Town Hall - July 14th, 2021

Welcome!

• Town Hall Agenda

• SOTU

  • Going from COVID-19 Prevention to Communicable Disease Prevention

    1. Policies have been amended.

    2. No more health check forms for members (guests will still be asked as part of their visitor sign in).

    3. Masks are still strongly recommended indoors for any individual who have bot been completely vaccinated (both does and 14 days has passed since the second dosage).

    4. Hand sanitizers will still be placed around MakerLabs for the comfort and convenience of members. Please use them upon entry of the building.

    5. We will not police and ask for proof of vaccinations however we strongly encourage members to continue wearing their masks while indoors and interacting with others in close proximity.

    6. Some classes will increase in size and masks will still be mandatory for the safety and peace of mind for the instructor and students.

    7. Existing barriers will remain as they are in case health orders have changed and we need to regress back to COVID-19 protocols.

    8. Masks are still mandatory for Staff while they are working until at least September or otherwise advised by Provincial Health and WorkSafe.

  • We are now at 100% studio capacity and over 190 members in the main building!

  • We are saying good bye to MakerLabs Industries

    1. We thank the members of industries for participating in the Industries Initiative

    2. However we have essentially been subsidizing that building for years and it's not sustainable for us to continue.

    3. All keys will be returned and deactivated by December 29th, 2021.

Member Feedback Survey Results

• Paint Booth

  • While a nice amenity to have for sure, turns out it is not that easy to set one up

  • Numerous City permits are required and believe us, if they were easily managed the fabrication team would've set one up eons ago.

  • If anyone would like to put together a proposal of putting one together that will not require any city permits/circumvent them, we are open to it but at this time we would not be able to take this on.

• 2nd Floor Heating and Electrical

  • We are looking into the required permits for having permanent heat extractors installed and evacuating through a roof duct and will see if it will be possible for next summer.

  • Thank you to Scott and Darran for setting up temporary extractors on the second floor

  • We are speculating that the 2nd floor outages were largely due to space heaters in the winter/colder months as we have not seen as many outages in the past couple of months.

  • While we are still working out with our electrician on splitting some of the lines, we remind members to not leave anything plugged in unnecessarily, and any outlets they are struggling with to please mark them with tape and send a photograph to the community team.

• Clutter

  • We are still chipping away at the remaining clutter and we thank all the members who have been helping us with the daunting quest.

  • We have managed to shrink the clutter down from over 2500 sqft to just under 1200 since we started last fall

• Appropriate Space Signage

  • We are in the process of revamping how we manage signage at MakerLabs to ensure that they are pertinent to the tools they are associated with and that they won't be easily discarded. Signage will include general safety reminders around the space as well.

• More advanced/level 2 courses

  • We are always open to workshop and class ideas from our members, and if anyone wants to offer their own courses are welcome to submit a proposal to us (link at the bottom of Education > classes or through the Member Wiki)

• Oscillating spindle sander

  • Sadly it is a situation where they have been so badly abused when we did have them that we are not keen on replacing them immediately at this time. The last one we had didn't even last a month due to mis-use.

  • Eventually we will revisit acquiring another but at this time we will not be getting one.

• More laser cutters

  • We are actually developing a curriculum at this time for the fibre laser engraver.

  • Formerly a fabricator only tool, this laser will allow you to engrave on metal objects.

  • Hopefully running it starting September.

• More community events

  • With restrictions lifting we are definitely planning on organizing more opportunities for the community to get together

  • We are still being cautious and must follow any mandates the government and WorkSafe BC requires of us to remain open however

Space and Tools Upgrades

• Ceramics space incoming

  • We are waiting on the kiln to arrive. It is expected later this month.

• New Jointer arrived

  • Thank you to the members who helped us move it into place assemble it

  • No reclaimed wood please

  • If you overwork it, it will turn off on its own. Forcing it keep going after will also decrease its life span. Work in small increments and do not rush the machine.

• Ender 3 v2 3D printer has been built and made available, and it will be replacing the MakerBot Replicator

• New Tormach

  • We received a 2nd Tormach milling machine and are developing a class to use it. Students must be competent on the CNC Router in order to qualify taking this class, and have completed 3 projects independently on the CNC Router.

• Metal Lathe

  • Darran has procured a metal lathe, and is working with Ken to develop a class for it. That should be up and running sometime in September.

• Fabricator Tools Available

  • Drum sander

  • Domino joiner

  • Makita polisher

  • Just have to review the policies and manuals for these specific tools here:

Education

• WoodLab 101 class have been reduced back to Saturday mornings only for the summer. The class frequency may be increased again in the fall.

• Some class sizes are back to pre-COVID levels (CNC Router 101, Soldering & Electronics 101, WoodLab 201, Table Saw 101)

Program Updates

• TFW - Applications are open for the fall residency intakes. Deadline to apply is July 31st. Residency will be increased back to 4 residents per month starting in September

• CTech - On hold until there is more of an electronics community that can support this program.

Policy Changes

• Member Health Plan

  1. Members who have been with us for at least 3 months can apply for extended medical coverage under MakerLabs' Manulife plan. Members are responsible for the fees, and the rates vary based on single / couple / family coverage. Email us or talk to Corinne to inquire.

• 3D printing rates starting August 1st

  1. $5/printing hour

  2. Filament dropping to $0.25

  3. Members can report their time/filament using the self-reporting system

• Member Minutes

  1. Are now public for viewing > track your own minutes from the Member Wiki

  2. You can view them here.

• Community Improvement Initiatives Available for viewing online

  1. After every town hall we will add the newly announced projects and members can see progress on announced initiatives

  2. You can view that page here.

Lightning Talks

• Arezou & Sarita - Pop up gallery at MakerLabs

• Will - Omni-directional Robot

Q&A

Additional Announcement:

• Piggybacking off the pop up gallery, we are pushing to set up a potential photo space for when exhibits are not in place.

• If any members have new ideas for communal spaces or other initiatives around the building send us a proposal. Nothing is out of the question, and when members take the lead on projects, it is more likely to happen.

Q: Are we allowed to play on the piano again?

A: We don't see why not? Just sanitize before and after, and don't sneeze on it.

Q: Possible other financial arrangements for individuals on fixed/lower income?

A: We can understand that things happen and members are unable to utilize their memberships to their full extent. That said, we can have private discussions on a case-by-case arrangement to figure out an economical way for individuals to access MakerLabs.

Q: Where is our tool's person?

A: Eamon and Alicia have departed from the MakerLabs staff team. Thomas has taken on some of the repairs in the meanwhile. We are currently hiring for a full time front desk associate/facilities coordinator with more of a focus on facilities/tools.

Q: Is there a board of directors for MakerLabs?

A: We are a for-profit company with an independent owner, no board of directors.

Q: How many students will be in the WoodLab classes?

A: There used to be 5, but it will never be 5 again.

Q: Could we set up a picnic table for the outside?

A: Yeah! We don't see why not? We can maybe set up some folding tables or chairs.

Q: Are there any new staff since the last town hall?

A: There is not, we are now down to a crew of 7 full time staff members. We said goodbye to Marc, Eamon, Alicia and Alejandra. And right now we are only hiring for one person.

We have been successful in hosting a town hall event every quarter for the last three quarters, and this is all thanks to the members who take the time to contribute by means of completing the quarterly member feedback surveys.

We plan to continue sending out those surveys so we are able to generate actionable plans for the major concerns and we can either complete them before town hall, or announce our plans for them during the town hall.

With the town halls becoming more efficient, we also plan on making town hall less of a long lecture/meeting and a more sociable affair for members and arrange so that members will have more time to socialize and mingle with other members.

Missed/overlooked during this Town Hall:

• Additional Parking Lot Security camera activated

  • Late staying members can check the feeds at the front desk

• Electrical cord strung in the sanding booth instead of dragged across from the wall

Video Recording

Want to watch the town hall? You can watch it below here: