Some rich guy called Grant
We’ve been looking into some new ways to generate funds to get the physical LeHub underway. Then it his us, why not ask the EU for a grant? It makes total sense! Oh other than the fact that I’m the only one who can apply for said Grant as I’m European... from Great Britain :/
Right, so obviously we’ll be waiting for around a week to see what happens but until then we have started looking into a bit of a business plan and a retune our ‘about’ section. Please take a read and let us know what you think. Oh, amongst other bits and bobs we think we've found a charity to plant our trees for us :) Anyway:
We knew what we were embarking on was ambitious, heck it still is, our original goals have not changed (You can find them below)! But, we have taken some time to think and have realised that to go from being purely online to a full blown physical museum may be a step too high and what we need is some stepping stones along the way…
What have we come up with?
Well clearly our retro theme is a must! So we thought back to the kinda things we liked as kids and of course what kids, young adults and us older folk like today. With all that in mind LeHubs first steps into the realms of reality will be in the form of a retro gaming social club. Consoles are to stretch from the early days back in the 1970s to todays ultra powerful machines and all playable!
The club is for all ages as LeHub always has been. We will open 5 days a week (Thur-Mon 10:00 - 22:00 for now) and hire 5 members of staff (Staff must be bi-lingual to aid tourism). We will serve soft drinks and snacks with a view to progress to serving cooked food such as fries and burgers in the future.
Here's a rough overview of the figures in Euros:
3 Months rent 3X1200€ =3600€
3 Months utilities 3X600€ = 1800€ (This figure is subject to change depending on our renewable energy resources)
3 Months pay for 5 members of staff = 15,120€
Legal (staff contracts, deposits, licences, accountant and so on) = 10,000€
Units, Tills, Fridges, Consoles, Games, PCs And so on = 25,000€
Drink & Snack stock = 2500€
Unforeseen Expenses = 5000€
So that's a Grand total of = 63,020€
The inclusion of renewable energy (ie: Solar and wind) is estimated at a cost of 15,000€ increasing the overall total to 78,020€
All points below can still be implemented in the above revised plan and are not just proposals for the full sized Museum.
Museum - LeHub - Martinique
An educational museum for all ages with a focus around the history of gaming, technology and the internet with a view to offer new opportunities to the community, including education and use of various social media platforms.
Aim:
Education, Environment, Charity, Resources, Opportunity, Community, Fun.
Education - As complete a possible history of the gaming world in chronological order and ever growing, constantly collecting older consoles whilst purchasing new releases along side related games and peripherals. Written info on each item giving a brief overview along with tech stats, eventually this will have an audio tour. Each device where possible will have a display showing game play on various games for that system, the displays will include original screens from the era of the console it's paired with.
Fun - The fun comes from the education element, though we're being a bit sneaky about it ;) We're talking gaming and social media here so what's not fun?! Yet, at the same time patrons will see the humble beginnings of games like pong, how it worked and then travel through time to the modern era where technology is interlinked to our everyday lives, they'll see how gaming and the Internet has changed everything, from how we communicate, to how we work, to how we shop, to how we relax.
Where possible we also intend to have playable consoles throughout the ages so children and adults alike can either learn and interact or just take a stroll down memory lane.
We also aim to provide facilities where patrons can learn to film and edit movies to upload to YouTube and alike offering more tech knowhow and opportunities that would otherwise be missed out on. We also plan to utilise 'Twitch' to advertise 'LeHub' globaly and as a service to our patrons.
Environment – LeHub will endeavour to have display stands built here, on the island out of wood (a hark back to those vintage consoles) or plastic depending on cost and asthetics. Whilst a final design is yet to be decided we plan to plant a tree for every cabinet made.
Also depending on budget and gifts we'd like to run Le Hub on solar and wind power. Given the location of this Island it would be a fantastic opportunity to show that technology and progress does not need to come with a huge cost to the environment. This also only adds to the educational and the environmental value we have to offer.
Charity and Community - The charity and community element from this project comes in many forms. LeHub is for the community in the form of a community based busnisess and as word spreads we'd like to see visitors from across the globe visiting helping to increase local economy. But to begin: There is of course all the trees we'll be planting, given all the consoles we need, their accessories, their games and screens you can assume that's going to be a lot of trees!
Any excess power generated by our solar and wind generators will be given back to the local power grid, not sold! We hope this will help to reduce the cost of electricity somewhat in the immediate area. Schools on the Island will enjoy free school trips and we'd like to expand that internationally in the future. School trips may take the form of entire class visits to learn while LeHub is closed or simply and extracurricular class offered by local schools to their pupils.
Something else we'd like to do in the community is help out the poorer families/schools on the Island, for many a computer and the Internet is part of everyday life, however many others are being denied this incredible resource due to poverty or just down to the fact they are unaware. We want to change all of that!
Resources and Opportunity - Resources and Opportunity come in the form of an Internet café. Out dated and old fashioned I hear you saying. Well here that is it not the case. The general Internet here is terrible and not viewed upon by the older generation as the modern utility that it is. It is seen as a toy as apposed to a key to knowledge and opportunity!
It goes down as and when it pleases some times for days or even weeks at a time all with no reason given. And when you do have that unreliable connection it feels more like dial up making uploading and streaming impossible. That's fine if all you want to do is check your Twitter or Facebook... But what if you have a really great idea? What if it could be the next big thing on YouTube what if you want to open an e-shop on Ebay, produce income on twitch or own an Etsy store and such like? Having cheap reliable access to the Internet, cameras, lighting, good upload speeds, editing software are all a must! We want to provide all of that. We don't want to see people young or old passing up on dreams or aspirations just because a computer is out of their budget or something as simple as an Internet connection won't allow them to upload/stream at 1080p, access a list of their new shop orders or view their PayPal account. The idea of an Internet café is not so outdated when it can help so many and in such a diverse way. A diverse way that has the potential to pull in new money from anywhere in the world, not only benefiting the local economy but the entire islands economy! Even if it's just used for homework that is as valuable as any other use or to video chat with friends and family abroad, the social element is just as important as the educational aspect to us.
So, are you a charity? I'm confused!
The short answer is no. The long answer is: We aim to be a community based business. Whilst charity is a huge priority for us we also wish to hire local staff (for cleaning, general up keep, cashiers, tour guides, ticket vending, management and so on) on a living wage. This ensures that we not only offer yet more opportunity to the island but we also help to stimulate the islands economy.
We also want the freedom to expand, improve and advertise, this is much easier to accomplish through making money rather than asking for it.
Whilst we aim to have as few outgoings as possible they will still exist in the form of aforementioned staffing, new exhibits, uniforms, repairs, stock, water bills, ablutions, training, Health and Safety, licenses and so on.
Why are you doing this?
Not only is this a massive passion, but after living here for almost 2 years it seems there is a massive generation gap when it comes to technology and the internet. The older generation don't care much for it where as the younger generation want to learn and explore the potential that it has to offer. Unfortunately there are few out there to teach it (it seems), potentially creating an ongoing problem. The youth is eager and as far as I can see they have a right to learn.
There is also the question of poverty. Where people want to learn and some want to teach it is just simply not possible without the tools, resource and hands on time that we wish to offer.
What if you don't make the money you need?
Either way, whether LeHub makes 20 Euros or the full amount, all funds will go towards making LeHub a reality. We have big ideas but have no problem with starting small and building up if we need to. All the money you donate/grant us will go towards making this project a reality.
If you have any queries please feel free to conact me and I will answer your questions to the fullest extent possible.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope that together, as an online community we can make this happen!
