Some thoughts. There isn’t a formal list of steps and leadership seemed uncertain of the next best course of action when items just kept showing up.
we need to be able to tell who brought it if they don’t own up to it. Cameras.
a formal list of steps that start with a written warning via email/forum message (which isn’t legally necessary, I’m just sick and tired of hearing people deny they were warned. They may still claim it and their friends will claim we aren’t being transparent if we won’t show it, but it still exists)
the list of steps ends with being kicked out permanently.
Two large landscaping boulders, other landscaping rocks which make mowing more of a pain, a giant steel cable reel and a very large drafting cabinet all come to mind. Broken plastic garden storage bench, wheelbarrow with a flat tire……
Another thought is that large unwanted donations should not require donor permission to sell - that’s a modification which would have been VERY handy. The current rule requiring donor permission doesn’t cover instances where items get dumped on us.
I would, however, like to hear more about how the current policy can be enforced.
Some thoughts. There isn’t a formal list of steps and leadership seemed uncertain of the next best course of action when items just kept showing up.
we need to be able to tell who brought it if they don’t own up to it. Cameras.
a formal list of steps that start with a written warning via email/forum message (which isn’t legally necessary, I’m just sick and tired of hearing people deny they were warned. They may still claim it and their friends will claim we aren’t being transparent if we won’t show it, but it still exists)
the list of steps ends with being kicked out permanently.
Two large landscaping boulders, other landscaping rocks which make mowing more of a pain, a giant steel cable reel and a very large drafting cabinet all come to mind. Broken plastic garden storage bench, wheelbarrow with a flat tire……
Another thought is that large unwanted donations should not require donor permission to sell - that’s a modification which would have been VERY handy. The current rule requiring donor permission doesn’t cover instances where items get dumped on us.
Conversely, if somebody loses, we all lose. Your curve tracer would be used (or is being used?) by a member or members. So imagine that they literally lose it. They lose it, so you lose it (it’s your pride and joy, after all), so MakeICT loses because it’s on the hook. This policy is obviously unp…
Thanks for the compliment, but honestly I don’t deserve it.
There is equipment in the building that to my understanding has been “loaned”. It sits there and isn’t being used. It was “approved” as a loan, I assume, by a previous Area Lead. I have no use for it and, again, it isn’t being used. So the whim of the AL can decide that it should stay or it should go? (Some 80s song just went thru my head.)
I would lean toward not having long-term loans because AL’s can and should change over time. Why should a new AL be saddled with the historical choice to accept storage of equipment that isn’t being used?
(Honestly, this comes across more harsh than I really feel, but I’m leaving it as-is to make a point.)
I haven’t re-looked at it, but isn’t there an option in the current policy to notify the loaner and request the loan be removed? Does that fix you question?
This makes sense. Could not a policy line state (potentially) that next AL can notify loaner of unwanted loan and to please come get it, maybe? Spitballing here, I dunno.
Maybe, but then at least for me there’s the momentum issue. It’s been here for (years?)? As a volunteer Lead, I’m just trying to do my part because this place has so much to offer. Who am I insulting if I ask for it to be removed? (Someone who’s been here much longer than me and also more involved in the organization.) Does that offer them the privilege to leave the largely-unused equipment here? Maybe. Again, I ask “Who am I” to invoke my opinion?
What would I/we do with the space if the equipment was removed? What would we gain if it was used? Could there be a requirement that something must be used x-often to stay? Should the owner be required to offer a class quarterly/semi-annually/annually?
The answers are probably different for a “Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator” VS a garden hoe.
Please take this in context. I’m not losing sleep over the questions.
You’re the person who’s volunteered to run the area. In my experience, most people (especially former leads) are grateful for that willingness.
You get to make the changes. If you question whether you should, your options include (but are not limited to, and don’t actually require) asking former leads and having a departmental meeting - like Garden meetings or MetalShop Meetups or Woodshop Workshops (Garden meetings should be called Garden Gatherings, I’m digging the alliterations).
If nobody has major objections, you notify the owner…and if the owner fails to repond (if this isn’t in policy perhaps it should be) within a specified time period, then perhaps it’s time to dispense of it via the three nerd rule (which is 3 members of…leadership? The Board? agree to sell it)
The entire organization benefits if leads feel empowered.
How many tons worth of unwanted items from a single person should we tolerate? Are you volunteering to help remove them? The problem has been this big, literally, this year.
Looking through the information presented at Orientation, I don’t see any specific mention about members asking for approval first before bringing in donated items. I seem to remember this used to be emphasized for all new members, and it needs to be again. A lot of people have the impression that their donations are “helping” and don’t realize it’s often the opposite. One person’s treasure can be MakeICT’s big headache.
I’ll be going through the Orientation slides and updating them soon. I’ll be sure this topic is added.
If you can’t identify the owner, you won’t be able to contact them about the 30 day removal requirement-- which leads should be able to issue whenever they wish, IMO.
How about if you don’t fill out the Equipment Loan Agreement, you don’t get to loan your item?
And if you just leave the item somewhere without filling out the form, it now belongs to MakeICT to dispose of as it chooses?
Though it was never a slide I agree that it should be.
Reading over the Tool Loan Policy, I think that it’s pretty comprehensive so long as it’s adhered to.
Perhaps the best first step then is to assist Area Leads in enforcing it in addition to reinforcing it’s adherence with the membership at large.
I think it’s fair to argue that if you didn’t fill out the form then you didn’t loan your item, you left it.
We have a Lost and Found list, perhaps we could post items that are left without an E.L.A there.
Why isn’t the final response simply disposing or selling of the unwanted items after sufficient notification has been given?
Instead of going through a multi-step written warning process ending in reducing our membership, Maybe we could simply notify the person once that they have 30 days to remove the item.
Echoing what others said, whenever I contacted someone to tell them that their loan wasn’t needed any more, they were offended and upset that they now had to store the thing that didn’t have a spot in their house either. That’s 100% - I NEVER had anybody gladly show up the next day on their own accord and take their thing back.
Inventory is a volunteer opportunity we’ve had for years. It’s one of those things that nobody wants to do… hey kinda like the donor wall! Except it’s WAY bigger than the donor wall.
I learned a lot about volunteering from Habitat for Humanity. They design a system that people want to engage in. People love painting houses and it’s easy enough for a high schooler to do, so you know what? Every house gets brush painted. No sprayers here! On the other hand, they had people refuse to ever come back after a hot day of sand and fill. So now they contract out drywall sanding. They model their system around what people inherently engage in.
What I’m seeing in this thread, correct me if I’m wrong, is…
We have a system
It takes work and strong organizational skills
Area leads are already swamped
The solution is to make the area leads do more work
I’d recommend the board ask each area lead how they feel about this rather than shelve the whole discussion. The most powerful question you can ask as a leader is “how do we solve this problem?”. Let the solution come from the grassroots.
I do volunteer to assist Facilities and the Maker Space in general, so yes if the Board, Facilities, or an Area Lead with authority were to call for a clean up, I would likely assist in the effort.
I don’t know that we do have a system, though. We have a policy, but that policy isn’t backed up with a process to complete the system. We have ‘what’ and ‘why’ but not ‘how.’
The Inventory Committee needs help establishing the ‘how’ in order to make things work.
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Gretchen:
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