Hackerspaces

Hackerspaces are shared spaces - usually a rented shop - where members and visitors can participate in various hacking activities.

Sometimes they'll host regular open houses to introduce members of the public to the space and encourage new membership.

Hackerspaces are usually funded by membership; sometimes there's a scaled pay structure in which members who pay higher dues have round-the-clock access to the space while lower-paying members can use the equipment that a space hosts but don't have a key. Donations to hackerspaces are always welcome because the donations are used to fund equipment (machine tools, 3d printers, etc.) and amenities (someone keeps the bathrooms in those places nice and provides toilet paper and handsoap; kick them five bucks for the courtesy if you can).

Different hackerspaces have different interests. You might find that one space has a focus on machining and retro gaming, while another might spend a lot of time on lockpicking and soldering, and another might host regular hackathons and have a comprehensive library. Each hackerspace will have its own norms, rules, and expectations, so go into each with respect and be willing to learn about what is important to each space if you want to spend time there.

Finding a Hackerspace

Most hackerspaces aren't particularly quiet about their existence. They want people to join in and participate. The best way to find a hackerspace is to search "hackerspace near me" and see what pops up. If you get a list of spaces, research each one to see if they have public days or if they have open projects that you could help with.

Another great way to find hackerspaces is to go where the hackers are and talk to them. InfoSec Meetings and InfoSec Conferences are great places to meet people and learn about their projects and spaces.

Making a Hackerspace

Having a Plan

It is not easy to make any kind of lasting communal project, so sometimes hackerspaces come and go quickly. There are personality clashes and fights with landlords and people in the scene moving or having kids or just heading to a different scene. If you want to make a hackerspace you should have a good idea of how to fund it, what you want to accomplish with the space, and who you'll be doing this with. There can be significant financial liabilities that come with running a hackerspace, and insular communities of passionate people is a recipe for drama, so start with a clear charter and rules that can help to keep the peace if there are conflicts among members.

Pooling Resources

Since most hackerspaces are in the "industrial park" setting more than the "someone's garage" setting, it usually takes a motivated group of individuals with a fair amount of money to make a hackerspace happen. Not only are you going to be paying rent, you're also going to be paying for business-level power bills and utilities, which can be quite a lot higher than the monthly cable bill you're used to getting at home.

In addition to maintenance costs, there is also the cost of whatever equipment will be on offer - will the space purchase new equipment? Are tools and hardware being donated by members of the community? If there is heavy equipment being moved do you also have to pay equipment movers? If someone is donating a 3D printer do people need to pay fees for the filament to be able to use it or are people donating filament too? Where is the furniture for the space coming from? Consider these kinds of costs when building the budget for your space so that someone isn't left holding the bag (and a bill) when there are surprise expenses.

Put a call out to the community for donations of time, equipment, and money, and consider if you have anything to add to the community pool of resources. Maybe there are four old oscilloscopes sitting in the back room at your office that your boss wouldn't mind you taking. Maybe you've got an old server rack out in the garage that you haven't used since the 90s. Maybe your neighbor is moving and doesn't want to take her old shop smith. Maybe there's a furniture manufacturer down the street that has good dumpster diving. Maybe your local produce store would be delighted if you took their old pallets off their hands.

Maintaining the Space

Hackerspaces are a lot of work. I wouldn't want to run one; my spouse and I tried to make one work for a while and neither of us had the time to dedicate to the project to make it last. If you want to run a successful hackerspace you're going to need people to volunteer a lot of time and labor to make it happen, and you're going to have to be willing to take it on as a major time commitment for yourself. I can be extremely rewarding and worthwhile to do so, but it is a lot of work, so here are some tips:

• Don't assume people will pitch in without prompting. Get people to sign up for specific projects if you need committed volunteers.
• Set a schedule. Don't let any one person take on too much work and don't take too much on yourself.
• Publish a wishlist for visitors - this can be suggested donations, a list of items the shop needs, or a volunteer sign-up sheet, but tell people what you need so they can give it to you without having to guess.
• Have fun. If the space is becoming a constant source of stress, maybe it's time to take a step back. This is supposed to be fun.
• Set targets and goals for the space and track progress; don't assume progress is happening without regular checkins.
• You need an official treasurer. This doesn't have to be *formal* like it doesn't have to be a hired CPA firm, but you need someone who knows what's going on with the finances and has access to all of the financial information, from rent increases to unexpected donations.
• Schedule regular cleaning and maintenance. If you don't take care of a space regularly, chaos will become the order of the day. Pro Tip: "Shop Cleaning Day" may be an even better way than "Shop Potluck" to get people interested in joining. Combine the two and see what happens.
• Have a code of conduct. "Don't be a dick" is not a code of conduct. You need to have hard lines on when to ask someone to leave and you need to stick to those rules.

Why a Hackerspace?

Why not a makerspace, or a group shop, or a computerspace? What makes a hackerspace a hackerspace?

Mostly it's the hacking.

Hacking is kind of a nebulous concept. There are lots of things that "count" as hacking and not all of them actually have anything to do with computers. One of the hackerspaces I was part of for a while had a crew of biohackers that hung out there; one that I still spend a fair amount of time at is heavily industrial; one was out in the woods and had no computers in sight. But what all of the hackerspaces I've been to have shared has been a mutual interest in figuring things out, even if you have to break stuff (and sometimes the law) to do so.

If you asked a makerspace to make a project centered around the concept of "doors" my guess is that you'd get some fabulous doors as a result - cool things with visible gears or transparent layers of resin that look like a koi pond or something made of thousands of interlocking plastic joint's that's a curtain if you walk through one side and a wall if you try to go through the other. It would be awesome.

If you asked a hackerspace to make a project centered around the concept of "doors" you're going to end up with a stack of ideas for how to get around doors, how to bypass doors, how to unlock doors, how to make sure that nobody sees you unlocking a door, how to make sure that you don't leave any traces of how the door was unlocked, how to talk to people to get them to open doors for you, how to get what you need from behind a door without approaching the door.

If you ask a makerspace to do a car project you're going to get something that looks straight out of either Mad Max or like it was dropped here by a dirigible. If you ask hackers to do a car project you're either going to get a franken-truck that was cobbled together out of a dodge viper, a ford windstar, and a Jeep Cherokee or you're going to get people figuring out how to remotely access your vehicle.

And that's fantastic. That's where I want to hang out. That's my favorite kind of asshole. We're a nightmare and I love it.