Collexion

Spaces.

Luke, Steev, and I looked at a space on Old Vine St and a space on Main St.

310 Old Vine has the first floor available in two distinct units of about 950 sq ft each. It is more divided into rooms and has less of an open feel, though one of the units does seem acceptably open. It also has shared bathrooms for both units, no plumbing to the units, and no carpet. On the bright side, they are are willing to be very flexible on the lease (more or less month to month) in case we grow out of it. But the flexibility would go both ways, they would want to be able to kick us out if someone was looking to lease it long term or buy the unit. There is the possibility of growing into both units, though. It could possibly be a very good starter space because of the flexibility and affordability. One unit would be < $1200/mo including electric, water, and common area maintenance fee (all we’d have to do is show up).

The spot on Main St., directly across from the Dame and next door to Commerce Lex, seems amazing. It is very open, with one conference room, a kitchenette, private bathrooms, and great neighbors (an architecture firm). Luke has talked with the landlord before about space on the second floor before, so he is following up about this space. We should be able to start with 1000 sq ft and expand to fill the entire side of the building (I’m unsure the total area, but I’d put in in excess of 3000 sq ft) as membership grows. The belief we hold, after talking to a lady from the architecture firm and Luke’s previous meeting with the landlord, is that we can just pay every month for the space we decide we need that month. So if we grow during the summer, and shrink during the winter, it would be no problem. It used to be iHigh’s offices, so wiring, etc should not be a problem. Price should be competitive with the Old Vine St building.

Potential Spaces.

Further down Old Vine St is the old Taylor Tire building, which has been converted to retail / office (Wines on Vine is there). There are several units available there, so we may want to check it out.

Also, Fitz is going to ask about the basement to one of the loft buildings across from Fazolli’s near campus. It is unused and unfinished, but would potentially be very affordable and spacious/open enough to meet our needs. Being that close to campus is a plus in my book as well.

In the future, notices will be posted giving (ideally) an hour lead time or more when going to look at a potential space, so that anyone who is interested can come along.

Charter.

The main points to be considered are that the structure is very unobtrusive and non-hierarchical, and we have a well stated mission. We decided to lift most of the ideas from HacDC.

The mission should look something like (copypasta from wiki.hacdc.org):

1. Build and maintain spaces suitable for technical and social collaboration.
2. Collaborate on all forms of technology, culture and craft in new and interesting ways.
3. Apply the results of its work to specific cultural, charitable and scientific causes.
4. Freely share its research and discoveries, using what is learned to teach others.
5. Recruit and develop talented members dedicated to these purposes.

The “officers” we have temporarily assigned:

• Banker: responsible for maintaining records and tracking funds.
• Web Person: maintain the website and mailing lists, maintain network and servers
• PR: responsible for getting press coverage, engaging potential new recruits, posting events, etc
• Librarian: responsible for keeping the physical space in good condition and tracking down things

One person will be elected for each office, but should be thought of as the captain of a team. They should recruit a co-officer and a team of helpers. This will help ensure there is not single point of failure for any task. It will also give people a better feeling of ownership of the space if they can be delegated jobs to help maintain it. The terms should be relatively short, so that if it becomes a burden you are not stuck in it for long, everyone gets a chance to participate, and there is never any sort of power struggle or favoritism. Each office would probably want to have their own mailing list to keep from spamming the main list with their day-to-day activities, and so anyone who is interested can watch the process and be involved just by signing up.

There is no executive on top. Disputes that can’t be resolved by members will be brought before the officers, but that is discouraged, and intrapersonal conflict resolution is encouraged instead.

The future.

Continue looking at spaces. Keep drafting the charter via the email list. When we are ready to move in we will finalize the charter and have a big meeting at the space. At that point we will collect the initial dues, sign the charter, and vote on a name (between LexCapacitor and Colexion). So just stay on the list, and start talking about the charter, potential spaces, or anything else that is on your mind.

I think most of the organization could be done on the list at this point, so there isn’t really a need for a formal meeting next week.

Originally posted to the hacklex Google Group by Todd Willey