Celebrating wins, understanding dynamics, and building our future together.
Before we dig into challenges, let's remember what's working.
A new home for our online community
Real-time chat, voice channels, project discussions, and event coordination all in one place.
Transparency from the board (Nov 2025)
Year-end fundraising drive coming. Brett has committed a personal matching gift. Details at HYH.
IRS 990-EZ filings + 2025 YTD (via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer)
| Year | Revenue | Expenses | Net | Assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | $58K | $34K | +$24K | $29K |
| 2019 | $95K | $71K | +$24K | $66K |
| 2020 | $84K | $73K | +$10K | $76K |
| 2023 | $57K | $69K | -$12K | $41K |
| 2025* | $54K | $56K | -$2K | $30K |
*2025 YTD (Nov). Green rows = banner years with grants. Board compensation: $0.
How events, hours, and revenue have changed over time
What the data tells us about who joins and stays (2014-2021 data via Nate Caine)
Much of the membership decline began after Summer 2019 as the HeART program wound down. The decline was long before COVID.
$50 members declined only ~6% during COVID. $25 members declined ~10%. Core members stayed loyal.
Analysis by Nate Caine (Oct 2021)
Membership, Events, and Revenue together (2014-2025)
Membership data via Nate Caine | Events from calendar analysis
What 15 years of making looks like
Total events per year (2010-2025)
Special programming vs. standard open hours by year
Most frequent programs (15 years, excluding standard open hours)
This year's top programs (excluding standard open hours)
Average program lasts 3.5 years. These have lasted 8+.
14 years (only missed 2021)
316 events • 979 hours
13 years of mornings
613 events • 3,676 hours
10 years of hacking
194 events • 588 hours
10 years
163 events • 490 hours
9 years
93 events • 287 hours
9 years
194 events • 592 hours
Fresh programs finding their footing
NEW 2024! Security meetup growing strong
22 events • 33 hrs • 10→12 events/yr
NEW 2024! Monthly 3D printer meetup
20 events • 60 hrs • 3 hrs/meeting
NEW! Cynthia's bringing the sparkle
New program launching
NEW 2025! Systems programming crew
5 events • 10 hrs • Brand new!
REVIVED 2025! Paul Hickey brought it back
6 events • 13 hrs • Back in action
RESURGED 2025! Back with 8 events this year
22 events • 77 hrs • Since 2019
Worth reviving? Someone just needs to step up.
2016-2020 • Pandemic casualty
147 events • 440 hours • Peak: 57 events in one year!
Biology, DIY science, citizen science
2011-2019 • 9-year run
73 events • 219 hours
Lockpicking, physical security
2010-2013 • Foundation program!
126 events • 378 hours • Peak: 52 events in 2011
AR/VR, wearables, human augmentation
2013-2016 • In memory of Larry Campbell
42 events • 91 hours • Peak: 12 events/yr in 2014-15
7-year gap, then brief 2024 revival. Metalworking lives on through our lathe, mill, and welding certification classes.
Making HeatSync better, one project at a time
Devansh, Moheeb, & Jay tidied up a window space and set up a CRT video wall that's been attracting foot traffic!
Nate Caine is always on top of our infrastructure, helping people with electronics, maintaining the electronics area, recently fixed the water heater, and is hacking away on an open sign project!
Cprossu secured a couple of awesome new 3D printers that are getting heavy use!
Devansh helped reorganize and clean up the electronics workbenches. Looking good!
Landon & Darrell cleaned up the metal shop and organized the back area. Much easier to work in now!
Brett Neese has been exploring ways to improve our onboarding and new member mentorship process.
Bryan Maamo, ATN, Austin, & Isidro are building a new members site with door system integration. A much needed upgrade after a decade untouched!
The people keeping our meetups alive
Malak & Luis have run Coffee & Coworking on Wednesdays for over 10 years. Our longest-running meetup!
Bryan Maamo hosts awesome JavaScript meetups still running strong. Recently Quinn from PHX Beyond Binary presented!
Sewing Night crew has built one of our biggest consistent meetups. Thanks to all involved!
Paul Hickey has been running the photo meetup, bringing photographers together at the lab.
Cynthia Huettner wants to start jewelry workshops and has been making great use of the heat press and vinyl cutting station.
OWASP Phoenix meetup running strong! Security community finding a home at HeatSync.
Bryan Maamo has been running D&D nights at the lab. Roll for initiative!
Landon is always on top of questions, helping anyone who walks in, and making open hours fun and inviting. Thanks Landon!
The volunteers who maintain our tool areas
Cprossu & Antonio Contrisciani
Printers, PUG meetups, #3d-printing
David Flores (training)
Nate Caine (maintenance)
Certification required
David Flores & Nate Caine
Arduino Night, soldering stations
Darrell Wertz
Lathe, mill, CNC - cert required
Shaundra Newstead
MIG & TIG - cert required
Linda Krecker & Michelle Mueller
5 machines, Sewing Night
Shaundra Newstead
Microscopes, incubators, flow hood
Rick Blake
Mixer, projector, mics
What's happening at the lab
Devansh has been printing a mini server rack for Raspberry Pis using our new 3D printers.
Great turnout last month! Lots of food, Luis set up karaoke, and we learned many members can sing! Then we watched the Mesa drone show together.
72 Hours of HAXMAS! Dec 19-22. Lots of folks have volunteered to make it happen!
Eric Ose is hosting Light-Up Graham Cracker Houses workshop. Edible electronics!
Phoenix Watercolor Group is doing a Create Christmas Decorations with Watercolor workshop.
Robot Riot: Battle the Chimera! coming Jan 25. Build bots, destroy bots!
Key milestones from the early days (2009-2012)
Everyone who served on the board, 2009-2025
The people who kept things running
Our regular recurring events
Workshop and event interest (259 responses)
Also wanted: Jewelry (35%), CNC (34%), CAD (33%), Vinyl (32%), Photography (31%), Lock Picking (28%), Hacking/Security (23%), BioScience (21%)
Code commits over 8 weeks (Oct-Dec 2025)
A new members site with integration to our door system. A much needed upgrade after being untouched for over a decade. Thank you for tackling this!
This isn't about pointing fingers. It's about understanding patterns that show up in every volunteer organization, and building tools to work through them.
Today we'll explore: What's normal conflict? What's actually toxic? How do we tell the difference? And most importantly: How do we move forward?
Direct quotes from the survey
Honest concerns from the community
The tools work. The space works. The social layer needs attention.
Safety and belonging aren't optional
The actual reason we exist
What people use and what they want
Scheduling and accessibility
Not all friction is bad. The question is: what kind do we have?
Real differences: Values, priorities, limited resources, competing visions.
Drama: Personality clashes, power struggles, identity protection.
Not everything uncomfortable is bullying. Not everything polite is kind.
| Feels Uncomfortable | Actually Is |
|---|---|
| "That's against the bylaws" | ✓ Legitimate governance concern |
| "I disagree with this proposal" | ✓ Normal democratic participation |
| "The board should explain this decision" | ✓ Accountability request |
| Voting no on proposals | ✓ Exercising membership rights |
| Asking questions in a meeting | ✓ Due diligence |
Actual harmful patterns vs. normal friction
| Behavior | Why It's Harmful |
|---|---|
| Attacking the person, not the issue | Shifts from problem-solving to warfare |
| Continuing after resolution is reached | Indicates goal isn't resolution |
| Retaliation for raising concerns | Suppresses legitimate feedback |
| Public shaming / recruiting allies against someone | Factionalizes the community |
| Refusing to explain decisions when asked | Erodes trust in leadership |
| Dismissing concerns as "attacks" | Shuts down accountability |
Real situations, analyzed.
The board changes bylaws without community input. Members post on Slack: "Why wasn't this brought to HYH? This affects everyone." The tone is frustrated but factual.
✓ Legitimate accountability request.
Asking "why" about process changes is normal governance. The frustration is understandable. Disagreeing with a decision, even forcefully, isn't an attack on the people who made it.
This becomes a problem IF: the response is "you're attacking us" rather than explaining the reasoning. Treating questions as hostility shuts down legitimate oversight.
Real situations, analyzed.
When asked to explain the bylaw change, board members say "we had reasons we can't discuss" and refuse further comment. Members feel stonewalled.
⚠ Communication failure that erodes trust.
Privacy concerns can be real, but "we can't say why" without ANY context breeds distrust. People fill the vacuum with their own theories, usually worse than reality.
Better approach: "There was a safety concern we're legally advised not to detail, but here's the process we followed and how you can verify we acted in good faith."
Real situations, analyzed.
A member posts a proposal that's poorly thought out. Instead of engaging with the content, multiple people mock the proposal and the person who made it. The original poster gets defensive and the thread devolves.
✗ Escalation that poisons future engagement.
Bad proposals deserve pushback. But mocking the person (rather than critiquing the idea) teaches everyone watching that participation is risky. People stop proposing things. The vocal minority dominates.
Better approach: "I don't think this would work because X and Y. Have you considered Z instead?" Engage with substance, even when you think the idea is bad.
Member behavior matters too.
A long-time member has "claimed" a workbench area. When new members try to use it, they get passive-aggressive comments or are told "that's my spot." The area often has personal projects left out for weeks.
✗ Gatekeeping behavior that drives away newcomers.
Shared spaces are shared. Seniority doesn't grant ownership. This behavior makes new members feel unwelcome and violates the spirit of the hackerspace.
Better approach: Use storage for personal projects. If you need dedicated space for an ongoing build, propose it at HYH. Otherwise, share the bench and welcome people to work alongside you.
Member behavior matters too.
During a scheduled class, a member starts using loud power tools in the adjacent area. When asked to wait, they say "I pay dues too, I can use the tools when I want." The class struggles to hear the instructor.
✗ Selfish behavior that undermines community.
Paying dues grants access, not dominance. Scheduled events take priority over ad-hoc use. The "I have rights" framing ignores that everyone else has rights too.
Better approach: Check the calendar. When there's a conflict, coordinate or wait. Being a member means being part of a community, not just a customer.
Someone posts in Slack: "Why did the board do X without telling anyone?"
Every community risks tolerating someone others have to work around.
You know the pattern. Whispered warnings to new members:
The community learns to step around the broken stair. But new members don't know the workarounds.
They get hurt.
Fix the stair. Don't just warn people to step around it.
How trust breaks, and how it rebuilds.
When trust breaks publicly, everyone updates their beliefs.
When the board made changes without explanation, it wasn't just about those changes. Everyone watching updated their mental model of how decisions get made here.
When members responded with anger and the board got defensive, both sides updated their models again, now seeing the other side as hostile rather than frustrated.
What works. What doesn't. How to do better.
When to handle it yourself. When to get help.
Practical steps to rebuild and grow.
Building trust through transparency
Constructive engagement
Shared language for what we value and how we handle problems. Not punishment, but clarity.
When people know HOW decisions get made, they can engage constructively. Surprises breed conflict.
Some bridges need explicit mending. Not grudging "sorry you were offended" but genuine acknowledgment.
There's energy here. People want this to work.
Our core governance model. Powerful when it works. Fragile when it breaks.
This sounds great in theory. The person organizing events decides the format. The person maintaining the laser cutter sets the rules. Authority comes from contribution, not title.
People who don't do the work block those who do. "I don't like how you're running that" without offering to help.
Cleaning, admin, and maintenance aren't glamorous. Those who do them burn out while others get credit for flashy projects.
Someone throws away "junk" that was someone's project. Do-ocracy doesn't handle irreversible decisions well.
The most common killer of hackerspaces isn't money. It's volunteer burnout.
Hackerspaces follow predictable patterns. Understanding where you are helps you know what's coming.
HeatSync is 15+ years in. We're at the crisis/renewal fork. This is normal. The question is: which path?
A Code of Conduct is only as good as its process
Multiple ways to report. Email, in-person, anonymous option. Not just "talk to a board member."
Both parties heard. Conflicts of interest disclosed. Timeline communicated. No surprises.
Decisions actually enforced. Appeals possible. Documentation kept. Patterns tracked.
Everything else is in service of that.
What this presentation taught us
What we can commit to in order to address these issues
Questions? Ideas? Want to help?
Let's talk.