I have hosted about a dozen classes, and I’ve received four honorariums thus far. I look at the honorariums as a means to ‘break even’ on the materials and supplies I use in my classes without having to ‘ask’ for materials, keep receipts, and/or justify every scrap of material and/or waste. My classes thus far have generated over $400 class fees, but yet I’m being given grief and rejected for additional classes.
This week, I have had several classes rejected, because they where not ‘worthy’. I don’t think it’s the topic or the material is not the question, but the ‘space’ doesn’t feel that my time is worth a $1/hr.
I may be overreacting, but I feel that we need more teachers and more classes.; Anyone who does their research, creates a proposal, makes slides and/or other aids, brings in their own supplies, and takes their time should be encouraged, not insulted. If the content is questionable, then that’s one thing; but rejecting a class about the relative strengths of joints and adhesives surely is not considered ‘off-topic’ for a space which sees ‘glued-up’ projects on a daily basis.
Here’s my breakdown for time and materials for one of my rejected classes:
Come up with the idea, write it up, go find suitable image(s) & documents, and review related Youtube videos and websites: 2 hours
Build approximately 20 joints using different types of glue and joinery outlined in the description and PDF: 4 hours
Buy the 2 x 4 used in the test/ class: (6) @ $4 = about $24
Buy Hide Glue $varies – use my own equipment to melt glue and using my own glue
Buy Epoxy $varies – using my own stock of West System Epoxy and gluing additive
Setup a jig to hold the test pieces and rig up a weight system: 2 hours
Log the results, make a summary ‘outcome’ document and email to attendees: 1 hour
Setup the area, Conduct the class, and clean up: 3 hours
So in this case, I will have about $40 in materials, and 12+ hours of time; so I’m ‘milking’ the space at the hourly rate of $.80 an hour for my time. I apologize for clearly taking advantage of the membership for requesting the honorarium.
I am aware of at least two other ‘would-be’ teachers which have had classes rejected as well, and both of these people are ‘subject matter experts’ which do not deserve to be insulted. The lack of explanation in the rejection just goes to further discourage people from teaching. To my knowledge, neither of the others have re-applied.
I agree that their should be an approval process for classes, but if you are going to reject a class you should be required to explain why it is being rejected, you should sign your name to your rejection & provide your email, and you should not be rude. Four word sentences are not an explanation in my mind. Instead of simply rejecting a class, if you have a problem with content- why not ask the instructor to edit the description and/or the content. If you are going to hold these classes to a ‘criteria’, then that criteria should be accessible from the ‘submit event’ page so that all would-be presenters can know what the standards are before they start. My impression at this point, is that a class can be rejected for no reason at all and can be rejected (anonymously). I have a problem with this policy, but instead of complaining with a ‘faceless account’, I am signing my name to my posts and my emails.
Among the people I know which have taught, very few are doing this for the money; and if they where doing it for the money- they deserve it. From what I understand honorariums are less than 3% our monthly budget- is that too much to spend for an organization which claims to encourage learning?
---- here’s my rejection email:
The following even you submitted to the Dallas Makerspace Calendar has been rejected.
Joinery SMACKDOWN
Reason: This sounds more like an event than a class. While the experience may be educational, it does not qualify for honorarium…
Dallas Makerspace
Here’s my ‘evil’ description: Obviously, I was just trying to get a paycheck and didn’t put any thought into trying to make a class fun and invite partisipation.???
Are you an ace woodworker? Are your pieces stronger than others? PROVE IT!!!
There are members (like Kee), which advocate for ‘traditional’ adhesives like hide glue, while many members are huge fans of PVA glue. For anyone which have taken any my classes, you would know that I am not a huge fan of pocket screws- I think that amateurs over-use these fasteners, but are they really that much weaker?
The goal of this class is to get a concept of relative strength of common joints and/or adhesives.
This is not a ‘build-it’ class, but rather a ‘break-it’ class. We want to know discover the strength different types of joints and glues. We will discuss the ‘pros and cons’ of each of these as we break them. We will also observe ‘how’ it breaks- the glue, the fastener, the wood, etc.
The concept is that we are going to make this a game/ challenge. We will ‘borrow’ a bunch of clamps and clamp each of the assembled pieces in the exact same manner and then we will hang weight off ‘arm’ and keep adding weight until the joint fails and/or the wood breaks.
The challenge is to bring your own piece and be the ‘king‘
Using (2) 24” 2x4 pine pieces, join the two pieces where one piece connects to the other at 90 degrees to the opposite piece.
Several of these pieces, we will have the same type of joinery, but different types of adhesives. We will grab one of the dry erase boards and track how each piece performs.
Feel free to build up your strongest joint and join the challenge and/or simply show up and watch as we break these pieces apart. Put your name, type of joint, and type glue type on the piece so that we can document how your joint performs.
The only rule is that you are to attach two 24” pieces of Pine 2x4 (1.5”x3.5” finished) with common joints, glues, and/or fasteners. No use of Steel plates, rods, and/or braces. The joint should not require any tool or device which is not at Makerspace- these are all joints that anyone at Makerspace could create.
We will have a second challenge for our ‘audience’ to see who can guess the closest at the failure weight for each piece. The person who can guess the closest will also be crowned a winner.
I could provide information about my other classes which where rejected, but I think I’ve made my case.
Sincerely,
Joe King