Some questions for the candidates

DMS General
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Now that our slate of candidates appears to be complete:
@hon1nbo
@procterc
@BobTheMad
@mrjimmy
@Julie-Harris
@skyspook

I’ve got a sense that a meet the candidates night is a bit unlikely, thus I’d like to ask some questions for the benefit of our voting members in the upcoming election. I invite other members to ask questions, however I do request that the questions be addressed to all candidates.

  1. 2020 was a challenging year with the … complications … of the pandemic and its attendant hit to membership numbers. What is your vision for member retention, recruitment, or both?

  2. What specific additional goals do you envision for Expansion to be complete?

  3. The reality of our precipitous membership drop in 2020 has seemingly played a role in the slow process of completing Expansion. If our financial situation worsens, what measures do you imagine undertaking?

  4. Other than Expansion, what major challenges do you feel the organization faces and how would you address them?

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  1. What do you believe is important in a leader/BoD?

  2. What do you feel previous boards have done well?

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Thanks, I’m happy to answer any questions. Hopefully we can set up a google meet event to meet the candidates. Until then here are my answers so far.

We are already working on a recruiting framework. It includes a lot of public outreach at events, starting tours back up and some very targeted marketing. We are already seeing a trend upwards from the pent up demand, I believe it will continue to increase as more people are vaccinated. To support this we also need to focus on increasing the number of classes available and improving access to tool training. It will take a collaborative effort with the board and the committee chairs to make this all work, but I have faith that it will. We have an excellent group of chairs who have done a wonderful job through the very difficult year. I think their leadership over the past year has been a huge asset to the space and they will be a big part of our success moving forward.

The next phase will include moving automotive, enlarging the woodshop, moving laser and expanding metal shop into the old laser area. The future additional items would be a major overhaul of our computer infrastructure. We really need more stability and reliability with our systems and hardware to support our membership. The current team does a great job with the tools at hand, modernizing it will free then up to do more proactive work rather than support and maintenance.

Our ongoing fiscal policy has been a big part of how we have managed to continue operations during these trying times. The policies and controls we put in place have been very successful for us and I believe continuing them will keep us solvent through any additional ups and downs.

As I mentioned above, our software systems should be our next area for expansion to improve our operational capabilities and better service our members.

Honesty, integrity and a very strong understanding of how to run a business that benefits all of its stakeholders.

For the past two terms I believe that one of our biggest successes has been instituting good financial controls. That set us up for success through the pandemic. Had we not had good policies in place we would not have been able to survive this.

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We are tentatively planning a virtual meet the candidates for 4/21 but any any day week of 4/18 will work. Now that we know the candidates I will work with them for a suitable day/time.

Voting Members be looking for an email tomorrow morning with your login credentials to use the online voting system. The polls will be open for two weeks ending at 5pm on 4/30.

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I’ll throw one in here.

  1. I certainly hope we’ll see a sharp uptick in new members as the pandemic winds down. If we do start getting 10,20,50+ new members a month, how do you envision us onboarding those folks, so that they’ll be happy, productive members of the space?
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I expect this to happen based on what we are seeing already. To retain these members we will need a combination of increased basics teaching, increased digital self training for more tools, and community events that will help people meet each other and get involved in the different committees.

To make this work the board will have to support the chairs and the teachers. We can do that in a number of ways, and are open to suggestions and ideas from the chairs and their teams. Some things I would like to explore would be increased committee funding based on the rate of new member training, and cross committee make & take classes that will get new members involved in more than one committee at a time.

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I think that we need a combination of investment in our operational technology and a more active outreach to help boost our membership base. Especially without active tours, we need to have a more self-service approach to get the basics. The Wiki is a good idea in concept, but we have it far too dense in material for things like a member 411 and it’s often missed/overlooked by new members. An introductory video that’s part of the sign up process would do far more for us to get members on a good footing in the door.

This ties into retention as well; a multitude of things at the space could be self-training with videos, however this is something that despite filming footage of lots of tools already hasn’t materialised. This has mostly been due to volunteer priorities and availability (see answer below for more on that).
Since I believe it would be a boom for us as a whole, I’d encourage us to explore as part of our outreach to see if we can get external parties involved in these. For example, a film student at SMU may be able to volunteer some time to edit our footage into something usable, and at the same time provide an outreach opportunity to more students there to explore the space. I additionally know of schools in the area with mandatory / heavily encouraged volunteer hour requirements for non-profits, and we could tap into that.

Plainly put: finish it.
However it’s always going to be more complicated. I think getting it done will solve a lot of other issues at the space, as committees will have more breathing room overall which reduces other stresses.
If I were to prioritise things though, it would be to first finish the committees that started a move and haven’t finished (like Ceramics; they moved a while ago, but can’t move their kilns still due to the ventilation not being complete), as well as tasks that would be resolved quickly (certain power requirements in metal that can be solved without major work, but are impeding existing committee space and tools in disrepair).

Regardless of how it happens, we need to get back to having more involvement from the committee chairs. At one point we had a “too many cooks” problem, but overall the lack of communication that resulted from trying to fix that created even more problems. Too many cooks can be solved by a select set of decision makers rather than keeping people out of the process completely.

Regardless of whether it gets worse than it is, we need to get more members in the door which means doing outreach and promotion of the space. Until that happens, I consider us to be in a bad financial spot since we aren’t able to build a better capital reserve and we still have more major expenditures coming.

In addition to the promotion, we’re sitting on (probably literal) tons of equipment that’s been tagged for auction / sell off for over a year (maybe even years) such as the old woodshop tools and dust collectors. This is basically money on the table for us, or at the very least clutter that reduces the ability of members and volunteers to work and have a useful space. This equipment needs to go to an industrial auction already.

If it does manage to become worse, or dare we consider cash negative, we first need to look at where we bleed most. How much do we spend on having a Kapex mitre saw which breaks far more often than a more industrial unit? Can we install an auto-closer on the auto bay doors to prevent them from eating up our HVAC system in the summer which causes both repair costs in addition to increased electricity costs? Do we consider a rate increase?

The past couple years has seen a tremendous amount of work out of the Finance group to improve our posture and prevent things from going unchecked; I’m sure that with continued work we can evaluate what the best would be going forward. With the current trends in membership I don’t expect the worst case of cash-negative to happen, however I do expect things may stay tight until the vaccination rates are higher and we can do open tours and large events again.

Currently we have a serious problem in not enough volunteers for the volume of tasks at hand. Some of these we could outsource, however we have to be cautious of costs involved.
As chair of metal shop, I helped mitigate this by having a policy that if you show up and help on a committee day, I will teach you anything I can in the room. However even I feel the burnout from this (I’ve been present until 2am before doing that) and it still doesn’t move through enough people in welding.

If we can automate the basics, like get basic training online for the tools and classes that can use them, then our volunteers can focus their efforts elsewhere.
Additionally I’d like to actually see teachers supported for remote classes just as they would for in-person classes. Some required classes could easily be done via google meet, however without explanation nor public discussion proposals have been shot down. This is one of those situations where “send us a proposal in private only” is a serious detriment to the space and does nothing but promote animosity in addition to hindering the search for a solution.

Clear communication and Active Involvement in things they are sticking their hands in are probably what I value most in leadership. As a chair and an officer, I’ve received a number of answers that simply contradict common sense for the matter at hand, and conflicting statements that drag on for months without resolution despite the impact they have on the membership.

As stated in prior answers, we need to get online training ramped up for the basics, and a more digestible onboarding video/information set.
As a prime example, the video that XDA forum requires new signups to view is fantastic and something we could make for our online signup process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hqwn5HpESc
Such a video could cover our core governance, where things are, how to ask for help, etc.

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Thanks for the great questions!

1) 2020 was a challenging year with the … complications … of the pandemic and its attendant hit to membership numbers. What is your vision for member retention, recruitment, or both?
One of the best draws for member retention and attracting new members is actively teaching. Obviously because of the COVID-19, our primary method of teaching (in-person classes) had to be curtailed. Virtual classes are better than nothing, but a lot of what we all do as makers necessitates that “personal touch”. Once we emerge from the pandemic, those in person classes are once again possible. I VERY much look forward to seeing the DMS calendar chock full of classes.

The current board is actively looking for a way that we can both a) let people know what volunteer opportunities are available and b) recognize those who go above and beyond in their volunteerism.

2) What specific additional goals do you envision for Expansion to be complete?
Right now, the plan as it stands is a lot to take on. Now that we have a Project Manager for this effort, more progress is being made. As we knock out some of the larger project milestones (moving woodshop, etc.) and move nearer to the end of the project, I’d love to kick around ideas for “stretch goals”.

3) The reality of our precipitous membership drop in 2020 has seemingly played a role in the slow process of completing Expansion. If our financial situation worsens, what measures do you imagine undertaking?
That is an incredibly broad hypothetical question. Firstly, I would want to leave the option of raising member dues to be one of the last things we did. I would want to explore other options such as trimming expenses, increasing charges for consumables, etc. We’ve also been exploring options for corporate partnerships where it makes sense and where those companies would not demand any sort of control over DMS.

4) Other than Expansion, what major challenges do you feel the organization faces and how would you address them?
Copying these from my SOI - :

  1. Successfully navigate the DMS through to the end of the COVID pandemic: Keep people safe, keep the DMS financially solvent, make what improvements are possible.
  2. Rebuild membership numbers to pre-COVID levels: Encourage recruitment through word of mouth advertising, targeted promotions, community partnerships, and select digital advertising.
  3. Continue and successfully complete the expansion project: Continue working with our PM and to the plan to complete the project. Reach out to membership asking for volunteers, many hands make light work.
  4. Find a way for members to easily find ways to volunteer, as well as acknowledge those who go above and beyond: We have an idea for how we stand up a digital system that will enable the membership to see what volunteer opportunities exist and also give recognition to those who go above and beyond.
  5. Determine the best solution for project storage while avoiding the abuses that have occurred in the past: This is an ongoing challenge for DMS. Most people utilize project storage properly, but enough folks have sought to cheat or ‘game the system’ to the point where the Infrastructure team spends dozens of hours a month policing storage. Eliminating storage is the last option, so we have to find something that works for members but keeps exploitation down
  6. Improve the new member onboarding experience: We have been kicking around ideas for this from monthly New Member Meetups, online classes, and perhaps a mandatory class that all new members must attend.
  7. Streamline DMS operations, with the goal being to reduce reliance on a few experts in order to eliminate volunteer burnout: Pretty much like it says. There are a lot of things at DMS that only operate because of the dedication of 1 or 2 experts. We need to find a way to take that knowledge and spread it out more such that those the time of those experts is respected. There are many ways that this could be solved (digital classes with tests, knowledge management through comprehensive documentation, etc.).
  8. Reach out to the Dallas/Fort Worth education and arts community to find projects on which we could collaborate in an effort to give back to the community: Reaching out to arts/STEM/educational organizations is one way that the DMS can both ‘give back’ to the community, and also increase our membership. In 2020 I had phone calls with a few community folks, and they were very excited about the potential for collaboration.

5) What do you believe is important in a leader/BoD?
Again, copying from my SOI:

My leadership philosophy can be summed up in the following ways:

  • Mutual Respect: For a group to function, members must respect each other. We will, at times, disagree - but we must never fall to the level of disrespecting each others views, beliefs, opinions, and decisions.
  • Enthusiastic Support: Leadership exists to serve the organization, not the other way around. Leadership should enthusiastically support the organization to the best of their abilities
  • Radical Honesty: This includes: being honest with each other, being honest with those outside the group, and being honest with ourselves.
  • Audacious Optimism: We must all believe that there is a “better way”. If we are to improve, we must be willing to take an honest look at ourselves, our processes, etc., and determine if they still meet our needs. Very little should be considered sacrosanct.
  • Grit: Sticking with things, even if the going gets tough.

6) What do you feel previous boards have done well?
Over the past 2 board cycles, the single biggest thing is making sure that the DMS is on firm fiscal footing. Without that, the DMS would not exist. There have also been new investments in popular areas of the space, putting together a plan to complete the expansion project, navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as addressing situations that would have opened us to legal risk.

7) I certainly hope we’ll see a sharp uptick in new members as the pandemic winds down. If we do start getting 10,20,50+ new members a month, how do you envision us onboarding those folks, so that they’ll be happy, productive members of the space?
Answered this one up above. But I will say that I really like the idea of having a “New Member Mixer” type of event, probably monthly. We’ve also discussed creating a volunteer position one or more folks would put themselves out there as a contact for new members when they have questions.

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A post was split to a new topic: Discussion Stemming From “Ask the Candidates 2021”

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1. 2020 was a challenging year with the … complications … of the pandemic and its attendant hit to membership numbers. What is your vision for member retention, recruitment, or both?

Not to take too much from other answers, but several of us have been actively discussing this, especially as people start to feel safer being in person. Because a makerspace is a community, we definitely took a hit from not being around each other. I already have meetings in the next couple of weeks with some people around public outreach, and I’ve personally put up a booking link to get 1:1 tours for new folks.

We definitely need to get our committees teaching again (kudos to those are are already active!), and I look forward to working with the chairs and committees to help incentivize this, and do so safely.

2. What specific additional goals do you envision for Expansion to be complete?

The major goals are getting the initial vision complete – woodshop and laser moved, automotive moved, and some additional niceties in the layout of the space. There are several barriers to doing this – disagreements on many details like electrical layouts, restrictions on automotive work in our lease, and the building being sold to new owners again – but we are making consistent progress now, especially with the help of a new project manager.

I envision we will always be making investments into our space, so it’ll never be truly “complete”, but we can definitely get to the point where we are fully utilizing our space.

3. The reality of our precipitous membership drop in 2020 has seemingly played a role in the slow process of completing Expansion. If our financial situation worsens, what measures do you imagine undertaking?

Some of the measures we’ve already taken - working with committees to have budgets, limited capital expenditures, and scrutinizing other expenditures. If it worsens, expansion would be put on hold, and we may need to look for other funding opportunities. I do not foresee the situation worsening, and I believe that it will improve as members return and new ones join.

4. Other than Expansion, what major challenges do you feel the organization faces and how would you address them?

Volunteerism and infrastructure. We have no great ways for tracking what tasks are needed for volunteers, tracking what has been done, or properly recognizing those that help. In addition, some of our infrastructure has large technical debt and needs to be shored up or replaced, and cannot be at the mercy of volunteer management (everything else is free to run at volunteer speed). We’ve been looking at new infrastructure for volunteer management, and especially given the issues with account syncing earlier this year, we’re reviewing our membership management and access management systems. I expect we’ll be making investments in our electronic infrastructure over the next year.

I’m also very interested in helping the “community” feel that some feel we’ve been missing, especially since the pandemic started. I don’t have any quick answers to that one, but may have a few ideas. I’m also open to working with anybody who feels they have an answer.

5. What do you believe is important in a leader/BoD?

I highly strive to follow servant leadership tenets - I serve at the pleasure of the membership, and thus I feel it is very important to make sure I listen to everyone I represent. My personal goal is to make everyone’s time at DMS both enjoyable and successful, for whatever that means to them.

I also believe a good understanding of solid business principles, financial acumen, and strategic planning is needed (we are a non-profit, but it’s still a business). This helps temper all of the desires of the membership, as the #1 goal of the directors is the continued existence of Dallas Makerspace.

6. What do you feel previous boards have done well?

The financial controls and stewardship made it so DMS was able to survive the pandemic with a healthy financial outlook. While it slowed expansion down, it did not stop it and allowed us to be in a great position to bounce back and be an even better place.

7. I certainly hope we’ll see a sharp uptick in new members as the pandemic winds down. If we do start getting 10,20,50+ new members a month, how do you envision us onboarding those folks, so that they’ll be happy, productive members of the space?

I’m hoping for 20 a week! We definitely need better onboarding.

  • The signup process needs to be easier.
  • We need to either have in-person or electronic introduction to both the space and what a makerspace is, along with what core tenets we expect our members to follow. We can’t expect our members to follow expectations they aren’t aware of.
  • Get more basic safety sign-offs up on our electronic course platform for self-service.
  • Track who is interested in training classes and other classes in general with basic wait lists. This will help our committees react to interest in them better.

Investing both in our electronic infrastructure and messaging will go a long way.

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  1. 2020 was a challenging year with the … complications … of the pandemic and its attendant hit to membership numbers. What is your vision for member retention, recruitment, or both?

I recognize that some of the problem was a result of the direct actions of the board of directors. The board announced that they decided to close, and then announced that the members would be required to pay in full while they were denied the use of the facilities by board edict and that members rejoining would be required to pay at the new rate should they choose to rejoin. Unsurprisingly 600 members left.

The peak membership was over 2200, when I submitted my statement of intent it was 1281 and this morning it was 1259. With this reduction in membership many of the teachers are gone, and won’t be back.

My vision is for a re-balance of the business plan from the corporate model by continuing to listen to members, and work to resolve their problems, treating them with respect as adults.

I have been told, by one of the people that asked me to run, that my presence on the board will serve to restore trust in that body and cause some members to rejoin.

  1. What specific additional goals do you envision for Expansion to be complete?

I will advocate for the continuing expansion to be operationally based, so that at the end of each phase the utility for the members is maximized.

The first phase resulted in ducting and extraction equipment being installed, except for the fan that makes it functional. We have therefore paid for and had a wall ornament for a year.

When the next phase is complete I hope that the blacksmithing fully operational.

3.The reality of our precipitous membership drop in 2020 has seemingly played a role in the slow process of completing Expansion. If our financial situation worsens, what measures do you imagine undertaking?

I note that the cash balance in the accounts is $450,592.01. Much of this money is allocated to committees, but that money is derived from membership dues paid to DMS, not to the committees. If the need arises the allocations can be modified.

It appears that DMS is following the Sears and Fry’s model of conserving cash until the customers leave. I suggest an efficient management of the expansion, based on phases that on completion provide functionality to the space, and meeting the needs of the most members.

  1. Other than Expansion, what major challenges do you feel the organization faces and how would you address them?

The biggest challenge is to make the environment more pleasant. The sense of community has gone. The corporate model has been tried and failed miserably.

I would devolve almost all authority to the committees, allowing them to structure themselves to meet the needs of their members. With this would come the responsibility to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner.

I would abolish project storage, managed by an officer. I would instead ask the committees to determine their own space requirements and structure, and as a member of the board only referee disputes. Again this comes with the responsibility to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner.

I would ask the committees to develop their own Covid policies and the steps that need to be taken to make their areas safe for their members. I would then negotiate solutions that are both effective, and cost effective. The members are for the most part adults capable of assessing their own requirements and mature enough to be respectful of the needs of others. Peer pressure is a more effective form of discipline than a scolding from above, leaving me as a board member free to scold the committee chairs.

I would ask committee chairs to resolve as many matters cooperatively, leaving the board the task of refereeing, and implementing their decisions.

5.What do you believe is important in a leader/BoD?

Part one.

Self Respect.

An acceptance of reality.

Empathy.

Humility.

Temperament.

Self control.

Openness.

Uncertainty.

I leave it to the membership to decide which, if any, of these attributes I possess.

Part two.

Sufficient votes.

6.What do you feel previous boards have done well?

Appoint Jason Harner as treasurer.

Accept Jason’s budget proposal.

  1. I certainly hope we’ll see a sharp uptick in new members as the pandemic winds down. If we do start getting 10,20,50+ new members a month, how do you envision us onboarding those folks, so that they’ll be happy, productive members of the space?

As I noted earlier we are still losing members. These were probably new members attracted by the enthusiastic tour guide, who then discover that their fob will not work, and that it is a dull and listless place, like their workplace; only without the pay.

As a board member I would get out of the way. Without the current management banning culture, I believe that the space can flourish. I hope to contribute to the re establishment of trust in the board of directors.

As a, member I will continue to help members to the best of my ability.

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You do realize we were legally ordered to close just like many other businesses, right?

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AND no one was required to maintain their membership, training and IDs have always been retained for people who sign back up, meaning they could have cancelled without consequence

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Who was this?

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I want to know what specific actions you will take to fix the calendar system and what steps will you take to entice teaching.

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From my point of view this is a big part of the digital infrastructure upgrades I want to implement going forward.

I believe there are some pretty simple usability issues we can address in the short term to improve the user experience for teachers booking classes and for students signing up. In the longer term I’d like to look towards some deeper integration with tools like meetup that would allow us to spread the word about public classes better.

As far as incentives for teachers I think that needs to be looked at from two directions, one is how we encourage teaching of classes, the other is how we incentivize teachers to record class videos that can help us build a class library.

I don’t think we can go down either path without direct involvement from past, current and future teachers, so the first order of business will be to conduct a discovery session with them to find out what ideas resonate and may be supportable within our space.

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I will concur with @mrjimmy - we should start by having a conversation with those who teach. Determine what methods work best for them, the intended students, and for DMS. Some classes could very well transition to a virtual format. Others will undoubtedly require in-person instruction. We want to make sure to properly reward those who spend their time in instruction, but not allow folks to “game the system” for their own benefit as has happened in the past.

Are there specific things about the calendar system that you feel need to be addressed?

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At around the start of the pandemic it became a nightmare when people would cancel and calendar team would have to jump in to add people. I truly feel that to encourage teaching, you need a calendaring system that is easy to use. Ours is not. Teachers should be able to freely add and remove spots without the intervention on infra/calendar team. New teachers were choosing the multi part class feature which would basically brick their class to any changes.
We kicked around the idea of getting an entirely new system back in the beer n bitch days but knew it would be an expensive deal . I understand the calendar took a back burner while no one was teaching, and those who were were having to constanly ask for help making changes. It got frustrating and I stopped volunteering for HA/calendar.

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Totally 100% agree! That’s why I put the usability fixes before anything else. I believe we need to make it at least stable and not a burden before we load up on classes and get even more teachers onboard.

Lucky both Curt and Justin have a long career in IT systems to pull from, so what may have been a big barrier back in the beer and bitch days is likely now much more achievable.

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I agree with what both @mrjimmy and @BobTheMad have said. I’ve actually gotten the calendar system running on my development station so I can start taking a look. I’ve also started looking at off-the-shelf systems, as it’s possible it’s gotten cheaper as software providers are changing all the time.

As for encouraging teaching, I also concur, and I’d like to do more than just get more and more basics classes up – I’m a big believer in the education mission of the organization, and it’s why I worked to get our online learning platform updated and useful. I’ve also been teaching others how to use it and get more courses on.

I’d love to see us bring in more experts and people from the community as well. I know ceramics has a kiln expert coming in soon, and I’d love to see more of that.

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