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Start small and grow organically. There is the temptation to get as many members as you can so you can afford a bigger space and more awesome tools. A maker space isn’t about tools or space, its about the community. Building a community takes time and shared experiences. having a constant massive influx of people all the time makes it hard to really get to know everyone personally.
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Group events. Again culture and community are the most importation things about a space. Forget the tools, workshops, space, and even projects. you need to build culture though shared experiences. We do SHHH every ~6-10 weeks or so. Its a social night, we build things and talk to each other. It helps build bonds between members. We do group projects together, We DRINK together, We drink some more together. We do field trips outside of the space, We get to know each other, our families, or dreams, and help each other to succeed at the projects that we want to do.
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Automate any administrative burden you can. I have visited 53 Hackspaces over the last 4 years and administrative burden is the number one thing that burns out your key members. It turns awesome people in to assholes that can really hurt your space. Even if the automated process isn’t as effective its better then a manual process its still better then having a person do it.
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Never have a single person with key information - “Hit by a bus problem”. Everything that is necessary to run your space should be shared with the rest of your BoD. Single points of failure can destroy spaces. See Noise bridge, See admin burnout, etc…
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Trust your community. There will be a lot of tough choices coming up in the next few years (what space to rent, What type of insurance, should you kick this member out, etc…). You as the BoD can probably solve most of them without input from your community but that takes away ownership of the space from your members. They should have input on how the space operates. They should feel like they are helping to shape the space. Its not the BoD or the founders, or any single members space its the communities space.
Check out the VHS culture threads too. Lots of good info for you in there
Grow slow, build culture, build community, grow organically, GET A LASER CUTTER!