Experimenting with daypass

[GIANTCRAB]

Many moons ago, there were discussions about having a daypass system but not much was done. Recently, I've started (with permission from the director @valentine ) an experiment on the day-pass system. This is in partnership with Switch.site and there aren't really any obligations/contract requirements. This makes it very easy for us to remove if things don't work well.

In exchange for the partnership:

• HSG gets visibility through their platform
• Switch.site takes 20% platform fee. ie: if we charge 10/hour, we would earn 8/hour.
• Someone needs to be around during the operating hours (either this or works needs to be done on our door-lock)

This is our listing: https://www.switch.site/locations/hackerspace-singapore/624a87c6b98c5e46ad81c052

Currently, I've decided on an arbitrary amount of $3/hour. We can adjust this according to demand. I'm also currently stationing myself in the space from morning to evening. As for cleaning, I'll wipe the desks and clean the toilet in the morning. If you would like to assist on this, do let me know or comment below.

Based on our listing, the place doesn't look exactly nice, especially the main area. Perhaps there are ways to take better pictures or ways to clear up our place and rid of junk lying around so that it'll look more attractive? If there are any feedback or strong objections, feel free to comment it here.

[GIANTCRAB]

Thus far, there has been a few patrons who did walk-in and bookings.

However, I don't feel like doing this anymore. @valentine has the account details, so if anyone wishes to take over, please do so.

[valentine]

Thanks @GIANTCRAB for kickstarting this.

[valentine]

Is it possible to provision multiple accounts for our active members?

Should we require $64/$128 members to host Switch visitors if they use the space for more than 9 hours a week?

I guess this would also help us with (free-ish) marketing, while not requiring members to actively do anything except enable/disable our Switch listing.

[icedwater]

Any idea what work needs to be done on the door lock?

[GIANTCRAB]

Any idea what work needs to be done on the door lock?

The response is that the switch door lock integration is too expensive and not feasible. The person did not say the cost so I would assume it it a few thousands

Should we require $64/$128 members to host Switch visitors if they use the space for more than 9 hours a week?

IIRC, Hive offers 1 month dedicated desk in exchange for frontdesk stationing for 2 weeks. We can adapt from their model

[valentine]

Should we require $64/$128 members to host Switch visitors if they use the space for more than 9 hours a week?

IIRC, Hive offers 1 month dedicated desk in exchange for frontdesk stationing for 2 weeks. We can adapt from their model

I believe we are referring to Hive Vancouver's Desk Bees programme:

Since 2014, we’ve been running our Desk Bee Exchange Program; a barter program that gives an opportunity to trade membership to our social impact community (a HiVE Unlimited Hot Desk membership) in exchange for approximately 20 hours of HiVE front desk reception time per month.

[…]

We ask all our desk bees to commit to one weekly shift (8:45am-1:15pm or 12:45pm-5:15pm ) for a minimum of three months. Duties include answering emails and in person inquiries, giving tours of the space, assisting with Taco Tuesdays and other events, and some tidying and light cleaning.

If anyone has proposals for a similar model whose manpower requirements can be fulfilled by our community, I'm all ears.

[valentine]

Discussion from 2022-05-24 plenum:

• Huiren: Some patrons used it but it needs people to stay in the space while it is open
• After ~10 days, revenue is about $25 even without advertising
• No repeat visitors so far

[valentine]

Saw a small office in Geylang that's in "remote control mode" thanks to @cheeaun.

This part in particular is interesting:

Our outlet is in remote control mode for resource optimisation. Kindly call/WhatsApp/Telegram [redacted] or email [redacted] to book your slots and receive our Check-In guide.

I understand that one problem preventing us from using Switch is the door lock. I could provision a number of IDs/PINs, and we could rotate them every few days or weeks, for Switch users to open the front door themselves.

What we'll need is a check-in guide (I guess similar to self-service Airbnbs) allowing users to enter the space and familiarise themselves with it.

We will ideally need more complete CCTV coverage as well for security.

[valentine]

Thinking out loud since I want to put a day pass on our new website:

• We ask for $256/month for unlimited use, which for people who work business hours, would mean between 20-22 work days a month.
• This means that a day pass should be priced not less than $12.80 (256 / 20).
• Keeping with our base-2 pricing, the reasonable number would be $16/day — people can pay 25% less if they commit to an entire month. A premium is also warranted, because we are not able to use such revenue in our forecasts.

Going by the $16 figure, and moving on to how much we need to charge per hour for Switch:

• The shortest amount of time people might want to use is 9am to 5pm, which is 8 hours.
• We shouldn't be pricing Switch at less than $2/hour (we haven't factored in electricity costs to run aircon).
• $4/hour sounds reasonable, again, because we would rather have people pay monthly or even daily.