Recruitment

From Hack Manhattan Wiki

Recruitment Drive


Selling HM

Nobody likes to be sold to, and none of us want to be salespeople. But when we're recruiting, we're talking about what makes this place special, because it is.

How to help:

  • Talking it up when you're at events, etc when people ask 'what are you working on?' - our members have come from everywhere: coworkers, schools, lawn parties
  • If someone comes into the space you don't know, be friendly. Yes, we all want to get our projects done, but showing that we're a warm, welcoming, inviting space is incredibly important - appearing closed turns people off, and most of us joined because we walked in and felt welcome and decided it was someplace we'd like to be


Points to consider mentioning:

  • Community. This should be #1, more even than the tools. We've got an amazing group of people here, with a huge range of interests. We work together on big projects, but more importantly we work together on small projects, that's why we're here instead of sitting in our respective apartments. There's a vast pool of knowledge to tap in case you get stuck, and there's always someone to suggest ways to make whatever you're doing more awesome.
  • Diversity of interests and skill levels. Lots of people are concerned that they aren't good enough to be here or that there's no place for them, which is obviously untrue. Everyone brings something to the table.
  • Access to tools vs. ownership
  • Availability as a coworking space

Workshops

Workshops are a great way to get people in the door. Remember - you don't have to know everything, just more than your students. Workshops can be our traditional lengthy, in-depth affairs, but they can also be short (1-2h) and inexpensive teasers or overviews or simple projects to teach something useful or interesting. Lots of people will risk $10 or $20 and a weeknight or a weekend afternoon to check out something that sounds interesting, whereas an all-day event with a $150 pricetag attracts those who already know the ropes and are looking to ramp up their skills.

We'll promote them through the channels and networks listed above. Keep the topics small and low-pressure, and that way even if there's only 2-3 people attending it's still worthwhile teaching practice and the students get a lot out of the small class size.

  • Electronics
    • Basic Electronics
    • Advanced Electronics
    • Intro to Arduino
  • Workshop
    • Basic Machine Tools - safety, operation, uses. Cover lathe, drill press, mill. Need a small, inexpensive project.
  • Development/Software-based
    • OpenSCAD - fundamentals of solid modeling, primitives, transformations, building an object out of parts
    • Basic frontend web development - intro to HTML/CSS, jQuery
    • Intro to Wordpress
    • Intro to building-blocks development - lots and lots of people looking to start tech businesses, helping them replace technical cofounders (which are expensive and in high demand), using libraries, frameworks, etc.
    • Intro to programming in various languages


  • Other
    • Intro to Lockpicking - lock structure, theory, tools, practice time
    • Bolt Hobbing for Hobbyists (taught by Matthew Duepner)
    • An introduction to 3D printing (taught by Matthew Duepner)

Promotion Channels

Target Groups/Communities

We cover a lot of ground at HM - machine tools, beekeeping, gardening, 3D printing, electronics, photography, etc. There's groups of people into all those things and more. Don't spam email lists, but these are places we might want to schedule a visit to do a little one-on-one or talk to the organizer and see if we can get a bit of promotion.

Social Events

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