-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hey all,
We discussed having lower fees for students, and Jay requested some info on how other hackerspaces deal with it. Me and Roswyne got a bunch of information together. First off, I just want to make it clear: we're not looking at raising the rates, just at how the rates are broken down. Here we go! - ------------------ Protospace and ENTs: Both of their regular rates are $50/month and their reduced rate is $10/month. Neither of them restrict it to students, but the reduced rate does not give the member a key, storage space, or a vote at meetings. They are restricted to coming to the space when someone with a key is already there, and aren't authorized to use some tools/equipment. Protospace also offers a student membership at $30/month which requires proof of student status, and gives them a shelf and a vote. Both Calgary and Edmonton offer a reduced rate (1 or 2 months free) if you pre-pay for an entire year. The Baltimore Node does not offer a general reduced rate, but offers reduced membership rates to additional members of a household, and reduced memberships on a case by case basis. The Harford Hackerspace: multiple membership levels, which appear to range from $85/month down, depending on category (regular member, charter member, student, etc.), but their wiki has no other specific valued mentioned. VHS (in Vancouver): offers 3 price points - $50 (regular member), $25 (voting, no key), $10 (no key, no vote). Farset labs: We changed ours recently from a strictly 2 tier system (students + regular) to a more complex 4 tier system. This was partially driven by students being cheap whiny bastards, but also to give gradiated justification of expenditure; i.e. if the higher ups are complaining about something, it's more justifiable to invest in it. Also, in our region there's a bit of a wide equality gap, so there are a few 'money no object' folk who think 35 pounds a month is pennies, and others that get their groceries for a month with that. http://farsetlabs.org.uk/blog/roles-the-new-farset-labs-membership-model/ Quelab: $35 a month, and visitors, $5 per visit. we are working at having some prepaid visit "punch cards", and some family membership pricing, and also probably upping our pricing just a bit, to offset paypal and banking/insurance fees. Freeside: is $80/month for regulars, and $40 for "starving hackers"/students. Makers Local 256: a "pledge" model. You pledge whatever you want your monthly amount to be. I love this model but it's difficult to convince others to try it. I'll let them post more of its pros and cons if they're here. Workshop 88 in the western suburbs of Chicago: $50/mo Full Membership: 24hr access, voting rights, and discounts on classes $30/mo Supporting Membership: 24hr access ALTSpace: $50/month basic membership: 24hr access $200/month pro membership: bin storage for your stuff, option to set up a private workbench The private workbench thing was not part of our original plan but people really want it and are willing to pay for it, so they get to help subsidize the space for everyone else. I'd guess about 1/3 of our floor space is occupied with private workbenches now, and we don't want that to increase. TX/RX labs, in Houston, TX We have several different levels of membership with varying levels of access, the "standard" membership being the $80/mo. "Hacker" membership. http://www.txrxlabs.org/membership/ 10bitworks san antonio Weekly open house visitors - FREE AnyBitWorks - Haggle for benefits with equipment or workshops or small monetary donations Student - $20 plus 4 hours service (cleaning, loading, etc) Standard - $40 24/7 access - $50 metalab in Vienna: €20/month but membership is not required to use the space. (NOTE: This is the one I modeled ours after when we founded it) Linz, Austria: we'll allow members to choose between €10 and €30 or more, recommending €20. The idea of a free range is working very well for a German newspaper taz (i.e. they hit a good average and are among the few not loosing subscribers). We don't want 3 or 4 membership classes for students, regular and sponsoring as all should have the same access, rights, duties etc. One important thing: If you make a nice form, add a custom field; without no one might ever think about giving more than everyone else. Nottingham Hackspace: we have a Pay-What-You-Like fee. When we first started we had all these tiers and joining fees and stuff like that too but it was complicated and it confused people. We like simple rules in Nottingham. We insist that the member works out what membership is worth, then pays a little more than that, by a standing order directly into the Hackspace account monthly. Rule 1: Pay-what-you-like-but-pay-monthly You'd think people choose to pay only 50p or something right? Wrong, people think VERY carefully about what they would like to pay, based on frequency of access, use of consumables or just how they feel about the group or what they can actually afford. SplatSpace in Durham, NC: membership costs $50/mo and you get voting rights and keys to the place. Full-time students can get the same for $20/mo, and folks can pay $20/mo to get no real privileges if they'd like to support us. ?? space: 2 tiers: member is 50/monthly for regular working hours. 80 monthly gets you 24/7 agrees through a key/RFID system. 15 also gets you a day pass. No student rate, because there aren't many here, with it not being a college town Diyode: Regular membership: $50/month Student Membership: $25/month Homeschoolers:$30/month (restricted to business hours) Retirees: Pay whatever you want Can't afford it: Pay what you can above $10 If you pay by cash/cheques/month to month, it's an extra $10/month. Seems to be working out fine. No resentment, lots of members, rent gets paid every month. Plus, I was told that our commitment to being all-inclusive was a factor in us getting a $15,000 government grant to buy tools. So there you have it. :) Ron -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.19 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAlB9dwkACgkQ2t2zxlt4g/RYgACgu0QJqXmLHW18f4B2T7DRhEwP XBIAnjUUa+FZscLuddw+u1ze5gNDgqOr =raJR -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/
