20251227 Plenum

Topics for the Plenum

What are you currently working on?

• Adrian: Cooking for the cleanup, lasercutting a recepie chest, administrative stuff
• Margaret: Also working on the recipe chest
• Justin: Watching the CCCongress
• Jeremy: Learning to programm microcontrollers
• Hannah: Jig for linoleum pad printing
• Phier: Finishing projects like the smart heating and Laser Lounge hatch.
• Karl: Building a shutter speed tester for his camera
• Marco: Compiling ideas for the workshop improvement, building a Board for warhammer
• Urbi: Programming addons for Blender (3D printing related)
• Wiliam: Working on a storage box for Gloomhaven (tabletop game)
• Robert: Cable guard for the Christmas tree and a case for electronics stuff.
• Olek: Building a 3D printer

Say thank you

• Kris LV for organising a huge donation from his employer by proposing us for one of their yearly donation projects.
• Marco for restocking 3mm and 5mm MDF
• Nico for organizing and bringing new premium chairs for the lab.
• Milian for his work and commitment regarding the new tenancy agreement and networking within the creative quarter.

Projects & Groups update

This is a quick update from group meetings at our space, other long-term space projects (e.g., Lasercutter, CNC, etc.) or of the lab internal projects.

Smart Heating

The heating can now be switched on and off centrally either via the touchscreen at the entrance or using the push button in the Laser Lounge. A further upgrade would be the ability to preheat the space. Idea: Half an hour before arriving at the lab, a message saying “preheat” can be posted in #spacestatus in Slack, which would then activate the heating for max. 30 minutes (Slack Bot and communication with HA needed). This would ensure that the lab is already warmed up upon arrival.

Hot or not (literally)? Let's discuss. --Phier

• Sounds good! Just make sure that it doesn't run indefinitely

Heating window into workshop

Problem: In winter time the workshop is always much colder than the rest of the Lab.

Idea: A hatch be installed in the wall leading to the workshop, positioned directly where the heating system blows warm air. This would allow the warm air to flow into the workshop and heat it as well. Of course the hatch would need to be closed as soon as noise is generated or dust is produced. The control of the hatch could also be made smart, so that it closes automatically, for example when the vacuum cleaner is switched on or when the particle sensor detects a certain amount of particles (dust).

Hot or not? Let's disucss. --Phier

• Step one: Put a ducted air system and fan into the workshop. Marco already has the pipes and we'll buy a fan.
• Step two: On the next plenum see how that system works (temperature wise) and if needed discuss on putting a curtain on the gate.

Vorstand updates

Some status updates on current ongoing topics. No need to present, just for reference to read.

Rental agreement

• In the past our electric power consumption was included in our rent. Since 11.06.2025 we got an own measurement station for the space and since then we have to pay by our self. This communication got lost somehow and we will need to pay back the money for the last half year. We will also check regarding a better offering as soon as we get details. We still did not get the final bill.
• Since 09.12. we have received our new rental agreement with the already known total rent increase of about 60% (compare 20251211 Plenum for more details). Because the text still contains several sections that need revision and we have not yet received an updated version from the landlord, we will probably be without a signed rental contract from the beginning of 2026. In practice this is not a big problem, as there is currently no real risk of eviction: the rental situation is an issue across the whole quarter and the City of Munich, as owner of Münchner Gewerbehöfe (our landlord), is currently not interested in pushing parties off the site. On 17.12.2025 the city council held the last meeting on the Kreativlabor topic. There was a last‑minute amendment motion from CSU/SPD, but it does not change anything in our current rental agreements. Only the tenants in the Atelierhäuser currently receive a relief of up to 50% of the base rent, which is positive overall but also strange, as other groups like us (or Werkbox3) cannot benefit from this. There is a lawyer who advises the Kreativlabor more or less free of charge, and we are now also getting in touch with him and hope for some tips on how to deal better with the situation.The current plan is to finance the rent increase as independently as possible so that the workshop operation remains secure. If we later receive any discount or additional funds via subsidies or similar channels, we will gain more buffer for the future or for new investments (“plan for the worst” strategy).

More details can be found in the Slack channel #future-of-the-kreativlabor.

Fixing organizational issues

Member box billing

The member box fees have not been billed in recent years (see last plenum).

The board crew has initially decided not to retroactively charge these fees because there is no formal mandate and there is no proper documentation of who had a box and when.

All current box users will be contacted by Adrian and asked whether they want to make a voluntary donation in retrospect, and box billing will be done properly again from 01/2026 onwards; otherwise the whole system is pointless.

An increase in the box price is planned so that the space used by the boxes is fairly reflected against the shared workshop area; this will be discussed in one of the next plenums.

Not properly onboarded members

Some members were never properly onboarded and their membership fees were not collected correctly (compare 20251211 Plenum for more details).

The board crew has decided not to retroactively charge the individual missing monthly fees, as this would not be proportionate; some of these members have already been around for 20–40 months, and some former members are no longer reachable. All affected persons were contacted and a voluntary donation for the past years was recommended, and fees have been collected normally again from all members since December. However, the general catch‑up collection for the missing months (if someone is affected) will be requested from everyone (see next point).

7 missing months of membership fees (2023–2024)

There are 7 months of membership fees from 2023 and 2024 that were not collected (compare 20251211 Plenum for more details).

These will be collected from all members over the course of 2026; detailed information will follow. The previously mentioned issues have delayed this topic even further.

General membership status and finances

At the beginning of 2026 we will have 161 paying members whose fees are all being collected correctly. For comparison: at the general assembly on 10.10 we had 160 formal members, but only about 140 were being billed correctly.

We have gained quite a number of new members, but during the clean‑up of the above issues some members have dropped out because they were no longer active, never onboarded properly, or no longer reachable. With the current number of members we can cover the new rent and the typical workshop operation. However, in the current situation we no longer have a large buffer for further cost increases or major new investments, unless the rent is reduced again or our membership numbers continue to grow. This topic will need ongoing attention in the coming year, and an up‑to‑date financial overview will be presented at one of the next plenums as soon we have all data; for example, we are still missing the data for the electricity billing.

Side note: Working through these organizational issues is extremely exhausting, especially in the context of rising rent and the political debate around it. The hope is that things will calm down soon and that there will again be more positive topics to focus on.

-- Milian

Get Involved

If you want to be mentioned at the previous section as well, one of the easiest ways is to take one of our MiniJobs or to get involved in one of our Lab Projects.

This is a great way to participate in the Munich Maker Lab and contributing time helps to keep our space in a good shape.

Current key topics looking for additional support:

...

Stuff from the past

What was discussed at the last Plenum? What's the current status of those things? 20251211 Plenum

Things to Buy

• PoE power supply for new Freifunk Router: up to 20€ -- Milian (seems like we have already some alternative)
• New emergency phone to replace the old Ubiquiti one (the old ones often hangs and is really hard to use in case of an emergency). We might use second hand analog one in combonation with an old Fritzbox, but in case this is to complicated I would like to buy this model. 35€ (with shipping) -- Milian
  • Approved
• We need a bit more cash to finalize the electric tree project. Since it's a bit bigger then originally planned, we used the remaining cash for more LED lights and better connectors. Whats missing now is the fun stuff for more interactivity. 50€ (e.g. for Sound Module, Speaker, SD Card and ESPs). More details on the project page. -- Milian
  • Approved, but check the donation stuff, a similar speaker is in there at least
• For the new hatch in the wall of the Laser Lounge two door latch are needed (to easily close/open it) and a steel chain to keep the upper door open. Max. 25,- €. --Phier
  • Approved
• Ducted fan as discussed above and some duct for that - 50€ max.
  • Approved

Request for online participation

If necessary, you can request to participate remotely (via jitsi). Please briefly describe why you want to participate remotely and what topic you want to discuss. (additionally to adding the topic on top!)