@valerie Thread created so discussion can move off this one.
The change from what the space was when I joined to what it is today is astounding. The last few years in particular have been truly transformational and made asmbly a fundamentally better place.
So while it may not lessen the sting of the price increase, I think the membership price increase is just an overdue recognition of the improvements made. Still the best deal in town! 
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This is my biggest thing as well. I’ve looked at what it costs to be a part of toolmarks or splinter group or one of the other (almost entirely wood) maker spaces and they were/are prohibitively expensive for our family. Even with the bump, ASMBLY offers a very competent (putting it mildly) woodshop as well as machining, steel work, textiles, etc.
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Thanks for adding your thoughts @hamitron @Branislav and @Chrisjmckinley 
The transformation that has occurred over the last 2 years really is incredible and it warms my heart to hear from the people who have been around long enough to take part in the change and see it happen in front of them.
A quick note – many of you may have received multiple emails about the rate increase with some emails worded in a “I know you haven’t been a member in a while” sort of way. Apologies for that! Our audience groups weren’t initially distinguishing between the most recent active membership date vs ANY active membership date, so many people ended up in multiple audiences. We wanted to make sure everyone who has ever been a member was notified so that anyone who is interested has an opportunity to buy memberships before the rate increases. If it’s been more than a year since someone was a member, we require that they retake orientation and Woodshop Safety since so much has changed, so we offered those two classes to returning members for free through the end of May. Hope this didn’t confuse too many people and know that you can always log into your Neon member portal here to check your membership status.
Question: is it feasible to start & stop the monthly subscription? I’m traveling, a lot, since I retired from my tech job and I know for a fact that there will be months where I will be out of the area and unable to use the facilities at all.
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If I understand correctly, you should be able to do that now via Neon. When turning off, your membership would pause at the end of the current pay period. You can then restart your membership (for one month) whenever you want, and the only starting delay would be for OpenPath to refresh, which it does several times per day.
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Yeah i do it sometimes for the same reason, just don’t go too long or you’ll need to recertify
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One of the single digit grandfathered rate holders checking in to say that it seems wrong to raise rates on people who have maintained memberships through thick and thin. I kept my membership all through COVID closures and reductions in access, and even when I knew that I would be unable to visit the space for years. I’ve done my part in keeping my account current, it’s appropriate that you do your part and honor the agreement that rates not go up for continuing members.
My long-time rate of $60 per month should be kept as is because it represents the long-term investment I’ve made in the space. Since there are less than 10 of us at this rate from nearly a decade ago it shouldn’t make a significant difference in the bottom line either ($35 times 9 is only $315). I appreciate that I can delay the rate increase for a year, but the just thing to do would be to respect the grandfathered rate and let attrition continue to decrease our numbers.
I’m not a member of the leadership team, but it seems that if new member growth isn’t able to fund expansion then maybe we don’t need to expand; moreover if the leadership team is tired of volunteering the answer might not be executive salaries, but instead a rotation of the leadership team to include people who are comfortable with their volunteerism.
@Thismatters I’ve never met you, so I’m trying to read your post with a grain of salt.
I appreciate the support you’ve given ATXHackerspace in the past and Asmbly currently. I disagree with your take on the rate increase, but we are all entitled to our own opinions. As such I won’t get into my personal reasons for this.
However on a personal level, your take on the current leadership team is disrespectful to me, and I believe misinformed. No current member of the leadership team is complaining of being tired of volunteering or wanting executive salaries for themselves.
I am currently the Director of Operations. I have in the past, now, and will continue in the future to VOLUNTEER my time to this position. I would say on more weeks than not, I put in more time at Asmbly than I do at my paid job. Asmbly is something I believe very strongly in, and am proud to do this. These hours started long before my leadership position and will continue as long as I am capable of it. But this isn’t something Asmbly as an organization can rely on forever. If any number of reasons occur, and I had to leave Asmbly, relying on another volunteer to fill that role is risky. As a small organization this may work well, but as you grow the amount of administrative work required to keep the wheels turning grows as well. Having a paid staff to rely on is more stable and creates a process for replacement when required. It also allows the ability to delegate work to someone, rather than ask a volunteer to do it.
I hope you understand my intentions with this reply are to simply inform you of my personal feelings of a volunteer run leadership. Asmbly has made amazing accomplishments in the short time we’ve been a non profit, and I’ll continue to do my best to help with future growth.
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James, I haven’t met you personally, so likewise. I meant no disrespect to you or your ongoing contributions. But I do doubt your stance that your contribution is so singular that someone else would not step up to fill your role should you leave it just as I am skeptical of the conclusion that therefore this role must be professionalized; there has always been someone ready to volunteer for such responsibilities and I posit that there always will be while the long term goals of the space permit amatuers to make meaningful contributions. However paid staff always tend to need more paid staff and eventually elbow out organic community in favor of hegemony (and a steady increase in their salary). Members will start to feel less ownership of the space, and therefore proportionally reduce their real contributions (while increasing their financial contributions). Community decays rapidly when it is no longer needed.
The beauty of the ATX Hackerspace then and, now, ASMBLY is exactly and solely in its community. The fact that the ATXHS persisted while a corporate space with professional staff and an unambiguously better facility (Techshop) folded should demonstrate that professional staff (and a well lit workspace) do not necessarily make a space more viable; community and its by-product of affordability should not be undervalued.
I realize I’m wasting my breath because the long-term direction for the space is not open for discussion; the path is set.
Please bear with me as this is a bit long, but I feel compelled to give my thoughts both in response to your posts as well as to other, newer members that are undoubtedly reading this discussion.
I fear that you are making numerous assumptions about Asmbly without having actually been to the space in quite some time. I have been a very active member for several years and have watched the transformation from ATX to Asmbly. In my opinion the changes have been for the better in every single aspect. I’ve had several students who were returning members tell me the same.
I understand your concern that adding paid employees will diminish the strong community aspect of Asmbly. Three paid positions were created and all three employees have contributed significantly in ways that have proven difficult for volunteers. As an example, they have improved and enhanced the education program, including much needed and time-consuming administrative tasks, far more quickly than us non-employee instructors have been able to do. Why? Because the type of person that will contribute to a non-profit typically has a very full plate. Volunteer activities often have to take a back seat to other more pressing obligations (family, work, etc) and so “things get done when they get done.” Employees are literally paid to take on these tasks, and therefore they happen much more quickly.
I have seen absolutely no indication that adding paid employees has reduced volunteer activities. If anything, they have increased because the employees are able to handle administrative aspects and prevent activities like special interest groups from fizzling out like they have in the past.
Furthermore, relying solely on volunteerism often results in slow and ad hoc improvements and/or burnout. The former has not been the case at Asmbly. The latter has. I personally had to reduce the amount of work I did on maintaining equipment because I found I spent too much time fixing tools and not enough time making. We recently lost a long time and valued member because he stepped up on maintenance tasks and then burned out. A paid shop manager would alleviate this issue.
I personally have significant concerns about burnout amongst the current leadership. Using James as an example since he responded (I have concerns about others too), I absolutely believe we would be hard pressed to find another individual willing to volunteer the shear number of hours he has put into Asmbly. I honestly don’t know how he does it given he owns a business and has an insane commute.
It should also be pointed that Asmbly’s historical sole reliance solely on volunteerism is the exception when it comes to non-profits. Most non-profits have a volunteer board of directors with a separate paid staff. I was very surprised when I found out that Valerie is not paid for her position as Executive Director. The board oversees the staff and, among other things, keeps them from trying to “steadily increase their salary” by approving all hiring and pay rate decisions. I speak from experience on this as I previously sat on the board of a non-profit with $14M+ in assets and a large staff. That organization dwarfed Asmbly in scale and yet had no lack of community of volunteerism. People do not work at non-profits to get rich. They do it because they love the work. Non-profit employees encourage, not deter, volunteerism and community.
The comparison between Asmbly and TechShop is often made, however they are completely different. TechShop failed for many reasons, most notably because they over-leveraged financially, expanded to new locations before existing locations became profitable, adopted a gym membership model that assumes people will not actually go and that equipment is interchangeable, and underpaid and undertrained staff. None of those issues exist with Asmbly. Also, TechShop was a for-profit company whereas Asmbly is a non-profit institution, which by its nature has a completely different structure and mentality.
I am not on the leadership team and was not involved in the rate increase decision (it’s still a hell of deal given the equipment available and is cheaper than many other comparable makerspaces). That said, your comment about Asmbly’s long-term direction not being open for discussion is patently wrong. I have found the leadership team to be extremely open and inviting to these types of discussions. I have personally seen major decisions that were clearly based on input from myself and others in the general membership. Leadership has repeatedly demonstrated their efforts to be transparent in all decision making aspects. Case in point, Valerie’s thorough explanation and follow ups on the reasoning for the rate increase. An organization not open to input simply would have said, “Fees are going up.”
Lastly, I urge you to come visit Asmbly. Obviously you care about the place since you’ve continued to pay membership dues and took the time to write on Discourse. Come see what your and other member’s financial contributions have created. Come see how involved the community is and how much the paid employees care about this place. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
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I was planning on keeping my mouth shut, but I can’t let this pass. It would take 2 or 3 people to step up just to simply replace the amount of time that @jamesfreeman puts in. And that certainly wouldn’t replace his expertise.
Volunteers do NOT just grow on trees. And practically every group I have been part of in the past 15 years has had significant issues finding people willing to volunteer for leadership roles. My experience on this includes things like machinists groups, Linux groups, and electronics groups.
In point of fact, the whole reason why ASMBLY seems to need a full time paid position is precisely because nobody has been willing to volunteer to do the work that needs to be done.
It is not set, but there IS a definite ethos that decisions have been made around, and I’m not sure that anybody has explicitly articulated it.
ASMBLY has made many decisions that are inclusive toward a more casual membership demographic. You can see this is the rebranding from a “hackerspace” to a “makerspace”. You can also see this in the usage times: 9-5 weekdays tends to be pretty light while evenings and weekends tend to be busy. You can see this in the tools where we have been preferring things that kind of “just work” rather than being custom built from scratch.
This is, as I understand it, quite a bit different from the old ATXHS. From talking to previous ATXHS board members, it seems like the old ATXHS had quite a few more small businesses operating in the space and was quite a bit busier on the 9:5 shift. It had a bit more of the “hacker” ethos which is kind of “weakly contained chaos.” This is a bit less inclusive of beginners as well as people who would very much prefer to have things “just work” rather than have to tweak them every time.
This is neither better or worse–it likely is different, however.
I can’t say I’m happy that ASMBLY seems to need to grow paid positions. It definitely disturbs my old school hacker sensibilities. However, I have also been a VP of Engineering, and I am fully cognizant that organizing and corralling even a handful of people quickly becomes a full-time job and then some.
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You’re spot on @buzmeg that volunteers don’t grow on trees. The progress that has occurred at Asmbly in a short two years has been a direct result of cohesive, consistent volunteer leadership above and beyond what could be expected from a normal volunteer (the added free time people had during COVID probably helped to some degree). A revolving door leadership team strategy can work for maintaining something that is stagnant or on the decline. It is not an effective strategy for progress.
Just a few clarifying points I want to make here in relation to ATXHS history/transition and Asmbly’s direction for those not aware —
The first year of Asmbly operations (2021), all but one board member was a direct transfer from the existing ATXHS board. Today, half the Asmbly board members have also served on ATXHS boards for multiple terms. The transition of ATXHS LLC to Asmbly 501c3 occurred because the leaders at ATXHS recognized that the structure of ATXHS — both from a legal entity standpoint and an organizational standpoint in how things were handled/run — was not working. We wanted to see a thriving creative community in a space that is clean, reliable, and welcoming to all. We still welcome those that like to hack to come and hack at Asmbly (just store your hacking properly or take it home with you). However we have indeed shifted to make the space accessible to a broader audience because we don’t feel the act of creating, in whatever medium we can offer, should be an exclusive experience. You don’t have to be an expert or a dedicated craftsperson to be welcome at Asmbly — we want members of all levels of experience from all walks of life. Having that diversity leads to a greater knowledge base and more creativity (n00bs have insightful perspectives and ideas!). That’s what Asmbly is about — providing community space to share knowledge and expertise, develop new skills, and explore creatively.
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Thank you for the dialogue. I have been to the space recently, and I was surprised to see the changes. The new planer, jointer, and giant sander are top notch upgrades; the laser room and physical remodel are likewise excellent changes (still not one decent chisel to be found though, so maybe the spirit of the ATXHS lives on ;). Someone mentioned that the space spent $100k on tools which makes an immediate, obvious difference, it’s harder for me—as a person who is pretty comfortable hacking—to see the direct benefit of an untold amount of money being spent on salaries; those benefits I cannot see and they are annoyingly non-persistent.
I was elated to see that one of the additions I made to the shop is still in there (albeit somewhat hacked) and still holding table saw jigs; and I felt honored that the screw advance box joint jig I built had been allowed to sit (despite its disuse) since my last visit. My toddler is almost a kiddo now and so I feel like the time might be right to become more regular at the space (and I got over the mental block that kept me from accepting that my yellow RF tag wouldn’t open the door anymore). The rate increase overriding the grandfather rate, despite and while publishing the minuscule difference it will make in the bottom line, has triggered my fear that the fundamental material that was the ATXHS had eroded and that ASMBLY will soon be a place where I no longer feel comfortable or want to be. The >50% increase in rate doesn’t offend my budget, but the lack of loyalty (at least from my limited perspective) offends my sensibilities greatly.
I’ve just moved to a new house and while moving I had time to reflect on all of the things that I made at ATXHS that adorn my life; very little in my life right now does not sit adjacent to or upon something I made with the tools at that space. I’m sorry for casting aspersions on you fine people, please know that it comes from a place of love and protectiveness. As a person who gets to pick his own job title—and thus have seen the meaningless of them—I know that professionals have their place, but I also know that hiring changes a place and that the professionalization of an organization can be a slippery slope that often doesn’t consider well the perspective of the customer and end user.
Finally, I’ll say that volunteers do in fact grow on trees. Like the fruits of trees they appear as tiny bulbs and with care and attention from their environment they grow into voluptuous and delicate forms that—until they are plucked—delight us all with their beauty. Finally, they fall and they leave their mark elsewhere; we get only the occasional whiff of their sweetness as it ferments and perhaps, sometimes the bitterness of that process. It very well is and should be the case that no one green volunteer can replace the efforts of a senior, but they must be allowed to try! The changing of the seasons is to be celebrated! James, Valerie, and all of you, were once little flowers that needed the careful attention of a pollinator and the space to become whole. When I was at the space in late March there seemed no shortage of would-be volunteers who introduced themselves and asked if I was a new member just as I once did; that fact assures me that our tree is still healthy and will again have a bountiful harvest if we let it.
I’m glad you’ve been able to make it into the shop recently @Thismatters and see the Asmbly transformation firsthand. I get the sense from the points you keep trying to make here that you simply don’t trust, which is reasonable given you haven’t been engaging with the community lately and aren’t all that familiar with Asmbly as an organization or its leaders (if you were, you’d know we’re constantly cultivating volunteer fruit we spot before the flower buds even open). The volunteers @buzmeg and I were referring to are the ones who do that crazy level of work — cultivating other volunteers and treating their volunteer role as if it were a full time job. The transformation you see physically in the space occurred as a direct result of that unrealistic level of leadership volunteerism in addition to a large amount of sustained community volunteerism. That ties into another piece you may be missing — that there is an incredible amount of volunteerism throughout the Asmbly community well beyond anything I ever saw at ATXHS. That isn’t something that is going away. There will still be volunteer leaders. There will always be members on the board keeping any paid employees that exist in check and ensuring salaries are fair, reasonable, and not excessive (nonprofit work is not where people go to get rich). Again, we’re trying to grow this space, not simply sustain it. I want to see Asmbly providing all the various interesting crafts members are interested in learning/trying. I want to see Asmbly inspiring and empowering more people to be creative, experiment, and try new things. I want to see Asmbly enabling makers to launch new careers and pursuing their ideas and passions. I could go on and on, but I need to move on and I mainly wanted to post this more relevant update here —
As promised in the FAQs above, here is some more info on the new On Duty Volunteer Program we’ll be starting soon. Check out the details in this post and be sure to fill out the form if you are interested in participating to earn free membership!
I am actually trying to purchase a year membership now, but the page where you enter your CC info says I will be billed $950. It’s currently 4:48 CST on May 31st where I am (Austin, TX). Is this correct?
Hey @hackchip, sorry for the confusion, you are correct. We responded to your email on this a few hours ago and gave you what you need to purchase at the correct price today.
Friendly reminder to all that the prices will be updated at midnight tonight. You can purchase an annual membership in your member portal here at the current rate until midnight. This gets queued up to begin when your existing membership ends.
Also friendly reminder of some related FAQs posted above: