New Members

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New Bloominglabs Member Information

This document is to help new members get to know what resources are available to you as a member. If you have not already done so, please look over our Membership Manual.

Dues payments

All members are added to our invoicing system so you will now receive monthly dues invoice emails. Dues are due by the 15th of every month. If you pay via paypal, please use the paypal button/link from within the invoice, doing this automatically updates our invoicing system (OSX users may have to change their default PDF viewer to Adobe Acrobat for this to work - Mavericks and above). If you pay by check or cash you can pay the accounts-receivable officer during public meetings (ALWAYS get a receipt if you do this) or you can leave your payment in an envelope in either of the donation boxes. If you do the latter we request you email invoices at bloominglabs dot org and let them know you have paid your dues, receipts will be left on the bulletin board.

If you ever decide to discontinue your membership let an officer know ASAP so you don't get charged for unpaid dues. Your access to Bloominglabs will be disabled if your account gets over 3 months behind.

Who do I ask for help?

If you have a question of any kind about Bloominglabs or using the space just send mail to the members list. This is also a good list to ask for help with a project or tell the rest of us about what you have been working on.

Mailing lists, email stuff

Members are subscribed to our announce, discuss, and members email lists unless you opted out. The announcement list allows us to communicate workshops and public meetings to non-members. The discuss list is a public mailing list so community members can participate. The members list is for Bloominglabs members only and is not public. You can modify your mailing list settings from these links:

If you wish to have a mail alias such as <my_name>@bloominglabs.org just send mail to our contact address. This will forward any mail received at that address to the email address you specify. We do not supply an SMTP server for members, only mail aliases.

From our website you can navigate to all of our IT resources

More accounts and passwords

  • For an account to edit the wiki send mail to contact at bloominglabs dot org and we will get you setup.
  • For the dues and assets sites, an email has been sent to you which includes the logins for these sites.

Tagging items in the space

As mentioned above in the "IT resources" section, we have an asset inventory system. This lets you generate QR-code asset tags which can be printed and taped to any tools or non-consumable objects in the space. Not only does this allow us to have a proper inventory, it also indicates the owner which can help new members find out who to ask if they want to use the tool or object.

In addition to the asset tags, we use RED tags to mark objects you wish for other to leave alone or ask before using. This is a good way to mark materials like metal, wood, and acrylic which you want to save for later use. GREEN tags identify free/any use items left in the space. These tags are normally on top of the green filing cabinet next to the front door.

Additional online resources


We also have presences on social media sites, please feel free to follow, 'like', and otherwise stay connected with Bloominglabs:

If you want to get involved with our social media outreach, please contact the officers (contact at bloominglabs dot org). They usually know the logins to these services ;-). Lastly please tell your friends and neighbors about us! You can use contact at bloominglabs dot org as a point of contact for anyone who wishes to reach us.

Having guests (non-members) in the space

Often new members ask if it is ok to have friends and family members in the space with them outside of our public meetings. This is totally ok, we encourage folks to show their friends and family around Bloominglabs. We just ask two things. First, they must sign a liability waiver File:RELEASE AND WAIVER OF LIABILITY.pdf. Second, your guests are your responsibility. If you are having kids in the space it's your responsibility to make sure they don't get hurt if they are in the workshop. If they make a mess or cause a problem (whether they are kids or adults) it is your responsibility to handle it. That's it!

Using the big tools

If you wish to use the larger tools like the laser cutter and the machine tools please see our Training category. We generally require training or we verify your experience before turning people loose on those. Otherwise please email the members list if you are unsure who to ask or where to get started.

Member Storage versus Bone Yard

The member storage area is mostly in the workshop next to the dividing wall between the office and workshop. This area is generally off-limits for hunting for parts to scavenge. While most stuff here is marked with red tags, just because it may lack a red tag does not mean it's free to use (some entire shelves are marked as peoples property for instance).

The boneyard is solely in the office area near the electronics area. Stuff in the boneyard is free for any use unless it's tagged with a red tag or otherwise marked as belonging to someone. If you see something you want to use and are unsure of its provenance, please ask, either in person or on the members list. People are usually very good about respecting other peoples property in our space, however as we get new members joining it sometimes is unclear to them what stuff is off-limits. This seems to have become more of an issue since the end of 2016, so attempting to clarify this more.

General good practice for projects being kept in Bloominglabs

Often members stow projects in other places if there is no free space in the members storage area. This is fine as long as it's mostly out of the way AND it is labled either with a red tag or your name on the project for future identification. If you stow projects outside the member project storage area, please assume no one but you knows this is not junk. Label it with your name and contact info. Leaving your unfinished project out on a workbench or table with no contact info is a great recipie for your project to be canibalized. Written communication is key to avoid accidental loss of your project parts.

Using the space itself

There are some things in the space which may not be immediately obvious how to use.

  • Audio Network - How to jack into the speakers spread around the space
  • CCTV Network - How to control the TV's spread around the space, connect to the projector in the front room, etc.
  • There is a TV above the door in the workshop. The remote to operate it is next to the light switch. This TV is setup to help align vehicles as they pull into the car lift. It can also be used to watch laser jobs while working in the workshop.
  • There are separate stereo's in the office and workshops. Feel free to use these. Usually there are bluetooth adapters connected to these if that is useful for folks.


And when you leave, please follow the Exit Protocol.

Thanks!

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