What are your thoughts on the Freebie Shelf and are you for or against it?
I like, use, and helped maintain the Freebie Shelf. There are issues. I can see those issues being resolved with a committee specifically managing the Freebie Shelf. The Freebie Shelf was a positive community sharing experience for me. I brought my extra stuff and took home other people’s extra stuff. I support the return of the Freebie Shelf.
How do you see the board moving above the day-to-day operations and more into strategy for the future?
I do not perceive it can be an either/or circumstance. The Board of Directors has to maintain the space as well as plan for future income, additional space, and membership growth.
I think the current system runs the Board pretty ragged. What worked 7 years ago needs to be tuned to what will work today. We can look to other makerspaces and other 501©3 organizations and borrow their best choices. Our Board needs to be more “executive” in structure.
I think there are discussions that can be shifted to the membership meetings and disciplinary actions shifted away from the Board, except for final “executive” approval.
I look forward to serving on the Board, if elected. I would prefer that it not be 40 hours a week.
Candidates, what is your position on protecting personal information (names, email, access times, messages, metadata, etc) of members and guests? If elected do you plan to request access to raw or non-anonymized data, and if so, for what purpose?
I want strong data privacy.
DMS does not need to be leaking data or be a source for external data mining.
Full data access should be limited and monitored.
With current events, this might need to formally visited and have additional by laws added.
We need an initiative to keep our members anonymous while using the internet.
For internal DMS data analysis, it should be stripped of all personal identifying information. Counting how many people attended different training classes is fine. Knowing the date and time a specific individual attended is not necessary. Any requests like that would be declined.
Any DMS member caught selling or giving away membership information would be up for disciplinary action with the possibility of criminal charges if warranted.
What makes you stand out above and beyond the other candidates?
I have a strong work ethic. I will work with due diligence on any tasks I am responsible for. Also, my work background, I have been involved with several non-profits and I have owned and run a small business since 1987.
Regarding our Class/Event and Honorarium approval processes, do you feel we are currently balancing our Mission Statement (https://dallasmakerspace.org/wiki/Mission_Statement) with what membership and the outlying community are interested in learning? If not, do you feel that our processes are currently too restrictive or not restrictive enough?
I think the current system works pretty well.
There are always opportunities to streamline the system. Easier class creation and faster payment to instructors are two areas.
I would like to see more outside instructors teaching more diverse topics. This takes a team recruiting and managing those instructors.
As a Board Member - between the following two items - Would your focus be on saving money for a future move and/or unexpected expenses, or would it be focused on purchasing newer/bigger/better tools in the near future?
I am someone who is fiscally conservative.
I want to save for the future (5-15%), and once that is covered, buy what the members want and need & those items should be purchased at the best price. I know some of what we buy is unique and other items are purchased at the lowest price. I would like to ensure that the lowest price practice is used as often as possible.
Management of Dallas Makerspace is always a “hot topic”. In your idea of a perfect solution, how would the “power” distribution of our community be handled ("Who has ‘final say’ on what items, etc…). The “players” in the solution include: “The Board”, “Committee Chairs” (or committees as a whole…), “The Membership” (via member votes, etc…), and possibly an “On Site Manager”. NOTE: If your plans include an “On Site Manager”, please elaborate with additional details such as expected duties, hours on site, etc…
Members as a group, always have final say.
The Board of Directors is next.
Then Committee Chairs.
Finally, individual DMS members.
If you had to choose one of the following, do you feel that we should focus on “being the biggest and best” or “inter committee projects and hackathons”?
This is a cart and horse question. If DMS brings out the best in our members, ie projects and hackathons. What will follow is a space that people want to be at, that will grow our membership and that means we will need more space. This is accomplished by fostering community, personal excellence, and amazing educational experiences.
In your opinion, which types of agenda items should be included on Regular Member Meetings, and which should be included on Board of Directors Meetings?
The biggest change would be to have Membership Meetings be for discussion and Board Meetings be for approval.
We are nearing 1500 members. What do you think the optimum number of members should be for our community?
I would like to see us grow more in membership and overall space size. There is a limit to how many people can be at the current address. We experienced the same issue at Ladybird. There are moments, now, it is starting to feel crowded and moments that our current space is plenty.
I do not want more members or additional space for bragging rights. I want more members to join because they like what our community is doing.and want to be part of it.
What will You do personally to encourage and ensure better new member experiences?
This is referenced in my Statement of Intent. I would like to see new members have a 90-day plan of activities at DMS. This would help them “fit in” and give them a place to start. It would also help set their expectations on what they can accomplish. Do they want to sample lots of different classes or deep dive into 1 machine? If we checked in with them once a month we would have a temperature check on how they were doing.
What is one of your major pet peeves about Dallas Makerspace?
As a community, some days we are absolutely stunningly brilliant and the next day we cannot seem to tie our shoe.
Finally: Paint Booth or Not? Why or Why Not? If so, then where do you suggest it be located? Do you plan on sacrificing existing committee space(s)? What about the government regulations? And, since our lease does not allow storage of paint, how would that be handled?
No to a Paint Booth, in this space. It takes too much room, which we are running short of. There is the nasty overspray issue. The post spraying fumes give killer headaches. As well as regulations issues and lease issues.
. I don’t want to go negative and tell you every other persons weak area is. So this answer will have to do.