Big autumn project: moving tool bookings for our three spaces off the shared spreadsheet. Laser cutter, 3D printers and soldering benches, each bookable in two-hour slots, and only members who've done the safety induction allowed on the laser.
Has anyone here set up something like this on their community platform? I'd love to hear what worked and what you'd skip.
Our monthly repair café has a great crew of volunteer fixers, but visitor numbers have been stuck at around 25 a session since spring. We'd love to reach 40.
So far we've tried posters in the library, a post in the neighbourhood app and word of mouth. What actually worked for your events? Partnerships, local press, something else?
Editable posters, flyers and social images for promoting a repair café or maker workshop. I made the first versions for our monthly fix-it days around Utrecht, and sign-ups went from about 20 to 35 per session compared with our old plain-text notices.
The pack has A3 and A4 posters, a half-page flyer, square and story-sized social images, and a short guide on where posters actually get noticed (laundrettes and the library noticeboard, mostly).
Thursday it is, 14 votes to 5. The beginner soldering series starts in September with eight seats per session. Sign-up opens next week.
Finally re-counted the tool library: 234 things members can borrow, from pipe clamps to a thermal camera. The most borrowed item this year? A plain old stud finder.
October fix-it day in numbers: 38 items brought in, 27 fixed, 6 waiting on a part we didn't have, and 5 that were beyond saving. Toasters and kettles topped the list again.
Thank you to the nine volunteers who stayed until the last lamp was rewired.
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Thanks Sarah, saving this! Our winter coat swap volunteers are still on a shared spreadsheet that far too many people can open. How did you get your coordinators to agree on who keeps admin rights? That's the conversation I keep putting off.
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One more reason to collect less: shorter forms convert better. When a client cut their sign-up form from nine fields to four, completion went from 52% to 71%. Privacy and growth pull in the same direction here.
On the induction question: the simplest set-up is a separate private group for inducted laser users, with the laser events inside it. When someone signs off their induction, add them to that group.
Also, Jackson Reyes ran hardware sign-ups like this at one of his hackathons. Worth asking him how he handled the waitlist.