A New Beginning 1

It’s been two years since we started reserved-bit and what an experience it has been!  We did a very successful PyCon Pune 2017 and then had a humbling cancellation of PyCon Pune 2018.  We did workshops and meetups and saw our meetup group grow to over 1,900 members, growing steadily as we speak.  We had workshop participants as young as 6 years old and as old as 65, indulging in everything from drone building, IoT and programming to pottery and painting.  We made some pretty stupid mistakes along the way but made some great friends in the process who helped us through those blunders.

It’s been an eventful two years, but things had to change to make sure that we have at least another two years, hopefully much more than that.  The two years saw a lot of interest, with thousands coming in and telling us that we had a great thing going and that a hackerspace is what Pune needs.  Unfortunately very little of that translated into revenue and we had to choose between shutting down and scaling down drastically.

We chose the latter.

A New Destination

As of December 2018, we have shut down our Amanora Chambers makerspace.  We have moved to a smaller but well located space in Destination Center, Magarpatta City.

However, that is not all that has changed.  We have changed the way we maintain our space too.  A lot of the current space has been set up by our members.  We installed our own door lock and will be working on adding an automatic system to it.  You can expect a bunch of similar projects in the near future as we spruce up our space!

We will also be planning a new set of paid workshops and rebooting some of our meetups in the coming months to ensure a packed calendar for the next year.  You can expect some posts to that effect in the coming weeks.

Our membership plans have undergone a change too.  We recognize that most people don’t have the luxury of hacking on things full time (duh!) and we have changed our plans to reflect that. All makers get to access our extensive hardware inventory and network with fellow makers.

Reserved-bit Patron

Our full time members are special and we now consider them our most valuable patrons. You are the people holding reserved-bit up and we owe you our best services.  Patrons get to access the space whenever they want and get attractive discounts on conducting and attending workshops.   If you’re interested in becoming a reserved-bit patron, get in touch with us and we can discuss how you can get on board.

Reserved-bit Maker

You’re a hacker to the core and you want to get to the space whenever inspiration strikes, although not all the time. As a Maker, you get to access the space for a pre-defined number of visits any time during the week.  You also get discounts on conducting and attending workshops as an added perk!

Reserved-bit Weekend Tinkerer

Have you always wanted to make something but could never find the resources or an inspiring environment?  Then the Tinkerer pass is your pass out of the rut!

A Tinkerer gets access to the space on weekends to work on their dream project.  You also get discounted access to 3D printing and engraving machinery and the inspiration necessary to get you off the blocks.  This subscription will be usable from 5th January 2019 onwards, but we have a special offer going on now until the end of the year, so hurry up!

Other Ways to Help Us

Over the last two years we realized that a number of our well wishers were not interested in accessing the space themselves but were interested in contributing in some way to help us sustain.  While we would love for you to hop on board with a subscription, you can always buy a Supporter voucher to help us in your own little way.  Alternatively, you could donate hardware or books that you’re no longer using to the space so that our makers can make good use of it.

Finally, if you’re an organisation (or are working for an organisation) who would be interested to be a sponsor, please get in touch to discuss further.

Looking Ahead

We have come a long way in two years and we are looking forward to another two (hopefully twenty!) years in our little adventure.  It started as (and still is) a personal experiment to see how we can learn from and influence the learning culture in a way that is completely different from conventional learning.  This post is a new beginning and hopefully we will have a lot more radical changes coming in that will give you what you really want from your very own makerspace.

Happy making!