Co-op seminar!

DISCORD

What is tonight?

• Signups, baby!�
• We’ll endeavour to explain exactly what a co-op is, and take initial stock of the interest from our community.�
• We have preliminary sign ups available right now! :O�
• This is not a co-op launch!

Sabby as it stands

• After the 2022 opening of Sabby in Collingwood as a coworking, gallery and event space, Sabby has been a hub of game making activity, launching careers and supporting the growth of studios with real community impact. �
• Sabby has been stewarded and paid for in large part by just one individual - this has proven to be unsustainable (obviously!)�
• For context, Sabby ended up in this position as a product of its origins. Our founder Richie created Sabby as a pet project - it has since become so much more and should change to match what it now is.

Testimonial from Koder

Being at Sabby has provided me with opportunities to not only share my work, but also strengthen my connections with the local creative community.�� From working at Sabby, people are able to see how I work which builds my confidence as a developer and has directly resulted in my first paid job in the games industry. Sabby has given me space to grow as both an individual creator, as well as a valued member in this community. I cannot count how many doors have opened for me because of what Sabby provides, and through Sabby I can open doors for others too.

But what is Sabby…?

Sabby: What it’s evolved into

• Starting primarily as a co-working space, Sabby evolved into a community centre for social gatherings, workshops, activism and more.
• Including but not limited to: zine workshops, game jams, interstate (and international!) games showcases, makers markets, union ~activities~, book clubs, beyblade tournaments, movie nights, live performances, as a film set, private gatherings and parties, wow�
• Over the past three years we have:
• Hosted over 150 events (on average 1 a week)
• Hosted over 200 days of coworking
• Helped secure hundreds of thousands of dollars for local studios
• Contributed ~100 zines in to zin-o-sphere
• Vanquished over a dozen beyblades in heated tournaments

Why become a co-op?

• While the community has poured love and effort into sustainability, the structure of Sabby must change to properly achieve this goal!�
• Becoming a co-op will formalize the community’s needs as an inherent part of our structure, and will put more rigorous processes in place to ensure that we democratically meet those needs.�
• While we’re not far away from this goal even now, this becoming legally enforced makes sure Sabby can avoid having it’s structure be abused by only a single individual.�
• Being a co-op puts power into the hands of the community as a whole - it’s so YOU can decided how Sabby runs.

Why do this now?

• Our lease for this building will end soon plus The building itself is also falling down, lol. �
• We’d like to move locations not as a business but as a co-op. So that the members themselves can decide on the building and structure.�
• Our reasoning is both pragmatic and symbolic. Changing a future lease from business to co-op is inconvenient and puts Null back on a new lease, even if it’s temporary. It’s also symbolically important for us to operate as far away as possible from the strictures of capitalism.

img ft. THE CRACK

(one of many)

And if we don’t become a co-op…?

• If we don’t successfully become a co-op, Sabby will shut down in the interests of our community and of Sabby’s current lead; having one person in charge isn’t healthy for them or the community!

What is a co-op? The simplest explanation.

• A business that that is owned and democratically controlled by the community. �
• Becoming cooperatively owned basically means we’ll be paying bills and rent as a community. �
• Everyone helping will have a small “stake” in Sabby, getting membership rights and the benefits that come with that (details later)

This could be you! Metaphorically.

When is this all happening then?

Since signups are preliminary, when do things become official?

• In the next 3 months as our lease ends, Sabby will secure a new location with a new lease. Moving costs will be covered by previous funds set aside for this.�
• Sabby will remain open and run events in the lead up to that. Nothing will be happening straight away and we won’t be asking for your money just yet.�
• Official announcement of if we’ve hit 100 members by August 16th.�
• If we’ve reached 100 members we will move to formalising the co-op. Then once ratified we withdrawing member fees, Sept or later.

What is a co-op?

• A co-operative, or co-op, is a democratic organisation owned and controlled by its members, for its members.
• This means decisions are made by the Sabby community - that’s you!
• Everyone in a co-op is important.
• In a co-op, every member is able to contribute as much or as little at they can, so long as they keep to the Code of Conduct and keep active as a member.
• By becoming a co-op, Sabby is better able to fulfil the needs of the community it aims to serve.
• Unlike a corporation, a co-op is wholly and entirely defined and determined by its member base. That means being able to serve the patrons of Sabby in a whole new way - by inviting them in!

Image Source:�If you don’t like the game change the rules.

What is the legal process of becoming a co-op?

• A co-op is defined by its rules.
• As part of transitioning to co-op status, Sabby will be adopting a set of rules and guidelines that define everything from what it means to be a member, through to when and why decision meetings might occur.
• These rules, once settled, will be passed to our state Registrar (Consumer Affairs Vic).
• If accepted, we will then have a special meeting where we will formalise the rules.
• If a quorum of prospective member accepts, we will then send our ratified rules (along with details of any structure within the core of the co-op) back to the Registrar.
• Wow! We just become a co-op :^)
• This will take a while, on processing alone.
• The Registrar is very busy all the time.
• No we can’t bribe them.

Structure of Directors

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• Under a co-op, we are required to have at minimum a chairperson, if not a board of directors.�
• Sabby Co-op intends for this board to function as a way to stay in tune with all the different groups that have an interest in the way that Sabby functions day in, day out.�
• The full structure is still being finalised, however, we are taking steps to ensure that even with a board of directors, each member will have the same say in final decision making as any other.

Membership benefits

• New, bigger building!
• Free rental from our extensive media libraries!
• Free equipment hire!
• Free use of the venue for member’s private events!
• Extended Access to the new location across various hours!
• Voting rights and a major say in the future of the space you love!
• we keep existing
• access to updog

Member Plans

• We are offering three plans as ways of becoming a member, allowing members different avenues to join. The only difference between the plans are the levels of contribution - all members are equal, and receive equal benefits.�
• Standard
• $45 a month, payable monthly, half-yearly or yearly.
• Guardian
• $90 a month, payable monthly, half-yearly or yearly.
• Excess fees gathered from Guardian memberships will be pooled to enable us to subsidise Concession plans.
• Concession
• $22.50 a month, via application - no questions asked.
• Dependent on the our ability to do so, Concession plans will be subsidised and handled by the co-op via budgeting and Guardian memberships.

Memberships - Payments

• In order to safely and continually ensure we can cover rent and bills, we’ve approximated needing about 100 full members.
• If we can reach this number, Sabby will be able to attend to its basic needs and will function as a co-op for the next 3 years.�
• While we offer a one month option for payment, we urge you to consider committing to six- or twelve-month plans.
• Being able to know ahead of time how much money memberships are bringing in month-to-month will help tremendously with the budgeting efforts, as well as granting more stability to our Concession system.�
• Should we get a large enough amount of members in the future, we can collectively chose to reduce these prices and spread the load more evenly.

Volunteer and Membership separation

• Volunteers have always been an important part of Sabby, and we want that to continue when we’re a co-op.�
• We envision volunteering as an alternative avenue for supporting Sabby, even if you don’t have the financial means to become a member.
• We have always been a free and open space, and we want to be able to offer the same in co-op land.�
• A Volunteer does not need to be a member, nor a member need to be a Volunteer.
• This means all of the benefits that members receive, barring voting rights.
• Blame the government :’(

Other financing deets

Membership is the consistent core of financing, on top of free donations, merch and streams.

• These streams of revenue will never replace membership as the core of our funding. We’re not interested in becoming a business like that!�
• Grants have been looked at and will likely be revisited in the future, but takes a lot of work to make happen.�
• With this membership stability donations from showcases can be paid amongst exhibitors. �
• Events gain freedom as they are no longer needed to raise donations.

Still unsure? Come along and see for yourself!

Upcoming events next month!

In the future, we’re planning a fundraising stream in August, while still running regular events, organizing co-op structure and building members from now until our mid August cutoff.

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Big thanks to the community

David

Grace

Me!

Friyana

Lem

Tegan

Max

Richy

Sine

Maize

Thom

Inkmo

Shiv

Goldie

Updog

Cecile

Gleeson

Jae

Stella

Duncan

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Venusia

Nique

Gabe

Zach

Charlie

Chrissy

Sans

Ellie

Elly

Brandon

Kira

Get involved?!

If you want to help out more, please let Null know through Discord and we'll chat about you becoming a volunteer.

Come to future stuff, it will still (and always) be free!

Membership sign up

Discord link - Slides here

Q & A

The most important part of the evening - think of a Q, grab a plushie and receive an A.

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Membership sign up

Discord link - Slides here