[Noisebridge-discuss] Can Mothership HackerMoms visit again?

[miloh]

On Fri, Mar 2, 2012 at 12:45 PM, Sho Sho the HackerMom
<shosho at hackermoms.org> wrote:
> Hi Milo,
>
> I met you when I came with some HackerMoms to visit last year when we first
> started our Mothership group, and now we are just about to get our own space
> in Oakland. We know Ace very well, and some of us who haven't seen
> Noisebridge before would like to visit the space for ideas (with kids, most
> likely). We'd also love to talk with you about best practices of getting
> started, like non-profit status, membership, etc. Would you be open to
> talking with us? Is the Tuesday eve open meeting a good time or can we
> schedule another, less-busy time for more focused questions? We can do
> daytimes, too. FYI, our meeting schedule alternates Wed 10am-12pm and Thur
> 6-8 pm, if that helps. Very much looking forward to talking with you.
>
> All the best,
> Sho Sho
>
> --

Hi Sho Sho & Discuss,

Good to hear from you.  I'm really happy that hackermoms group is
doing well and looking for a space. New hackerspaces and hackerclubs
and hackerhomes are still popping up all over the bay area and serving
the people nearby.

*Always* feel welcome to come to Noisebridge general meeting on
Tuesday to introduce new people to the space. I've always felt that
when there are new people we should split the meeting up and start
with introducing new folks to noisebridge before moving onto the
members & users portion of the meeting.

What directions do you want to head with the Mothership?  What kind of
tools are you all interested in obtaining and maintaining? What amount
of square footage are you looking for and what's your range of rates.
Have you talked to insurers about getting coverage?

If you want to go the 501c3 route, I suggest starting with fiscal
sponsorship from an existing 501c3.  It's one of the best ways to get
started quickly, it would help you with fundraising opportunities
while you work on your own 501c3. I'm still learning about fiscal
sponsorship but I'm very interested in using all the tools that 501c3s
have to offer, why not?

If you are looking at how to work out memberships, you probably
already know the system at Noisebridge is to have core members and
donors maintain a very open space. The Noisebridge membership is IMHO
too expensive at $40-$80/month. It's probably why we still hover at
around 35 active members and sometimes struggle to find support to
cover our monthly costs. My guess is that it will always be a struggle
to get the committed members that will sustain the radically inclusive
Noisebridge on an ongoing basis.

On the other hand, while AMT has traditional membership policies which
allow them to have a great set of tools and people working on
interesting projects, Noisebridge is open space and lightning rod for
new introductions, inspired hackers, and hacker travelers from around
the globe.

Do these kinds of trade offs matter to you and the other hackermoms
involved in the mothership project? Are there any other motherships in
the making that you know of? I've heard that many people returned with
4 yo children to last August's 2011 Chaos Communication Camp since the
2007 CCCamp. :-)  There's a world community of hacker moms to tap into
or to resupply with more resources!


-rma

ps  Do you know about the upcoming workshop weekend in the middle of
March? It's held at Tech Liminal in Oakland.
http://whatwillyoulearn.com/