FAQ

Over the years, most hackerspaces morphed into a makerspace. Many hackerspaces started to introduce more areas of creativity and stopped focusing solely on technology. Splat Space is one such example. We’ve gone beyond focusing only on technology and have brought in wood working, metal working, crafting, and a bunch of other hobbies.

A hackerspace is a physical location for individuals from all different backgrounds and professions gather to collaborate, socialize, work on projects, and make things. More than 500 hackerspaces worldwide have registered with hackerspaces.org, the official website for hackerspaces. Some have been established for several years, while some are still in the early planning stages.

As a part of the larger hackerspace community, we are part of a growing movement to expand, rethink, and refactor technology in a creative and interesting ways. Being a part of the large, worldwide hackerspace community allows our organization the ability to expand and connect with like minds globally, from collaborating on projects to attending and supporting virtual and physical events sponsored by other hackerspaces.

The term hacker has a pretty bad reputation these days. We are working to change that. We offer all kinds of classes and workshops within our space, ranging from crochet to basic circuitry. Don’t be intimidated! We all have to start somewhere, and we can all learn something from each other.

By our definition, hackers are people who are interested in learning all they can about the fields that interest them, explore the bounds of those interests, and create new and interesting ways to apply that knowledge. We are looking for hackers of all kinds, with diverse backgrounds and interests. There are no requirements for background knowledge. You do not need to be an expert in any given area of computing, science, mathematics, or art. In order for such an environment to thrive, we do require, at minimum, honesty, respect, and an open-mind. That’s it!

Due to our policies and for insurance reasons, we cannot allow anyone under the age of 18 become a member. We do allow other members to bring in folks that are under 18 as long as they are well behaved and do not use any of the equipment. Workshops and meetings are on a case by case basis and may allow visitors under 18 to use equipment with supervision.

If you’re interested in our community, we want you involved! Visiting our website is a good first step. Please also come visit us during the week during any of our open events! Specifically, our open nights on Tuesdays at 7pm is a great time to come meet everyone and check out current projects.

Members are our biggest supporters. Membership dues are the primary funding for Splat Space. Our community is member-funded and will always be 100% member-driven as a result. We don’t accept large corporate sponsorships, because we don’t want to ever have to answer to anyone but our membership. That said, we do have a number of business sponsorships from organizations in the area that are passionate about our cause. Contact us to find out more about business sponsorship if you are interested in helping fund a Splat Space project, event, or just generally helping our community sustain and thrive.

• 24×7 access to the physical space
• Invitation to every Splat Space event (classes, parties, outings)
• Discounted or free classes and workshops (minus materials fees)
• Dedicated space to keep your personal projects and equipment
• Access to meeting space (conference room) to hold meetings, free of charge
• Discounts to local organizations that have partnered with us
• Voting rights for where money should be spent, how the space should look, and other general decisions made by the group

We offer the same benefits for full-time students for $35/month.

We also offer an associate/supporting membership for $25/month. Associate/Supporting members receive all rights of members, but do not receive a key for 24×7 access.

Non-dues paying participants are welcome to attend meetings, visit the space during open hours, and participate in workshops and events scheduled to the public.

Come to our meetings! Help us out in our early stages of development.  We welcome equipment donations that are useful to our members and our space, such as chairs, tables, useful networking equipment, a projector, and more. You can find a list of items we are currently looking to acquire on our wiki. We also take monetary donations.