Start of fixed term, storage cards put out, containing
Key days (start, end, removal)
Complete rules
Contact information section for the member to fill out
At end of term, storage meeting for members to request extensions
Expired items tagged for removal
Logged to prevent shenanigans
Optional: if email address noted or available, notices sent
TO: Storage
BCC: {member addresses}
~7 days later
Still-present tagged items removed to offsite
All items present offsite from last month disposed of
(Go to step 1)
This was all rather laborious, consuming hours on two weekend days a week apart. And storage meetings then offsiting was an ever-delightful source of conflict arising from those being evicted variously claiming ignorance, special circumstances, lack of notice (often via their unlisted preferred means), violations of the rules by Logistics, and so many many accusations of Logistics’ petty refusal to acknowledge any one given evictee’s self-evident exceptionalism and/or incalculable value to DMS in particular and society in general.
A replacement system should:
Be automated
Allow for dynamic terms
Send automated reminders
Robustly log usage
Evict ~continuously as opposed to ~monthly
Ideally, a replacement system will introduce some sort of cost for use of storage - and while the simplest, money is also the least desirable. I’ve suggested some sort of points system before - accumulate for non-usage, deplete with usage, are refundable after quick turnaround of a slot, and are not exchangeable. Encouraging volunteerism could also be incorporated into the cost, provided anyone cares to administer such a program.
If nothing else, reducing touch points would help: semi-dynamic terms, best-effort removal post expiration, more conspicuous signage. The more recent addition of purgatory was an improvement over offsite in that there was less handling of materials, but also necessitates administrative involvement in providing access to evicted items … that are still at DMS, many of which may, ahem, boomerang.
All of this was done. I had multiple people testing and reviewing it. The only thing that we were trying to figure out was the actual rules and (points-like) systems we wanted to follow.
Personally, I agree, I don’t mind having different rules for people that teach and volunteer enough and stuff, I just think that it needs to be consistent. Having a point/credit system, where you build up to a certain amount automatically over time, But can also increase by teaching a certain amount of classes or volunteering is a brilliant idea imo.
Cool. Glad it got past the conceptual stage. Wish I’d been involved at the time and seen it.
I always saw administering this sort of function as a potential difficulty. If it were part of a scheduled meeting and handled via a consensus of those present the transparency aspect should reduce the potential for shenanigans.
Not teaching, but require helping manage/maintain project storage, thus ensuring a good supply of conscripts volunteers.
An appropriately automated system will allow anyone to create a storage ticket at any time, with storage expiring N days (whatever that is set to be). But this necessitates weekly scanning of storage/storage tickets and potential action is needed like tagging, or moving projects to purgatory/dumpster, or contacting people.
These weekly (or whatever) storage reviews get put on calendar like a regular class, and people can then sign up to help out for that week. Since this would work like a class does, people that sign up and show up can then have their names ticked off in calendar tool for that week, i.e. marked as attended. Then only job of the “ranking” storage officer at any particular weekly storage review is to mark off who showed up and make sure everyone is contributing/doing something.
So policy would be: to use project storage requires some amount of attendances of weekly storage reviews per some period, e.g. once per month to store something over next N weeks. Ideally some hook in storage system can check calendar database to see if person attempting to create a storage ticket has been marked as attending a weekly storage review in last N weeks.
Crucial indirect benefit: people thus engaged to qualify for using project storage will almost automatically be far more likely to know and respect storage rules and storage workers since they are one of them.
Consider that all other Makerspaces I’ve heard of anywhere near our scale have employees, thus can provide something like a service level for administration.
Have some ideas that might help starting w/ multiple contact info. Cphone and email of the owner along w/ at least one back up contact cphone and email. Backup people could be family member, friend, etc. When you sign up you agree to receiving both texts and emails. Automated system becomes more of an annoyance as deadline draws near. No more “no one contacted me”. The end is near. The end is near for your stuff. Get off your butt and come get your bleeping stuff. Your stuff has achieved abandoned status. Good bye…
Regardless of how automated the system might become, still got to deal w/ problem members.
Just to make sure, the personal storage bins ($20 one time bins) are unchanged by this situation? That’s all I’ve really ever needed at the space to use as a less than 1 cubic foot dead drop with other members and storing stuff that’s a pain to remember to bring like sharpies (don’t raid ma sharpies please lol).
From the way that I read it, and what I’ve heard from other people, personal bins are unaffected. As is committee storage areas. Only the Logistics based/general use Short Term storage seems to be closed.
Most other large spaces are using some form of paid storage. We are willing to consider that as well.
If there is a way to administer and track that through our square point of sale system we could consider that, but we would need very well defined terms for how we handle failure to pay and policing of the space in use that don’t put too much onto our volunteers.
I’m willing to help come up with or implement a solution. Folks use that storage for automotive projects, I think it’s only fair that we be available to contribute to a solution. I’m happy to be a part of meetings or discussions to define a plan.
I do think a temporary shut down, long enough to clear out all contents makes sense. It will provide time to implement policy and enforcement changes without creating additional conflicts.
The details of a solution aside, the biggest issue facing storage right now is volunteer hours. While we have no shortage of folks willing to chip-in, I’ve seen them be consistently driven off. If this behavior doesn’t stop storage will always be a jungle, simply due to a lack of volunteer hours.
We are playing around with digital e-ink shelf signs at work.
What if we had a kiosk where a member could swipe their badge and claim an empty spot. An e-ink shelf sign affixed to the spot would show their name, contact information and spot expiration date.
When the spot expires, the e-ink display goes red and the system notifies them by email and/or text that their spot is subject to reclamation by DMS.
This would prevent many of the problems we’ve seen before, primarily people creating new tags, switching spots, etc. The rules would be enforced by the system and policing it would be an easy walk down the row looking for signs turned red.
Imo, the e-ink display just adds a level of complexity. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea long term, but I don’t think that’s really important focus. The reason being that in order for the tag to know that it’s expired, the system must know its expired. At the point that the system knows it’s expired, it can just send a report to Logistics with the exact location too.
(I’m not saying that we shouldn’t, but I also feel like it’s dev hours to something that is another system/more hardware/software to manage/break/etc. that being said, whoever works on the next iteration should architect it out and see what makes sense)
Well the tag is just an easy visual indicator of what “the system” knows. The system is the part we need but don’t have.
The primary benefit to the tag would be to make sure a member is aware every time they access their spot that it is expiring on a date they can see - and perhaps see that they’re in a “grace period” before their stuff is [whatever]. It would also display the spot number if the spot is available for claiming.
If there is genuine interest I can cobble together a prototype.
There is a plethora of technical options available to us, and IT solutions have come and gone, however all scenarios require volunteer management. If we don’t have consistency there with staffing and execution we fail and I think that’s been the more difficult core issue over all the years I’ve been at DMS.
