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--- f15:studio [2016-01-19 14:33] – nik
+++ f15:studio [2016-08-09 17:32] (current) – ↷ Links adapted because of a move operation nik
@@ Line 96: / Line 96: @@
 The experiment consists of attempting to rent the studio for events and meetings from an hour to several days for groups up to (max) 50 people, ideally not more than 30. In the first three months of the experiment the rentals take precedence over any other activities. In the second three months FoAM activities take precedence over rentals.
+The duration of the experiment is ~8 months spread from February to September
 == Implementation ==
 The experiment has different tasks:
-  * Design of the rental package(s), including short description of available spaces and services, photos and floor-plans
+  * Design of [[FoAM rental packages]], including short description of available spaces and services, photos and floor-plans (online and as a .pdf that can be sent by email)
   * Creating an internal price list with ranges of discounts, to be negotiated with every renter
   * Designing a standard letter of agreement
@@ Line 118: / Line 120: @@
   * Maja & Rasa: design rental offer document, put information online,
   * Rasa: find out how best to promote rentals (talk to members/board...)
+  * Nik, all: check if we can use [[https://www.loomio.org/|Loomio]] to make quick decisions about whether to rent the space, and whether to consider it a [[:foam_project_criteria|FoAM event]]
 === Expected results ===
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 === Hypothesis ===
+The studio can function as a flexible co-working space for up to 10-15 people at a time. It is possible to generate enough funds to cover the overhead and facility management costs. Sharing the space with other organisations and individuals will not only bring revenue, but it can beneficial for the work of FoAM. It could bring new exchanges, collaborative opportunities, new audiences and inspiration. We can find a way to share the space and the responsibilities so that facility management will become lighter for the core team (and for Rasa in particular).
 === Experiment ===
+This experiment involves agreements with several [[:foam_project_criteria|likeminded]] organisations and individuals who are willing to share the studio with FoAM. The advantage is that the financial load on FoAM would diminish, we would be in contact with people from different networks on a daily bases, so exchange can happen informally, based on people doing interesting stuff in the same space. The emphasis has to be on trust and true sharing of the space, including both its strenghts and its weaknesses.
+Sharing in this experiment means not just using the space, but also sharing the financial costs, management and maintenance of the facilities as well. All spaces and working places are time-shared. This implies a 'clean desks' policy: when you leave, you clean your working space so someone else can use it after you. It is possible to book a working space for longer than a few days, in which case it is possible to leave materials on the tables and on the walls for the duration of the reservation. 'Interesting walls' can stay around for longer.
+In the first three months of the experiment all spaces (except the bedroom) would be shared, but the library and coaching room would be designated quiet spaces. It is possible that FoAM would eventually want to keep the mezzanine for ourselves, but this will be evaluated after the first period. We will still have to keep renting the studio for events, so we will have to find a way for these two experiments to co-exist.
+We want to keep the co-ordination of FoAM's co-working space to a minimum (as none of us actually want to manage a 'real' co-working space with hundreds of members). We would need to setup simple online co-ordination tools (for things like booking spaces, payments, shopping lists, etc.) and have weekly joint lunches or aperos for face-to-face meetings with everyone (?) involved.
+Finances: we will propose a daily rate per person for working in the space. Meeting rooms can be booked at a separate rate (same as in space rental). This rate, if we would have a full occupancy (5 days a week, 12 months) would cover costs for space rental, energy, heating, internet, cleaning, sanitary materials, tea and coffee, basic office materials (paper, pens), "reasonable use" of printers, etc, as well as a fee for a part-time facility manager. It does not include food or special materials.
+A critical uncertainty for FoAM is whether we can still 'thrive' in the studio as a co-working space. We have intuitive criteria to test this, which each of us should keep track of:
+  * Before going to the studio: do I want to go and work in the studio and why?
+  * When in the space: check the use/abuse of the space (this can also be assessed on a weekly/monthly basis): is the space in a better/worse/the same condition as when I left it last time?
+  * At the end of working in the studio: do I feel energised, drained or neutral and why?
+  * After the experiment: has the co-working space had a positive impact on FoAM's work (new people, projects, lighter load on core team, etc.)
+  * Check Slackbot as a possible lightweight assessment tool
+Candidates for co-working (organisations): Hackistan, SPIN, Edgeriders
+To do in January:
+  * All: agree on prices and make an internal shared document
+  * Rasa (& all to edit): User manual and Agreement/Licensing document
+  * Nik: research possibility to use bitcoin for payments (each person/organisation would have their own address) and research systems that link a booking system/calendar with bitcoin payments
+  * Nik: check Slackbot to keep track of the participants' 'thriveability' in the co-working space.
+  * Nik: update IT policy and user manual
 === Expected results ===
+  * Clarity about the cost/benefit ratio of co-working space
+  * Decision whether co-working space sufficiently contributes to the financial sustainability of FoAM, enough to justify sharing the studio
+  * Decision whether Rasa wants to manage FoAM's co-working space (the studio shared with a few organisations and individuals) and if so, whether she needs additional resources and people to be involved.
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 === Hypothesis ===
+If we fully inhabit the FoAM studio and use it to do things we care about, invite people we like working with, rather than primarily administer other people's work, we will use the space to its full potential, the space will look and feel much better than it does at the moment and we will find ways to raise funds to pay for it. In other words, both the people and the space will thrive.
 === Experiment ===
+The core team (and possibly some FoAM members) will inhabit the space as a true creative studio for speculative culture. We will define this experiment closer to its staring date in June. The experiment will last from June until September.
 === Expected results ===
+Clarity on whether or not we should need to keep the studio exclusively for FoAM, and how we could optimally use it without being drained by it. + Ideas and options to cover the costs without structural funding.