Member Manual
Last Edited: 01/2/2018
Welcome
Welcome to the Pumping Station: One, Chicago's premiere hackerspace. We do woodworking, software, metalworking, art, crafts, electronics, chemistry, power wheel racing, TARDIS building, green technology, nanotechnology, tinkering, dismantling of robots, assembling of robots, music, biotechnology, CNC, and the many ways all those subjects (and more) intersect and collaborate.
Quick list of things to do
Important Documents
- Read the Bylaws
- Read the Membership agreement
- Read our Policies
Things to do
- Sign the waiver
- Join the mailing lists
- Come to Member Meetings to see whats going on and meet other members
- Build something awesome
- Join a class and learn something new
- Start a thing and inspire someone
- Bring your friends/guests - some guidelines
- Edit the Wiki
- Ask if you don't know
Your Role (as a Member)
As a member of Pumping Station: One, you aren't just buying shared use of a workshop, you're joining a community of people who love learning and making things, and sharing their knowledge with others. That learning and sharing ethos is what makes a hackerspace great, so embrace it to the greatest extent that you can.
This hackerspace belongs to and is controlled by its members, so by joining up, It's your hackerspace. If you see something wrong or broken, fix it. (or if you don't know how, bring it to the attention of someone who does and offer to help; you'll learn something!) If you want something to work differently, make it happen (the board, area hosts, and other long time members can usually be of help here). You as a member are allowed to be at the space any time! Talk to a board member to get your keycode, fob, or key. We'll work out which one you get.
Meetings
Every Tuesday night at 8pm we have an open house. You probably attended one of these before you became a member. Everyone is encouraged to come on Tuesday nights to see what other people are working on and share ideas. It's always full of activity and lots of fun.
Before the open house, we have a meeting of our Board of Directors. It's mostly about facility maintenance, paying bills, and whatever other issues we're dealing with at the moment. If you don't want to attend but want to stay in the loop, you can read the meeting minutes.
Orientation Program
You're required to go to the PS1 Orientation class within 3 months of joining if you haven't already! Please see Orientation Program Policy.
At your first meeting
The first time you attend a meeting, be sure to do a couple things:
- Sign a waiver - VERY IMPORTANT everyone who walks in the door must sign a waiver, including guests.
- Introduce yourself at the meeting.
- Get a tour - an official tour leader should be announced during the meeting.
Voting
Most decisions are made by a vote of the full members. Here's how voting works:
- Full members may propose votes.
- Only full members in good standing may vote.
- As a required step, the vote proposal is run past the board of directors for proper wording, etc. - this helps prevent people from disagreeing with your proposal because it's written poorly.
- The proposing member places the item before the membership (BOTH on mailing list and during a meeting) at least 7 days prior to a meeting.
- During this period, people may read and discuss the proposal, and offer their own counter-proposals.
- At the next scheduled meeting, the proposal and any counter proposals are voted on.
Board of Directors
Pumping Station: One is a direct democracy of its full members, but most of the heavy lifting is delegated to the board of directors . They pay the bills and coordinate things behind the scenes. If you have any questions, you can talk to one of them during a meeting or email them at [email protected].
Facility Operations
The people primarily responsible for the various shops in the hackerspace are the Area Hosts. They are volunteers who maintain their areas and frequently certify people on their area's tools.
Tools
You must be authorized before you can use many tools. A list of authorized members is listed for each power tool on the item's Equipment page.
If you break a tool, the WORST thing you can do is to make it look like it's not broken and leave before anyone notices. Someone could be killed. What you should do, in order of preference, is:
- fix it, if you are capable
- put a "broken" sign on it if you can't fix it, with notes about who you are and what you found.
- tell the mailing list what is broken about the tool and figure out how to fix it.
Accidents happen, and you will not be called out or derided for a simple accident.
Interested in learning?
Come by any of the events on the calendar. A few things require you to be a member or to pay a parts fee. Read the fine print.
Interested in leading?
- Pick a topic
- Gauge interest from the membership
- Pick a date
- Talk to a Board member to get your event put on the calendar or email info @ pumpingstationone.org for help
For more extensive advice read New events