[dorkbotpdx-blabber] Techshop impressions

[Thomas Lockney]

Small corrections and additions...

Paul Stoffregen wrote:
> They have definitely selected the building.  Specific details mentioned 
> were 15000 square feet (which is double the space at Menlo Park) and 22 
> foot high ceiling.

The Menlo Park location is 15000 sq ft. This one will be 30k.

> Each location is forming as its own LLC.  The exact business 
> relationship wasn't clear to me, but the stated purpose was to make each 
> one fairly independent financially.

They are franchises. There is an overseeing corporation with about 20 
employees (I got the impression that includes the staff at the Menlo 
Park location).

> Jim (the founder and CEO) and Denney (who's opening the Portland 
> location), and pretty much all of them are makers/builders.  They both 
> were involved in the robot battle scene (Jim's "2nd car" was a battle 
> bot that cost more than his car and could tow a truck), Jim worked for 
> the Myth Busters show (which I've never seen... no TV), and lots of 
> other projects no sane person would ever devote so much time to if not 
> for the sheer love of building crazy stuff.

This was *very* clear. They are definitely first-order geeks.

> They offer classes in 2 forms.  Well, it sounds like right now they've 
> only just started the "advanced" classes, and have mostly done "basic 
> checkout" classes.  Both types are extra cost, not included in the 
> membership fee.  Jim mentioned about half their revenue comes from the 
> classes, and they've had a lot more demand for them than they'd 
> originally expected.  $30 and 1 hour were mentioned for the basic 
> checkout, and that was on a per-machine basis (or perhaps per area, it 
> wasn't perfectly clear to me).  He mentioned $50 for other classes, but 
> I was left with the impression that was still new and in development and 
> not firm pricing.

I spoke briefly to Denney about the workshops we're trying to get going 
and mentioned that there might be interest from some members of our 
group in teaching class. The instructors for these classes will 
definitely come from the community. My only concern is that I also want 
us to provide free classes -- not sure if we could do that under the 
auspices of TechShop.

> Jim also expressed some desire, though no actual plans and perhaps 
> liability obstacles to reaching out to high schools.  He definitely 
> feels it's a shame all shop programs have vanished from education, and 
> he seemed to care deeply about the long-term prospects of enabling 
> future generations to develop the interest and skills to make stuff.  
> Liability was mentioned.  A current policy of not allowing anyone under 
> 18 inside was also mentioned.

Actually, that policy is just the general rule. There are cases where 
they are giving classes currently for younger folks. He mentioned 
electronics classes, in particular, as being popular for kids. He also 
made mention of kids being allowed with parents or guardians, but it 
wasn't clear whether that is currently the case of just something 
they're still considering.

> The other community aspect he mentioned was that the funding for each 
> location is coming from the community, in those $25k loans from 
> members.  I had expected they'd taken in some huge venture capital to do 
> all this expansion.  It wasn't really asked or mentioned if they had 
> taken outside investment, but what they did say is it's pretty much 
> loans from the community getting this thing started in each location and 
> ultimately those membership fees are going to keep it going.

I'm fairly certain that's only a portion of the funding. I suspect that 
Jim, Denney and the others opening new franchises are almost certainly 
putting some of their own money into this, too. They may be classifying 
each owner as one of the "loaners," but it wasn't really explained.

> They will also have some space to rent.  There will be storage areas for 
> projects, ranging from small enough for a small collection of personal 
> tools to storing a Burning Man art car (yes, he did mention someone 
> storing their Burning Man project).  In Menlo Park, they had one extra 
> small room, which they rented for $1000/month.  Since then, they've had 
> a couple dozen requests for such rooms to be rented as a private work 
> area.  They're planning to build several in all new locations.

He mentioned both storage space and private rooms. Both will be 
available. I believe he said there will be 20 small rooms available and 
plenty of storage space. The storage space will be sold in blocks.

> Overall, I was pretty impressed.  In particular, I'd expected a more 
> corporate style organization, but while they most definitely are a 
> private, for-profit company, I got a very strong sense Jim and Denney 
> really do have their hearts in this and aren't just in it to make a buck.

Agreed. Thanks for the summary Paul -- I was hoping to do this and 
haven't had the time, so it was great seeing it in my inbox.

~thomas