[iRail] The Hub - an idea

glenn at irail.be glenn at irail.be
Mon Aug 13 11:22:45 UTC 2012


Hello, I think it's a great idea but there's something alike in Ghent. It's
called IBBT garage(
http://www.ibbt.be/nl/ondernemerschap/student-ondernemerschap/start-up-garage
).
It provides workspace for small startups. They get there money by taking a
little percentage on the income of the startups so that's also something
you can consider.
grts

On Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 12:55 PM, Sander Van der Maelen <
sander.vandermaelen at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Pieter,
>
> Following your replies to my remakrs:I will call it "the Hub" then ;-) I
> suggest somewhere along tram 1 then, because the GSP neighbourhood isn't
> really sparky to walk about after office hours. Maybe in 10 years, but
> we're still not there yet...
>
> The most classic ways to generate revenue for a place where people come
> together: membership fees, sponsors, partners, selling booze/food,
> obligatory drinks, renting out, asking €€ for extras, ... Mostly a
> combination of the previous.
>
> A more interesting way that might work: crowdfunding, maybe through
> Kickstarter? We make the financial structure of the Hub open, transparant
> and even hackable: how to get the best out of the €€ we have?
> Also interesting is working with some financial U-shaped curved: you pay
> less (for drinks, paper, ..) when there's just a few or when there are a
> lot of people working in the Hub.
>
> I think it depends of how much your fixed costs for the venue will be.
> Then you can start working out a financial plan.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Sander.
>
> (PS: I'm not a financial expert, please correct me if I'm wrong)
>
>
> ---
> Sander Van der Maelen
> GSM: +32 (0)474 05 79 12
> Twitter: @sandervdm <http://twitter.com/sandervdm>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 12:30 PM, Pieter Colpaert <pieter at irail.be> wrote:
>
>> Hi Greet,
>>
>> That's indeed a good remark. We need to find an honest and for
>> everyone affordable solution. I don't want anyone to be left out
>> because he or she cannot or doesn't want to pay a certain fee.
>>
>> Do you see any good (existing) options? Should we try a new model?
>> Anyone any idea?
>>
>> Maybe we can make The Hub something that generates a revenue somehow
>> so we can host our members for free?
>>
>> Pieter
>>
>> On 8/13/12, Greet Derudder <greet at pimpajoentje.be> wrote:
>> > I like the idea, too!
>> >
>> > This way I could come do some schoolwork but still stay in touch with
>> iRail
>> > people and keep up to date with what's going on, which I'd like.
>> >
>> > I don't know if you could make a "membership fee" work, for example
>> would
>> > everyone pay the same if some people used the facilities daily and
>> others
>> > only once a month, ... But I understand there needs to be money to
>> maintain
>> > the place of course.
>> >
>> > Also great idea to have it somewhere easily accessible by public
>> transport!
>> >
>> > Groetjes,
>> > Greet
>> > On Aug 12, 2012 11:12 PM, "Pieter Colpaert" <pieter at irail.be> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi Sander,
>> >>
>> >> On 08/12/2012 10:54 PM, Sander Van der Maelen wrote:
>> >> > Hi guys,
>> >> >
>> >> > Pieter: great idea. Gent needs more affordable and low-brow
>> co-working
>> >> > spaces, and it sounds as if you could make it happen :)
>> >>
>> >> Aw. I don't want to call it a co-working space. It's a hub. A hub is
>> >> where people come together for a while to work and cross pollinate.
>> >>
>> >> As we're working together you could indeed call it a co-workingspace,
>> >> but you could call it a coffee bar as well as you will be able to have
>> >> coffee there. Or you will be able to call it a hackerspace as people
>> >> will change the use of already existing things, or you can call it a
>> lab
>> >> as we're doing professional experiments. Just stick with "hub" - a
>> place
>> >> where it all comes together for a moment ;)
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>  I'm not entirely
>> >> > sure if it needs to be in the city centre (plenty of cool spots in
>> >> > Dampoort, Ledeberg, Brugse Poort, etc), but a good connection is
>> >> > definitely a must.
>> >>
>> >> I am. The place I have in mind is either close to Gent Sint Pieters or
>> >> close to Tram 1. I want public transport to be as good as possible so
>> >> iRail members from all over Belgium can get there by train.
>> >>
>> >> >
>> >> > Will you be managing the location yourself, or will it be part of
>> >> > something 'bigger'? Maybe it's worthwile to discuss possible joint
>> >> > ventures with the Hackerspace Gent?
>> >>
>> >> It will be part of something bigger. We might work together with
>> >> Hackerspace Ghent but if you paid attention during iSoc12 you know we
>> >> have cooler partners ;)
>> >>
>> >> Kind regards,
>> >>
>> >> Pieter
>> >>
>> >> >
>> >> > Cheers,
>> >> > Sander.
>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > Bericht verzonden vanaf mijn gsm. Sorry voor de spel- en typfouten.
>> >> >
>> >> > Op 12 aug. 2012 20:13 schreef "Pieter Colpaert" <pieter at irail.be
>> >> > <mailto:pieter at irail.be>> het volgende:
>> >> >
>> >> >     Hi Thomas,
>> >> >
>> >> >     You're welcome to work on both projects of your own (freelance
>> >> > work)
>> >> as
>> >> >     projects related to iRail (eg iRail 3.0, PlugID, The DataTank,
>> >> BeLaws,
>> >> >     etc). The payment would be a subscription I have in mind. See it
>> as
>> >> > a
>> >> >     membership fee.
>> >> >
>> >> >     Kind regards,
>> >> >
>> >> >     Pieter
>> >> >
>> >> >     On 08/12/2012 07:11 PM, Thomas Tuts wrote:
>> >> >     > Sounds like a cool idea! However, could you clarify these two
>> >> >     things please:
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     > ** How many times per week/month would you come join us to work
>> >> > on
>> >> >     > your own project in the center of Ghent? *
>> >> >     > By own project, do you mean projects appointed to you by iRail
>> or
>> >> >     actual
>> >> >     > own projects that don't really have anything to do with iRail
>> >> > (for
>> >> >     > example, I do a lot of freelance webdesign and front-end
>> >> development,
>> >> >     > would it be okay for me to work on stuff like this?)
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     > * * Would you be willing to pay something in order to make this
>> >> >     > happen? If yes, how much at max? *
>> >> >     > Are we talking about a one-time payment here, or something
>> like a
>> >> >     > monthly "subscription"?
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     > In any case, this definitely sounds really interesting!
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     > Thomas
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     > 2012/8/12 Jan Vansteenlandt <vansteenlandt.jan at gmail.com
>> >> >     <mailto:vansteenlandt.jan at gmail.com>
>> >> >     > <mailto:vansteenlandt.jan at gmail.com
>> >> >     <mailto:vansteenlandt.jan at gmail.com>>>
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     >     Hm this is a really cool idea, certainly for the datatank
>> as
>> >> well.
>> >> >     >     Problem is that I wont be in Ghent from september till
>> >> >     January, and
>> >> >     >     I'm guessing it wont be in Bruges or near Bruges ;). But
>> >> depending
>> >> >     >     on the expiration date of this location's offer, I'd feel
>> >> > like
>> >> >     that
>> >> >     >     would be a great idea. The different synergies of
>> >> teams/community
>> >> >     >     would certainly florish like it did in iSoc.
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     >     So for me personally great idea, but more I don't see
>> myself
>> >> going
>> >> >     >     to Ghent more than a few times a month to code on TDT and
>> do
>> >> some
>> >> >     >     work-shops.
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     >     Best regards,
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     >     Jan
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     >     On Sun, Aug 12, 2012 at 5:52 PM, Pieter Colpaert
>> >> >     <pieter at irail.be <mailto:pieter at irail.be>
>> >> >     >     <mailto:pieter at irail.be <mailto:pieter at irail.be>>> wrote:
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     >         Dear all,
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     >         I believe that, at iRail, we have a very particular mix
>> >> > of
>> >> >     hackers,
>> >> >     >         professionals, free-lancers, students, entrepreneurs...
>> >> which
>> >> >     >         are all
>> >> >     >         enthusiastic about creating a better comfort for
>> >> > day-to-day
>> >> >     >         tasks (such
>> >> >     >         as of course, daily mobility). Correct me if I'm wrong,
>> >> but I
>> >> >     >         think we
>> >> >     >         may call «our community» something unique, and that's
>> >> >     something we
>> >> >     >         should cherish.
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     >         Since our organisation is a mix between a living lab
>> and
>> >> > an
>> >> >     >         incubator
>> >> >     >         for start-up ideas, I got to think we should move our
>> >> office
>> >> >     >         from the
>> >> >     >         cloud to somewhere physical. Maybe we should have a
>> real
>> >> >     >         location where
>> >> >     >         we can meet, do work-shops, help others, work, have
>> >> meetings,
>> >> >     >         volunteer,
>> >> >     >         organise iRail Summer of code and so on.
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     >         This is an idea that can become reality rather
>> quickly. I
>> >> even
>> >> >     >         have a
>> >> >     >         pretty cool opportunity for a location that I will keep
>> >> > to
>> >> >     >         myself until
>> >> >     >         I know there is enough interest from you guys and
>> girls.
>> >> Would
>> >> >     >         you be so
>> >> >     >         kind to answer these three questions in private/public
>> >> (your
>> >> >     >         choice)?
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     >          * How many times per week/month would you come join us
>> >> > to
>> >> >     work
>> >> >     >         on your
>> >> >     >         own project in the center of Ghent?
>> >> >     >          * Would you attend or organise workshops concerning
>> >> >     >         mobility/apps/...?
>> >> >     >          * Would you be willing to pay something in order to
>> make
>> >> this
>> >> >     >         happen?
>> >> >     >         If yes, how much at max?
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     >         Kind regards,
>> >> >     >
>> >> >     >         Pieter
>> >> >     >         --
>> >> >     >         iRail vzw/asbl
>> >> >     >         +32 (0) 486/747122<tel:%2B32%20%280%29%20486%2F747122>
>> >> >     <tel:%2B32%20%280%29%20486%2F747122>
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>> >> >     >
>> >> >     >
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