We are getting ready to schedule one very soon. We haven’t picked a date yet but I can almost guarantee it will on a weekend. We are wanting to combine a workday & meeting.
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@halachal what specifically seems not worth the effort?
Personally at this point I’ll do whatever it takes to get trained on MIG and multicam.
As for the fairness of a notification system…
If we were to create a notification process it would have to be just that.
An email notification that the class is available, it would still be up to the user to sign up in time.
Is that more fair than making everyone watch the calendar constantly?
I don’t see how it’s less fair, and I don’t know if there would be a truly “fair” way to do it. Honestly I hadn’t considered the fairness of a “desired class” list, I was only thinking of the most efficient way to connect members needing training with people who can train.
The waiting list would not give a member the right to bump someone who was on the list after them because that would be a logistics nightmare.
EDIT: at the end of the day we just need more folks authorized to do training. As of now there are only 3 people who can train on welding, which is not a lot compared to the 1700+ members we have. (yes I know not all of them want to weld, but my point stands)
adding that feature to the software. it just changes it to a slightly different lottery. not more or less fair, so what’s the point?
I dunno, members have asked for it?
It would be helpful for the people who are only after one specific class, and who find visiting the calendar daily to be cumbersome.
If a member has to check the calendar for 30-40 days in a row for a chance to make a class then that takes a lot more effort than just keeping an eye on your e-mail.
Yeah but if every person who is interested get an instant notification when the class is posted, your already small chance of signing up drops 90% or more. Implementing this is a distraction from fixing the real problem (which you’ve already identified: not enough trainers and lack of clarity on how they are produced).
Definitely need to tackle the larger problem of lacking people to train.
(BTW I made a thread about this earlier today Regarding ROAST Classes and Their Availability (Req'd Opns & Safety Training) )
Sure that may be true at first, but I envision a day where we track this stuff more efficiently, which leads to the queues becoming short enough that it isn’t a huge pain point for new members.
So I disagree that it’s a distraction. Who would it be distracting? The people that already aren’t teaching?
Beyond the tools that are clearly in demand there are many other tools, in CA for example, that haven’t had a class taught on them in months.
I suspect it’s not because people don’t need/want to use them, but that demand isn’t tracked at all.
If we have a way of tracking demand, then people can see the pent up demand and FILL the demand.
If the numbers stay high, well then committee chairs need to host a class where they train the trainers so we can keeps the lines short.
Is there a new app that shows new classes? That would seem to be a good thing for folks that aren’t on a computer but have access to their phone … aka wireless micro computer.
There to ways to address this problem:
- Increase the supply of training classes by recruiting and motivating more instructors.
- Decrease the demand for training classes by reducing the amount of training required.
If a class is always full, it is obvious that demand exceeds supply. We already know what the problem areas are.
I did Plasma last week (thanks), but i’d like to get access to the rest of the metal shop, and other areas as well.
I can go to any class held on any weekday. There are barely any classes at these times, for anything.
You can use any part of the metal shop except for the welders and the brake & shear right now! No training required just obvious things. Common sense. Reading the rules on the wall.
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and the induction forge, the plasmas, spot welder, the KMG.
In reality most of the shop seems to require training from what it appears… unless all the labels and wiki are wrong.
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Induction forge / KMG is blacksmithing, no idea on those.
The handheld plasma requires no training, the spot welder requires no training.
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The KMG is not training required, just recommended, which is why it gets taught as part of the induction forge class.
That’s not to say I don’t think we need to do better with the welding classes (we do). Best I can tell from the schedule, it’s been 34 days as of today since we had a welding class of any kind and since there’s not any on the calendar for this month yet, my guess is, it’s gonna be at least 10 more days. Training required tools with no classes for more that a solid month clearly indicates to me that we’ve got room to improve.
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Both the handheld plasma and spot welder list class required on the wiki.
As for the blacksmithing stuff, it’s more to clarify for people reading on
talk as it’s all in the metal shop area. They may realize the induction
forge is something else but the KMG is along the other wall.
-Jim
Then this page needs heavy updating: https://dallasmakerspace.org/wiki/Tools
Currently most things in the metal shop lists a class as being required.
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The KMG has red decals on it that say Training Required
Fair enough. Training required or not, I don’t think the kmg is in the same category as the topic as it’s had at least one training class almost every week since we got it. There are currently 2 on the schedule that are not yet both full (plug, plug, plug). 
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I just checked the calendar and spotted a lazer and a 3D class on weekdays during the daytime.
I signed up for both. Yoo Hoo!