Time for a Dallas Makerspace update!
Next Meeting:
Topics: New space, Makerbot, ArtCon SEED clock, and more
When: Thursday, July 1, 7pm
Where: XMaxGames, 1931 Skillman St., Dallas, TX, 75206
Map: http://bit.ly/aOCUrw
Art Con SEED Clock Project
Art Conspiracy is a local 501(c)(3) non-profit that organizes a big
fund raising event for a different North Texas non-profit group each
year. They’ve raised over $70,000 for non profits so far. To cover
their annual operating expenses, they also hold an annual art auction
called the Art Con SEED event. For SEED 2010, Art Conspiracy has
selected 30 local artists. Each artist will be given an identical kit.
Each kit will be used as the basis to build a working art clock. The
30 clocks will be auctioned off at a live event on July 16 at Sons of
Herman Hall in Deep Ellum. Dallas Makerspace has been selected as one
of those 30 artists. The clock kit was presented at last week’s
meeting and we have approximately 3 weeks to deliver our finished art
clock.
We’ve Signed a Lease!
We signed a lease on a 1680 square foot space at 11020 Audelia Rd,
Suite C103, Dallas, 75243. The new space is only a couple of miles
from our optimal location at the 635/75 intersection. We got a lot of
the items on our wish list including a big roll-up door in the back,
lots of parking, proximity to a major highway, and walking distance to
a DART rail station. We also managed to get a short 1 year lease, so
we can re-evaluate our needs after a year (just in case we need to
expand!)
The theorectical move-in date is July 1 but in reality Glenn and Ed
are working through some red-tape that cropped up at the last minute
with the city of Dallas. It may be another week or so before we
finally get the occupancy permit issued.
**IMPORTANT** Membership Update
Up until now, anyone who made a substantial one-time donation and said
they wanted to be a member has been considered as such. Most members
have been paying monthly dues as well, which have gone toward our
start up fund until now. Starting with the July dues, that money will
be going directly towards rent and operations, so paying dues is no
longer optional if you want to be a member.
To be a member in July, you need to get your July dues paid before
July 1st. There are still a couple of days left to do so. If you’re
not sure what your status is, see the members page in the wiki. If
your name is not on this list, you are not currently a member. If your
name is on this list but highlighted in red, it means you haven’t
started paying dues yet. If you’re not a member but want to be one in
July, see below for more details on becoming a member. If you are a
member but haven’t set up your monthly dues payments yet, please do
that in the next day or two.
Current members: 25
Member Goal: 30
Member list: http://www.dallasmakerspace.com/wiki/Members
Come on folks, if you haven’t joined yet, please do so today. We’re
asking for a one-time up front donation of $100 or whatever you can
afford to help us reach our start up fund goal. After that, there will
be a monthly membership fee. We’re shooting for an average membership
fee of $40/month but we understand that not everyone can afford the
same rate, so we’re offering three rates:
$50/month – if you can afford it, and want to help!
$40/month – standard rate
$30/month – the starving hacker rate
Start up Fund Status
DPRG contribution: $1000
Donations: $3500
May makerspace dues: $370
June makerspace dues: $490
Total: $5360
Goal : $6000
We’re still $640 short of our start up goal! We really need to hit
that in order to have a smooth start up. There are a lot of expenses
involved and, now that we’ve signed a lease, we’re beginning to burn
through those startup dollars paying for lease deposits, utility
deposits, liability insurance, city permits, inspections, and other
boring but expensive stuff.
We know these aren’t the best times financially for non-profits to ask
for donations but if you can squeeze out a few dollars, you’re helping
to create a group that could potentially have a big impact on Dallas
and make our city a more interesting place to live. Any donation will
help, however small. To make a donation, visit the DPRG’s Dallas
Makerspace project page:
http://www.dprg.org/projects/2010-01a/
Other important links
Makerspace wiki
http://www.dallasmakerspace.com/
Makerspace twitter
https://twitter.com/dallasmakers
DPRG/Makerspace IRC
irc://irc.freenode.net/#dprg
