[Noisebridge-discuss] Panic! Noisebridge will close down in July UNLESS YOU READ ALL OF THIS EMAIL (Part 1 of many)

David Molnar dmolnar at gmail.com
Sun Mar 31 22:56:21 UTC 2013


Hi Ping,

You can find a graph of expenses vs. income here, as part of the
treasurer's report on 12 March 2013. The report also includes a breakdown
of the major expense categories.
https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Meeting_Notes_2013_03_12#Financial_Report


David Molnar



On Sun, Mar 31, 2013 at 12:52 PM, Ka-Ping Yee <zestyping at gmail.com> wrote:

> I don't understand.  Earlier this year there were great announcements of
> panic, imminent shutdown of Noisebridge, desperate pleas for donations, etc.
>
> Then I came to a Tuesday meeting where we looked at the treasurer's report
> and I asked just how terrible things were and the general sentiment seemed
> to be that, yes, we should try to collect more donations at events like
> 5MoF, but no need to worry, things seemed mostly okay.
>
> Now we are in Screaming Panic Mode again.  We went from Panic! to Like,
> whatever... to Panic! in the space of about three months.
>
> How worried should I be, really?  Is there objective data I can track?
> Are perceptions wildly divergent among different people, or merely among
> different points in time?
>
> —Ping
> On Mar 29, 2013 10:33 PM, "Kelly" <hurtstotouchfire at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> FYI, noisebridge's average monthly expenses (for the last year) are
>> $6400 not $5000. So, ah... panic more?
>>
>> -Kelly
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 4:40 AM, Danny O'Brien <danny at spesh.com> wrote:
>> > Long email. Really really worth it. Go down to bit marked {}{}{}{} if
>> > you don't want Noisebridge to die. There are links down there. Helpful,
>> > useful, stop-Noisebridge-dying links.
>> >
>> > So, Noisebridge The Great, San Francisco's most awesome
>> > free-as-in-speech hackerspace, was packed tonight. There was the backend
>> > webdev with Ruby kids, the Light Patterns with LED and Arduinos gang
>> > were teaching up a storm, Gent Thaci from Kosovo (the world's second
>> > youngest country!) was giving a talk explaining how free software
>> > hackers are helping build a new nation, and how Noisebridge and other
>> > hackerspaces were inspiring him and his friends.
>> >
>> > Lots of people were plotting the fundraiser for this weekend, others
>> > were mopping and sweeping, somebody is building a huge mysterious thing
>> > out of wood, and oh my.
>> >
>> > We had the weekly meeting, and two things happened. One is that we
>> > consensed on making me the new treasurer.
>> >
>> > Then the old outgoing treasurer revealed we only have $7000 left in the
>> > bank.
>> >
>> > Our monthly expenses are $5000.
>> >
>> > THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I AM MADE TREASURER.
>> >
>> > I am about to POUNCE on our accounts to explore out what's going on in
>> > intricate ultra-transparent detail (expect even longer bloody emails
>> > soon), but I already have a pretty good idea. Our income wobbles up and
>> > down because we rely a lot on random donations. Sometimes we pull in
>> > more donations, and sometimes we pull in less. We've been pulling in
>> > less for a few months now, and if that carries on, we're all done by
>> > July.
>> >
>> > As in, can't pay rent and have to shut down.
>> >
>> > I am not too keen on being the treasurer that managed to kill
>> > Noisebridge in less than three months, but I HAVE A PLAN.
>> >
>> > 1) Panic (see this mail)
>> >
>> > 2) Big fundraiser on Saturday! Come and party and donate! (I admit this
>> > was already happening and planned before I became treasurer, but still.)
>> >
>> > {{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{
>> >
>> > SERIOUS BIT:
>> >
>> > 3) When I heard how screwed we were, I instantly ran across the space to
>> > the Ruby class and gave a little speech asking them to give money. Some
>> > of them signed up for monthly donations, many dropped some bucks in the
>> > donation bucket. People love us, and want to give us money! We need to
>> > ask people who love us for cash more often, and I will.
>> >
>> > But for now sporadic donations are not enough. We need to increase
>> > Noisebridge's regular, guaranteed monthly income so we don't dip so low.
>> >
>> > I figure that out of the thousand or so people who use Noisebridge, love
>> > Noisebridge, have a Noisebridge key they're waiting to use, or are just
>> > happy something like Noisebridge exists somewhere in the world, young
>> > and old, bazillionaire dotcommer or ingenious starving hacker, can pay
>> > $10 or maybe more a month to keep Noisebridge stable and regular.
>> >
>> > But it turns out it is actually really hard to pay us regularly. You can
>> > use Paypal, but some people do not like Paypal, and it needs a credit
>> > card. You can drop $10 in the box, but what hacker remembers that every
>> > month? What hacker remembers to pay their *own* bills every month?
>> >
>> > Also, what do you get for $10 a month? Sure, you get the world's
>> > craziest hackerspace, not-even-run by anarchist lunatics who built
>> > WikiLeaks and run one of the biggest Tor nodes and work for the EFF and
>> > construct X-Ray Lasers from spare parts and inspire SciFi books and
>> > start 3D printing companies and make kombucha and robots, and you get to
>> > come to it 24/7 and we'll give you a key, and share our software and our
>> > classrooms and teach you how to fix your laptop or use our woodshop or
>> > share our library or use the darkroom or cook some food or have a free
>> > shell account or throw a party or chase a robot or paint a picture or
>> > make a dress. But you could do that without paying $10 anyway, right?
>> >
>> > Well, maybe only until July, but yes, I agree you should get more.
>> >
>> > {}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
>> >
>> > So here is my deal as the All New Treasurer:
>> >
>> > If you send me your email, RIGHT NOW, to treasurer at noisebridge.net ,
>> and
>> > just pledge to me that you would like to pay $10 (or more) a month to
>> > Noisebridge, I promise:
>> >
>> > * I will sort out a way to get you to pay, even if it is sending one of
>> >   my minions to your house to pick up $10 worth of quarters from your
>> >   couch. Do not sweat about Paypal or stuff. We are going bust. We will
>> >   find a way to help you donate in the easiest way possible. For now,
>> >   I just need you to pledge.
>> >
>> > * If 200 people splurge $10 a month, and we can collect the money from
>> them, we will
>> >   be stable enough to keep going past July (our current burn rate is
>> $2Kish).
>> >
>> > * If 300 or so people do this, we will slowly get back to our $15K
>> reserve
>> >   without support from companies or the government or charitable
>> >   foundations (though I am hitting up other people of course). At that
>> >   point, I will advocate we start spending your money on a COMPLETELY
>> >   COOL RENOVATIONS OF NOISEBRIDGE. I will RAM THROUGH CONSENSUS that we
>> >   should spend any money that is more than three months reserve on
>> >   infrastructure improvements. Everyone loves me, so they will agree. If
>> >   they do not, we will just keep the money around for emergencies like
>> >   this. It will be like Kickstarter "stretch goal"! Only via a strangely
>> >   formatted text-only email!
>> >
>> > * Everyone on my pledge list will be an Associate Member for the
>> purposes
>> >   of strange Noisebridge politics. But I insist they will get more!
>> >
>> > * As Treasurer, I solemnly declare that everyone on my list will be
>> >   heretofore known as SAVIOURS OF NOISEBRIDGE. That will make them
>> >   BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE IN THE HISTORY OF NOISEBRIDGE. When somebody
>> >   asks you to move out of the way for a class, you can just say I AM A
>> >   SAVIOUR. When someone needs you to wash dishes, just say EXCUSE ME I
>> >   AM A SAVIOUR OF NOISEBRIDGE. Some people may have started Noisebridge
>> >   and be all hoighty-toighty. BUT YOU WILL HAVE STOPPED NOISEBRIDGE
>> >   STOPPING. And far more recently than them. YOU WILL BE THE BESTEST.
>> >
>> > * If you are another hackerspace, and you communally pledge $10, we will
>> >   come and wash your dishes and try and fix your 3D printer.
>> >
>> > That is my once-in-a-lifetime offer.
>> >
>> > Send me mail at treasurer at noisebridge.net with how much you pledge, and
>> > I will add you to the saviour list.
>> >
>> > Go to this web form and add your name, I will add you to the saviour
>> list:
>> >
>> > http://nburl.net/pledge
>> >
>> > Better still, go to this Paypal page, and sign up for $10 and I will
>> > INSTANTLY MAKE YOU A SAVIOUR:
>> >
>> > http://nburl.net/save
>> >
>> > Donate to Noisebridge via Causes.com, and THE SAME THING WILL HAPPEN:
>> >
>> > http://nburl.net/causes
>> >
>> > As newbie naive hubristic impatient Treasurer I will set up Amazon
>> > Payments, Square, Swipe, Dwolla and whatever the hell you want. I will
>> > work out a way to get your payment from China or Brazil, Kosovo or New
>> > York. But first I need you to pledge!
>> >
>> > I will let everyone know how many people pledge, and keep mailing long
>> > emails until we are saved.
>> >
>> > We have three months to save Noisebridge.
>> >
>> > Help me, only tenbucks monthly, you're my only hope.
>> >
>> > http://nburl.net/pledge
>> >
>> > d.
>> > PS Did I say to come to our fundraiser party? This Saturday, 3PM- late.
>> > Tutorials, music, raffles, art and more!
>> > https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Art
>> >
>> > PPS Pledge 10 bucks and I will also stop with the Star Wars puns.
>> > http://nburl.net/pledge
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> > Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>> _______________________________________________
>> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
>> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>>
>>
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