<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div><br></div> The lab is currently going through a bit of a reno, so we temporarily don't have physical access to the space. (Ryan sent a mail about this a few weeks ago)<br><br></div><div> Some observations about the community:<br> <br></div> - I've attended a couple of times "recently" (including the badge hack night) and it surprised me that there are still interested looky-loos who drop by to see what's going on - I met three interesting new non-list-members at the last drop-in. Some of that is the timing around Maker Faire, but I think it indicates that there's still a lot of curious people on the periphery of the maker community who just need a little push to fall into the expensive black hole of hobby electronics. ;) <br><br></div> - There's a lot of lurkers on this list who are looking to do interesting things but they're not sure if the community "fits", what happens during Modlab, what kind of people attend, etc. etc. I propose once the modlab is open and running again we shoot a short video for the website so people have a sense of what to expect. (I suggest other makerspaces do this too - I've had a lot of people ask me what happens at MakerSpaceNorth)<br><br></div> - I think there's an appetite for organized events (workshops, thematic meetups, etc) more than totally blank-slate working sessions. We don't have Britta organizing events anymore, but I think we need to step up and put some entry-level training sessions together to keep newbies feeling welcome and getting them up to speed. (Centerpointe is doing an amazing job training an army of laser cutters)<br></div><div> I've been running littleBits workshops, and there's SO MUCH DEMAND for kids programming.<br></div><div> Tons of people are interested in 3d printing, but nobody knows how to make anything that's not from Thingiverse. There's equipment and interest everywhere but a need for the skills to connect them.<br></div><div><br></div> - The physical location at Arts Court is a blessing and a curse - it's convenient for many of us, but between the Wednesday schedule, parking and construction and blasting there's a lot of factors turning people off. (Particularly if they live out in Orleans or Barrhaven and are looking at an hour and a half commute) I think Darcy had the right idea moving his Arduino group around to different venues in the West End. I think it's healthy for the ecosystem to try out different locations and spaces to see how it affects the type of work getting done. I imagine the MSN space encourages a more industrial, CNC wood-working process.<br><div><div><br><div><div> - I've talked to a number of local makers about their take on the community, and it seems like everyone agrees that the proliferation of spaces is a good thing, and that the community is maturing, but nobody seems to know where it's headed or what comes next. :) I think a lot of people who started 4 or 5 years ago (the first "wave" of really accessible maker tools) are now running little startups as amateurs-turned-pro. There's money to be made in micro-manufacturing and small-run productions... but I think we need to organize to make sure the door stays open for people at the entry level so the community stays vibrant and full of challenging ideas.<br><br></div><div> -Jason Cobill<br></div><div><br><br></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Dec 16, 2015 at 6:20 PM, Richard Sloan <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:themindfactory@gmail.com" target="_blank">themindfactory@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><p dir="ltr">Have not been to modlab on Wednesdays for awhile now, how's the attendance been?</p>
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