Especially for the short term I think opening up the wall by the door and turning it into a half height wall is the most economic option. This could have a counter top for filling out paper work and using the kiosk. The rest of the room would remain largely intact providing a few lockable drawers for Officer use. The rest could be used for other SynHak, Inc. related paperwork such as forms and flyers.
I don't see why this area isn't the perfect area to have the SynHak, Inc. office. A) it's already there and not a terribly large space to set aside B) Having forms such as new member applications, liability waivers, flyers, and other promotional items as the first thing visitors see makes the most sense. We want someone who wanders in off the street and has no idea what a hackerspace is to be greeted with a guided tour and explanation, if not by a knowledgeable member then by our promotional material. If the door just opens up into the pandemonium that frequently is SynHak they're going to get information overload. Having a small island of calm in the storm will help them get acclimated before we deluge them with cool toys, projects, and eccentric makers. Burying these forms and items in the basement or sacrificing a portion of the warehouse seems silly to me. Especially when the high ceilings in the warehouse are much better suited for hacking. The other consideration is once we begin tearing down more walls we'll have to replace all the wood paneling. I'm not against doing that....eventually but I think for the near term(4-6Months) we can spend money on properly installed electric, new tools, repairing old tools(ie the broken carriage on the 3D printer), getting a sweet sign for the front, and other infrastructure. regards, Andrew L On Sun, Jan 19, 2014 at 11:29 AM, Omar Rassi <omar.ra...@gmail.com> wrote: > Andy, I also emailed the start of this thread to bu...@synhak.org, > discuss is what responded first. > > A few questions for you Andy: > >It's a nice little room, we can use for what ever we want, if you take > it away then all we'll have is big empty space. > > It won't be empty, it would be built into the welcome bar. The whole > reason we moved to 48 Summit is because we need more space, are you saying > we now have too much? How does keeping the walls make it less empty? > > >we don't have the money to build new walls. > > Why would we need to build new walls there? Why would a Synhak office > absolutely require walls? If a separate office is needed, a walled off > area right by the front door is not a good place to have one, so a room to > our specifications would need to be constructed anyway but in a different > place at the space as a long term project > > >heck we still have to fix the ceiling first. Plus if you take out the > wall you then have to fix the ceiling, who wants to look at a bunch of gaps? > > That's a good point. Was this part of the ceiling not included in our > estimates regarding roof repair? What is required to fix it, how much wood? > how much in ceiling tile? Can we get a hardware store to donate the > materials for a donation tax receipt? > > Andrew, you're right remodeling is expensive, we still have plenty of wood > at our disposal and we've reclaimed even more from both 21 W North and 48 > Summit. what do we think are the expenses associated with turning the room > into a welcome area/paperwork repository? And what materials and expertise > do we already have on hand to make it happen? I can think of floor tileand > ceiling repair though I have very little experience with carpentry and > building repair so I couldn't begin to guess how much work and material > would be needed. > > Thank you for sharing. > > > On Sun, Jan 19, 2014 at 10:24 AM, a l <leit...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> I thunk it would be nice if that area were a reception type desk welcome >> bar type structure that housed paper work. As far as walks are concerned i >> think half height walls would be nice as this allows people to see the >> whole space but still restricts access to documents. locked drawers they >> are only open during filing keeps privacy concerns satisfied but still >> allows for any member to get blank forms for visitors. >> >> That said remodeling is expensive, we have other more pressing expenses >> like getting up to code properly installed outlets in the main shop so >> people can hack. I think we need to prioritize our spending and realize we >> can't do it all at the same time. For me removing existing infrastructure >> only to modify it slightly is a frivolous expense we can't shots right now. >> We should save for and do it this year, in the next six months money >> permitting. >> >> Also every project we start now is one more we have to finish by opening >> day. And we already have quite a list. >> >> regards, >> Andrew L >> On Jan 19, 2014 1:12 AM, "Torrie Fischer" <tdfisc...@hackerbots.net> >> wrote: >> >>> On Sunday, January 19, 2014 00:33:16 Omar Rassi wrote: >>> > >1) Are we keeping the room or are we taking down the wall with the >>> > >>> > closet/shelves? >>> > >>> > Torrie's argument is compelling, though I leaned towards keeping the >>> room >>> > as is, I am now indifferent to walls up or down. >>> > >>> > >2) If we are keeping the room, for what purpose will it fulfill? >>> Crafts? >>> > >>> > Admin office/recordkeeping? servers? Member storage? Computer lab? >>> Lounge? >>> > Etc etc. >>> > >>> > I had envisioned a place where Synhak Inc. office could go. A place >>> where >>> > the office of secretary, treasurer, and the champions, could work on >>> the >>> > not so exciting parts of running a non-profit with minimal distraction >>> from >>> > hackers hacking. It would be a room to keep important paper records >>> that we >>> > are required to have on file in a controlled place to prevent tampering >>> > (we've never had an issue with this in the past, its just a >>> perspective of >>> > assurance from a 3rd party perspective i.e. How can we guarantee the >>> > records are true if anyone can walk in and change the paper documents >>> when >>> > a member's back is turned?) >>> > >>> > >3) Do we even need walls for those purposes? In other words, if it >>> does >>> > >>> > come down, will that detract from anyone's desires for how to use the >>> space? >>> > >>> > A bolted and locked file cabinet and appropriate file permissions >>> > (read-write access for officers and champions, read-only access for >>> > everyone else) placed on a workstation designated for office use can >>> > accomplish the same records assurance mentioned above while keeping the >>> > digital copies open and transparent. So perhaps a walled off area may >>> not >>> > be necessary as I previously thought. Objectively thinking about it, >>> > creating a welcome area out of that room would not lessen my desire to >>> use >>> > the space and could provide a wow factor for visitors and guests, I can >>> > think of alternatives to achieve my desired goals for a Synhak Inc. >>> Office. >>> >>> Thank you. It is important that we all try to be as pragmatic as >>> possible when >>> considering how to best allocate the finite volume we have available to >>> us. I >>> feel the quantity of shared space should be maximized as it gives others >>> the >>> broadest canvas that this building can provide, until it becomes more >>> beneficial to the community to do otherwise. >>> >>> > >>> > >>> > On Sat, Jan 18, 2014 at 11:24 PM, Torrie Fischer >>> > >>> > <tdfisc...@hackerbots.net>wrote: >>> > > On Saturday, January 18, 2014 22:26:49 Omar Rassi wrote: >>> > > > There may be some miscommunication/misunderstanding about the >>> front room >>> > > >>> > > at >>> > > >>> > > > 48 Summit St. So lets talk about what to do with that room. >>> > > > >>> > > > The original plan was to remove all the walls, shelving and >>> cabinetry to >>> > > > give us a large open area to do what we wish with and turn one of >>> its >>> > > >>> > > walls >>> > > >>> > > > into a welcome bar like at the old space. However, it appears that >>> some >>> > > > members want to keep the small office-ish type room for various >>> reasons >>> > > > (each person in favor of keeping the room has a different idea). >>> So lets >>> > > > discuss! >>> > > > >>> > > > Key points of discussion: >>> > > > >>> > > > 1) Are we keeping the room or are we taking down the wall with the >>> > > > closet/shelves? >>> > > >>> > > I would prefer to remove the closet side wall of that room and >>> create a >>> > > new >>> > > welcome bar from the other wall of the room by cutting it to only a >>> few >>> > > feet >>> > > tall. This would create a very open and inviting physical space. >>> > > >>> > > > 2) If we are keeping the room, for what purpose will it fulfill? >>> Crafts? >>> > > > Admin office/recordkeeping? servers? Member storage? Computer lab? >>> > > >>> > > Lounge? >>> > > >>> > > > Etc etc. >>> > > >>> > > If someone is intending on turning it into some form of member >>> storage, >>> > > SYNHAK, Inc office, or server closet, I think it would be wise to >>> remember >>> > > that we have a massive basement that has not yet been spoken for in >>> any >>> > > significant capacity and will likely see the smallest fraction of >>> actual >>> > > foot >>> > > traffic in proportion to the floor space. >>> > > >>> > > Additionally, why would you want something so obviously meant to be >>> hidden >>> > > and >>> > > out of the way *immediately next to the front door*? Thats just not >>> good >>> > > feng >>> > > shui. >>> > > >>> > > > 3) Do we even need walls for those purposes? In other words, if it >>> does >>> > > > come down, will that detract from anyone's desires for how to use >>> the >>> > > >>> > > space? >>> > > >>> > > I feel it creates a walled off area of a space that is otherwise >>> open to >>> > > everyone. It implies that there is some private part of the space >>> that >>> > > you're >>> > > not allowed to visit, and it is immediately at the front entrance. >>> The >>> > > building already has enough cubicle-dungeon-like attributes without >>> > > functional >>> > > windows up front. >>> > > >>> > > > For reference please see the floorplan of 48 Summit St. at >>> > > > http://calculais.com/syn/syncalled.pdf and Synhak's google plus >>> page at >>> > > > https://plus.google.com/104182820750454997283 for pictures of 48 >>> Summit >>> > > >>> > > St >>> > > >>> > > > pre-renovation. The bottom of the floorplan page is where the >>> entrance >>> > > > is >>> > > > (Front door is angled) the room in question is directly to the >>> right of >>> > > > that, the specific wall to come down is to the right of the room's >>> door >>> > > > with the wall closest to the front door being turned into a >>> welcome bar >>> > > >>> > > as >>> > > >>> > > > with the old space. Remember that this is simply discussion where >>> > > >>> > > everyone >>> > > >>> > > > can voice their concerns. Ultimately this should be decided no >>> later >>> > > > than >>> > > > Tuesday's meeting by the membership as per our self-governance >>> process ( >>> > > > https://synhak.org/wiki/Governance) so we can get a move on with >>> this >>> > > >>> > > area >>> > > >>> > > > and once decided put it behind us. >>> > > >>> > > _______________________________________________ >>> > > Discuss mailing list >>> > > Discuss@synhak.org >>> > > https://synhak.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Discuss mailing list >>> Discuss@synhak.org >>> https://synhak.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Discuss mailing list >> Discuss@synhak.org >> https://synhak.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > Discuss@synhak.org > https://synhak.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss >
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