th looks good to me

Looks good to me.

How will next Thursday night, July 14th work for everyone to do our committee meeting?

I am glad this topic is getting the discussion it needed. better late than never. I hope that we can all agree now to move forward on this and not dwell on past mistakes, and see about improving our process to prevent this in the future. Perhaps a dedicated forum thread for any policy proposal as solely member meetings evidently isn't getting the required attention?


We are facing a bit of a chicken and egg problem here. We need members/volunteers to do work to make the space attractive (part of that includes workshops) and we need to make the space attractive to get more members/ volunteers. We can not make new members and volunteers materialize by will power alone. We can invest in making the space more attractive through things like workshops and maintenance. this is not sustainable with the current volunteer pool, so we need to get new members fast.


I think separating policy for makerspace run workshops and instructor run workshops is a good idea.

We should have a distinct name for these categories to avoid confusion. Classes Vs. Workshops?


To better define them for clarity I propose the tool instructional courses and community outreach courses such as the recent ones run for Girl Guides and Little Big Science center fall under the existing policy proposed in recent meetings.


and entrepreneurial workshops run by the instructor such as epoxy resin workshops, potter courses, chainmail, poured acrylic art, etc. fall under a separate guideline that Garret is proposing. In this case the makerspace would serve more as a venue than an organizer.


all guidelines on the subject of workshops should have safeguards to prevent abuse as has happened in the past. The simplest way i can think of to do this is that the makerspace retains the right to terminate an event held in the makerspace if abuse is being seen/ reported. I think a damage deposit or security deposit is also an option, but comes at the cost of increased workload on makerspace accounting. You act like a dick, you get your workshop cancelled and potentially get blacklisted. you would expect the same terms in any other venue host.

We need two separate guidelines. One for instructor led workshops and one for KMS workshops. The KMS workshops being the ones with grant money attached.

The workshop guideline as it is written works well for the second type of workshop.


A guideline for the first type of workshop should include an agreement by the instructor that the KMS facilities are provided on a best effort basis but that ultimately the instructor is responsible for ensuring the space is adequate. The instructor has to acknowledge they are not to rely on KMS volunteers and that they are responsible for any collatoral damage. Ie damaging or discarding someone elses property because its "in the way". I think that we should set the expectation that instructors accept the risk of failure as part of the reward of success

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