Walk Through Orientation

It's very important that we train everyone similarly, in a culture of cleanliness, do-it-yourself, and safety otherwise the hackerspace can go to hell quickly.

Walkthrough Checklist

• Member agreement/rules
  • Wiki
  • Faq
• Liability Waiver
  • Check government photo ID & over 18

• Membership levels
  • What level are you?
  • What do you get?
    • $25: Just access during 7-10 "open hours", same as the public, plus voting in HYH. Mostly a donation, thank you for helping.
    • $50: Box, voting in HYH and board, potential for 24/7 card access
    • $100: Same as $50 but locker instead of box
  • Explain the how they can get a card.
    • Privilege based on trust, not a right. Come during public hours, make friends, ask for proposal, gets voted on during HYH. If you can't come in during public hours, make friends online and ask for favors. It's tough but we're a community not a business.
  • Member money helps us pay the rent, but members still need to leave the place better than they found it; that means helping clean, maintain, help others, and participate in our self-governance otherwise our co-op model won't work.
• Guest sponsorships
  • Keep an eye on your guests; if you're up front and they're in back breaking a tool, that's not good.
• Public/private space
  • We don't guarantee security of stuff in your box & ESPECIALLY not stuff left around the lab!
  • No taking equipment offsite or touching people's boxes/lockers.
  • Public stuff shouldn't be left in your box, your stuff shouldn't be left laying around the lab.
  • If you need to leave something in the lab, put a parking pass on it so we know it's yours and how to contact you.
  • Ideally, propose to the community that it be given space in the lab.
• How to fix/connect to wifi (hacktheplanet)
• Parking (dedicated, hour enforcement, street parking, passes)
• HeatSync is a hackerspace first, coworking space second. Our primary purpose is to provide tools for people to create things, and it can be a loud/dirty place.
  • There are tons of other places with WiFi, desks, couches, and projectors. There's only one place where you can use a bandsaw.
• Hack Your Hackerspace Meetings (agenda, vote on proposals, working on improving lab)
  • Soda (donations, repurchasing)
  • Member access card proposals
  • Proposals to keep or remove stuff in the lab
  • Monthly Treasurer report
  • Proposals to the Board/Treasurer
  • Process Lost & Found, Broken Tools, missing consumables
  • Clean up the lab
• To make proposals, just send an email to the google group with the word proposal in the subject.
  • A week before the next meeting, draft proposals are due and a community member should compile the proposals into an agenda for voting.
  • Final/amended proposals are due 24 hours before the meeting.
• Last rule the community passed: don't make us make more rules.

• Some equipment requires certification before use.
  • Members often teach classes. You can too, if you have a skill you want to share, you don't need to ask permission to teach a class.
• Generally speaking, ask another member prior to using a tool you haven't used in the lab before. We do things differently than at your home, ask so you know how to use OUR tools right.
• Tools and workstations should be kept usable, operable, complete, and clean.
  • If you use a lot of consumables, consider replacing them. We currently have no budgets or caretakers for consumables.
    • Exception: the tear apart bins and scrap; feel free to use, but no need to replace.
  • Don't render a tool unusable just because you needed to borrow a cable from it, or because you left it a mess.
  • If a tool breaks, put it into the broken tools bin, let people know about it, look into replacement.

• Location of thermostat, TV, lock/unlock tablet
• Explain stations & tools
  • Include sewing, A/V computer, tear apart, upstairs storage/music, safety equipment
• Location and usage of fire extinguishers & first aid kit & liability waivers

• First person in / last person out procedure
  • Turn on/off thermostat to 75', turn off fans
    • Thermostat resets every few hours, OK to adjust it, just don't override it, or we'll spend $600+/mo on electricity
  • Location of lightswitches, turn off when leaving
  • TV signage up front
  • Check door locks are all green, not red or off
  • When keeping the doors open, keep an eye on the door and make people who walk in your guest and responsibility
    • If you're not comfortable making someone your responsibility, you don't have to let them in.
    • You can lock the doors any time; we're a private member organization.
    • Do not simply open the doors and then leave; hand off responsibility for the doors to someone when you step out.
    • People will come in acting like they own the place, and break or steal stuff. Greeting them helps you meet people, and also weeds out troublemakers.
    • The worst possible thing is for strangers to be wandering unwatched through the lab.

• Email list is our main method of communicating
• Toolshare
• Webcams & Video recording -- no expectation of privacy here.

• Clean up after yourself -- cleaner than you found it
  • Encourage cleaning culture by offering to clean something with someone ("hey, can you take out the trash with me? Can I help you clean this?")
  • Dozens of people here a day, that's dozens of cups to throw away.
  • Cleaning supplies
    • How & who to contact when supplies are out
  • Trash cans, dumpsters, bathroom, tool/floor cleaning
  • Make sure we've always got a good stock of toilet paper & towels in the bathroom so nobody gets trapped
  • Parking passes/tickets
• Do it yourself: nobody else is going to create it, fix it, clean it, or replace it but you.
• Do-ocracy: the people who get to decide are the people who get off their butts and commit to making something happen.
• SAFETY: Every member has the right, maybe even the responsibility to kick someone out for dangerous behavior.
  • Cut power to the building if you need to. Nobody has the right to endanger themselves, others, or the lab with unsafe behavior.

• Questions? How can I help you get started on something?
  • Ask people what they're working on!
• Welcome and thanks!