Ideas for COOP's

[smeighan]

Being new to his site, I joined a few months ago, I would like to share some ideas on the coop's

First; I was surprised that there is someone designing new electronics, custom made for the DIY community. RJ, you just seem to be a person with the highest quality, drive, imagination. You obviously are a gifted hardware and software engineer. I am not sure why you offer so much of yourself to the community, thanks!

The prices that DIY equipment can be purchased here just , at first, seemed unreal.

The growth that this site has seen (what, 1200 memebers last year, 2500 this year)? amazing. As RGB comes out, as you make new hardware available that does amazing things. LE, Aether, Smart strings, wireless dmx, .etc., the growth is probably going to continue

 Your goal was to allow someone without previous hardware/software experience to enter this DIY Christmas light world. You succeeded.

What about the scale-ability of the current process. Next year, 5000 people?

I would open this thread to ideas to help this process grow.

Here are some of my ideas
1) How about a $1 fee per device to go to the coop managers. I would gladly pay an extra dollar for each device to have the advantage of getting this quality of product and kit. I feel these people (i saw the video of JJ packing), should get something for their work.
2) Maybe a way to have people queue their requests into a database for the products they would want. The upside of this is everyone could get in, the big downside is that someone would need to write the software to basically queue, sort, prioritize the people. I would be willing to offer to write the software to do this , after i also work on the RGBSB project.  One advantage to a process that takes maybe 500 people asking for xx LE kits would be able to spread the work load, establish some system to fairly allocate a limited resource.

I do believe the current process can work going forward, but the success of this site is going to one day cause a lot of turmoil.

People can always buy the boards and pay $30 or so more per kit. But maybe a queuing system would actually reduce the number of PM's being sent around and make everyone's life less stressful.

I ordered 4 LE kits while i was in the Ukraine visiting my wife's parents over new years. They have very little WIFI in the city of Kharkov. The only place i could get on was McDonald's. So there i was in Kharkov, 10pm at night, ordering my 4 kits.

So, i already got my kits. Later this year, i will get an Ethernet dongle and some smart strings.

Please, this is not a criticism of the way it has been done, i really appreciate all that people do here. In the spirit of this site is why i am building the RGB Sequence builder.

Any other ideas of how to scale the coop process into the future?

thanks
sean

[rrowan]

Sorry I had to move this. Coop forum is only for approval coops

Rick R.

[dannyct]

This is great ideas,  but I'm not sure this is the right place (section) for this discussion.

[chrisatpsu]

the only problem with giving extra money to a coop manager (don't get me wrong, i'm for it) might that it might make it look like they're making a profit for tax purposes. when you come close to breaking even, it's easier to prove that all that money that came in, went out.   but if more of it were staying, then it's harder to pass off the large amount as a hobby coop.

[jnealand]

There is no penalty for someone sending a couple of additional bucks to a coop manager as a donation to the cause.  Just be sure to note that on your paypal payment comment.

[ra7h35m20s]

I think those are great ideas ... I second it!

[c4v3man]

Isn't there already some 3% overage that the managers get to keep anyways? I'm sure this gets eaten up by other things, so I'm certainly not suggesting that the COOP managers are making a significant amount of money, but there should be a small overage.

I'm all for chipping in a few bucks a board as a thanks to the manager, honestly there's nothing stopping anyone from doing so, since you have the manager's paypal address. Definitely make it a seperate transaction though...

Regarding the queue... As this community continues to grow, I envision that someone will simply start a small business selling kits, and assembled boards based on this design. I don't know the legality of such a pursuit (licensing of the design, etc), but I bet it will happen considering how open the internet is. So someone will buy 500-1000 sets of components, setup a $10-15 markup, and just sell them whenever. Will alleviate the problems of people not being able to get in the coops, while at a slightly higher cost.

EDIT: Just so it's clear, I'm not advising or otherwise condoning someone selling the components and/or completed boards. I don't know whether it's legal or against the will of the community, and quite frankly I don't feel like looking it up, since I'm not planning on ever selling them. Just voicing my opinion... when there's a need, usually someone's willing to do it for a profit. I actually wonder if they could be cheaply made in china pre-assembled. Not sure if anyone would trust them, or simply assume they'd burst into flames in the middle of their straw filled nativity scene electrical box cover, but I'm just curious how much it would cost.

EDIT 2: just so it's further clear, I started typing my previous edit before any followup posts to mine. I did not type my first edit in response to criticism below.

[chrisatpsu]

since all this stuff is RJ's and it's for non commercial use, i'm sure he would get involved in stopping someone from selling his kits in a manner to make a profit.

the sale/trade area is for a way to let go of stuff you don't need anymore, not to build something and try to make money from it. as stated in the rules, this is not ebay.

trying to turn this into a business is NOT what RJ intended. he wanted a place for people to come together and learn from each other.

[NavyGator]

+1 on what Chris said.

I do like the idea of a database, it could give a better idea of the numbers we are looking at for COOP's. Maybe something that each user could update in their profile to show their current needs. It could be purged after a COOP is run or once a month and the users would be required to update it after it is purged.

Just a thought.

Rich

[sjb]

+2 on what Chris said.
I think that RJ and this forum is what the whole idea of DIY is about. With the growing number of members and the new people (myself included) can not wait to get into a coop. A database is a great idea for the coop managers to see what is in demand, but it will still be up to the individuals to get into the coop's, correct?

[rimist]

I'd be happy to do the database (mysql) work if we have volunteer for the front end (php)

-Rimist (via Tapatalk)

[c4v3man]

It's a hobby... it's supposed to take some time. I also think it's similar to things like model building, where you can buy it pre-made, but if something fails then you're screwed. Building your own and understanding each component's function is much better in the long run.

That being said, just like in the RC field, pre-built has it's place, and there'a always an empty factory in China looking for the next product to clone. Usually they are of much lower quality, and especially when dealing with relatively large quantities of AC current, I would have a hard time using it. Maybe for a string of lights, or something of that nature, but not a board with 10-40A going through it.

Not meaning to stir anything up, just making an observation. I'm appreciative of everything everyone is doing here as a community, and I prefer to build my own anyways. Just like my ammo

EDIT: If you're building a database, it would be nice if you could have the zip codes public, maybe the sub-coop within a coop could work out, give people a chance to meet other DLA'ers.

[Steve Gase]

If you're building a database, it would be nice if you could have the zip codes public, maybe the sub-coop within a coop could work out, give people a chance to meet other DLA'ers.

I agree that this would be a good thing, we try to get people in the Austin area together under the umbrella of the LoneStarHolidays group... but if I know about DIY community members we can include them in the building activities.

[inzeos]

There is a fine line when it comes to hobby vs. business.  If you start adding donations and extras on top in the IRS eye it will be viewed as a business. 

RJ has stated more times than he should have to that the way coops run is the way they will run.

If you want a product that is off the shelf ready there are several vendors who provide that functionality today.

[rm357]

When it's a kit, the bulder assumes a certain responsibility for an item.

If it comes pre-assembled, I would think that it would need to be tested for safety and UL listed. Nt sure what all that entails, but it is probably expensive...

RM