[Vanhackspace] Notes from emergency meeting

[Jeff Davis]

In attendance: Joe, David, Jeff, Austin (via speakerphone)

- No One Is Illegal is apparently also interested in the space for turning
into a social space; hard to believe they have the resources for it though
- our draft mission (for incorporation): to promote the creation and use of
new and unique technologies
- David C wants a space he can work in, and lock up to keep his expensive
gear safe
- with care we can dismantle existing plywood structures easily and reuse
it if it's good (maybe for walls although it's not as good at damping sound
as drywall, and more ugly)
- building stuff that can be easily disassembled would be smart
- could be a good possibility to get smaller, cheaper spaces with
shorter-term leases, and move on when we grow and prices drop (as the
economy tanks)
- we have approx $1580 to our name
- several folks are OK with putting down several months in advance: David,
Joe, Luke(?)...
- office volunteers: David, Jeff, Austin, maybe a few others
- what do offices cost?
- minimum: 3 x $200 = $600/month
- could start with larger offices now and shrink them as more space is
required by the group as a whole
- currently hovering around 10 paying members, of which half are paying $50
and half around $25
- asking $50 for 24/7 access is unrealistic; we should raise to $50 for
that level of access and promote, and we should be able to get enough people
- chicken/egg problem: until we have a space to attract people, we won't
get enough people to afford a space
- might be good to look at eatART as a growth space where we can actually
do stuff -- would sharing a bigger space help bootstrap us out of the
chicken/egg problem?
- Luke's proposal for folks to pay a number of months in advance, up-front
right now, would help get past the problem
- there's a risk there: if we don't expand and can't afford the space after
a few months, they're screwed -- but if they're willing to take that risk...
- Austin: seems to be a lot of interest in DIY in the city, we would be
offering a unique opportunity to people with those interests: unlike other
spaces (e.g. VIVO, Blim), DIYers would have 24/7 access
- so, four steps:
  1. get another look at the space
  2. find out how many people are willing to shoulder some risk and pay
up-front in advance to cover first few months
  3. confirm folks are willing to up membership to $50
  4. work hard to bring in lots of new members
- David will put together a spreadsheet to calculate our membership and
money requirements
- can we get concessions from the landlord because we're fixing up the
space? -- e.g. improving the bathroom, if done professionally, would cost
at least a month or two of rent
- need to meet with landlord before we take it
- we have called Saif to see if more of us can go down and look, maybe on
Saturday (assuming it's still available) -- Joe called and we're waiting
for a response
- it's the most promising space we've seen so far, but we should be sure
that it will meet our needs -- don't take over the current tenant's
liabilities (damage etc) along with the lease, charges for excess utililty
use, compare by-laws between Vancouver and other municipalities
- in the meantime we need to seriously think about other ways to raise
funds and bootstrap this thing
- should have fundraising workshops, maybe a VeloFusion in a few months,
would need to promote and make it interesting for folks
- would be good to have a fallback plan, like converting to office space if
the hackspace plan doesn't work out
- Joe will organize a by-donation crypto workshop at Spartacus in the near
future
- David can do various awesome-sounding workshops
- options for workshop locations: Spartacus, DharmaLab, SFU Harbour Centre
(Austin knows some SFU folks who might be able to get space for free),
Workspace, Hoko's... -- Jeff will email the list requesting suggestions for
spaces