This happens is MOST of the other hackspaces that I have visited. I have been to about ~50 different spaces so far. Its a very reasonable option to have.
Most notably is https://freesideatlanta.org/ Basicly every workshop/talk has a nominal fee of $5 per person. The presenter can set the cost of the workshop/talk to any value. If the workshop does not get more than 3 people to sign up it is cancelled. All workshops are managed through EventBright. After costs, the presenter gets 1/2 of the revenue and the space gets the rest. There calendar is always full and many of the most skilled people have free membership. The Presenter has the ability to offer free passes to anyone that can’t afford it or helps them with the course. I really like this model. It has one requirement that VHS does not have… It needs a dedicated classroom space.
We talked about exchanging labor for free membership early on at VHS (<20 people) and decided against it for the following reasons. (The best I can remember)
It exploits people that are already disadvantaged
It breaks the DoOcracy, There would be people who are effectively being paid to do jobs around the space while everyone else is expected to do them for the good of the community.
These volunteers would be considered employees by worksafe.
How would we enforce anything if they didn’t do their assigned job or did it very poorly
Times have changed, we are a different group now that we have grown up. We can change this policy if it doesn’t suit us any more.
Love the idea of dedicated classroom, even if it doubles as a quiet workspace/meeting room when there is class. I'd pay for classes, it's only fair considering the work that (I hope)the teacher had put in.
As far as reducing membership for teaching, I would prefer to keep it less formal than that. There is nothing stopping me from charging for a workshop, nor from putting that money aside to subsidize my membership payment. I don't think it makes much sense to have VHS track how much of of a discount you get or anything like that.
Workshops haven't been advertised in recent months. We need a page on the wiki that is easier to find and clearer guidelines on how to get started. Also more people running workshops which will make people aware that workshops are a thing that people can run.
I'll be doing a few more "intro to electronics" nights in the new place
Once we move I'll be running more of the paper craft classes, as well as well the chainmaille workshop that I've been promising for months. I promise 😉
I’ve been meaning to do an intro to programming via solving crypto puzzles, so yeah, instructions on how to set it up would be cool. The workshop I think would be set around a treasure hunt, with hidden goodies scattered around the space.