Makerspace Mistakes | 5 Mistakes We Made When Opening Our Makerspace
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
- Running a Makerspace is an adventure and a half. We opened our Makerspace, Makers Workshop, in the Summer of 2018 in Maynard, Massachusetts. In this video we chat about the Top 5 Mistakes we first opened, and how we have solved them overtime.
If you are thinking about opening up a Makerspace as well, we hope you can gan something from our early missteps
-Brooke and Michael
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Music:
"Animal (Sting)" RUclips Free Audio Library
"No. 3 Morning Folk Song" RUclips Free Audio Library
I think these are interesting problems to solve, because I see the market as 3 succinct segments: people that want to make stuff but don’t know how and don’t have time to diy, people that want to make the thing diy but don’t know how, and people that know how to do the thing but don’t have the tools to do it diy. All of these can be solved by operating a machine job shop, and then placing a kinetic learning space inside of that job shop. I’m in an area that is desperate for steam learning, but also skilled labor development, so this makes sense for us to do it this way. It also opens doors for our customers that can now contract our shop to do more…artsy work and not just functional design and machining work. Great video, guys.
I am in the process of developing my own idea of a art studio/maker space, and having people sign up either for hobby level versus things that would be more like you said industrial strength level. And 2 minutes into your video just helped me modify my idea and cement one of my biggest questions and things I’ve been debating how to make it work or how to divide things or what to focus on. Great video. Thank you!
Question - do you find that you had anyone interested in the smaller / more hobby and craft level space?
the maker space that I wanted to maybe open one is going to have part of it be at the hobby level type of offerings, die cutting machines, scrapbooking, paper, cutting tools, stamping & inking materials, hot glue’s embossing , crafting painting and ceramics, and have a store front very much like a local “Michael’s” where they can buy any materials they need, but we have the tools and machines you might not want to spend $50-200 to get into resin / crafting / pottery, etc.
In the city and state I live at there is a lot of crafting and hobby level stores around and paint your own ceramics or paint your own painting, but there’s not a lot of maker spaces and I don’t know the market on who would want the industrial size tools you mentioned. But I wonder if a lot of Middle range hobbyist and crafters are looking for spaces to?
This was so helpful!!!! We are planning our Maker Space now and this video is just in time. Thank you for this!
So happy to hear that! It’a a daunting task and we are always happy to help
Great video! I'm planning to open a makerspace in my small town and I'm on a research binge right now. I'd make 4 out of 5 mistakes because it never occured to me to even think about that stuff. Probably the most important takaway is to sell only memberships. Thanks!
Me as well. But the 4 mistakes I would’ve made - I thought about them a lot and I actually thought they would be good ideas, lol! 😅
so this video was very informative and help me flesh out many of my thoughts & questions!
Such an awesome and informative video! That's awesome that you guys made mistakes, acknowledged them and pivoted to make something that works for you.
Thanks guys. It’s all part of it
Stuffs getting better every day indeed. Loved the vid!
If you’ve seen that movie you guys are officially our best friends.
This was super helpful. I have wanted a maker space in my home time for so long. It looks like it is going to become a reality. I'd love to hear how you handle classes, how your membership works and more. I'm enjoying your yt content as well. Lots of fun.
Have you guys figured out a way to make a badge/access system? I am about to be in charge of a huge makerspace, but they are about 10 years behind in technology. I am trying to find a way to print out badges for students that want to use the space that will have a list of icons on what they are trained to use and what level of proficiency they have in it.
That sounds like a great idea. Did you ever think up anything.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, great information. My local makerspace is non-profit and has volunteers who help with things like tours, typically they had an open house once a week. It's a really interesting model that I haven't seen anyplace else. Of course I haven't been to that many makerspaces yet! They have scheduled classes for different types of equipment etc. They charge an annual fee, and you need to attend their regular monthly orientations to use a day pass. It's a much more complicated organization, but I can see you all growing into that type of space!
Yeah; there’s lots of effective ways to make it happen. We’ll probably talk about this in a future video more but we’ve consciously decided to focus on a very home-y feel/ like you’re going over to your buddy’s place to hang out plus fresh cookies on the table. We regularly go and visit other makerspace bc it’s interesting to see all the different ways people go about it... can’t wait until the world opens up again and we can start doing that again!
@@MakersWorkshopLLC that's cool I definitely want to visit your maker living room!
Fantastic video you two! Keep up the great work!
Thanks for watching !
Oh man, more thoughts , love all your advice and sharing all the good and the bad, it’s all helpful.
And some of the mistakes you share I have some solutions / alternatives already in my brainstorming. Thank you for making this video
It looks like your makerspace is a for-profit, so things are a bit different than running a non-profit. The first thing we did was to study the area demographics. The MakerBarn is near The Woodlands, which is a bedroom community north of Houston. No universities nearby, they were all downtown. But there were numerous Home Depots and Lowes nearby as well as a Rockler and Woodcraft. So a woodshop was number one priority. Then laser cutters and 3D printers. Volunteers were a priority. We wanted to develop culture of volunteerism and ownership. The only time we paid workers were for things well outside of what a member could do. When building out, for instance, we advertised in the tool section of Craig's List for folks who wanted to come out and swing a hammer. It worked great and several well experienced professional helped instruct volunteers with little or no experience. I could go on and on, but I don't want to be a bore. Today we have about 190 members, so things are going quite well.
@The One Since 2016
All the way through ur business u continue making mistakes! That how life is, it’s the recovery and risk management that makes all the difference! Well done guys
quick questions from South East Asia (across the globe lol)!
- what was your day pass pricing like when it was available (if i may ask)?
- did you do a multiple-day-package price too? like maybe a '10-day pass', or a '20-day pass', 'expires in 6 months' kinda package?
- what do majority of your members wish to have more of?
in South East Asia, we watch alot of videos of American / British / European / Australian makers, so we all dream of having all the facilities and tools.. but due to our currency exchange rate, they are about 5-10x more unaffordable and 100x more inaccessible based on an average cost of living reference... BUT... hobby-grade tools are slowly getting more affordable and my goal is to bridge the general public to get into DIY woodworking. I've really found your mistakes spot on coz i am making them right now!! (i.e. daypass problem, accommodating to the general public too much)
so thank you so much! for making me feel not alone in this world!
Is price really a factor? I am not certain as most are happy to spend crazy money on phones, gadgets, cars and travel.
I guess its simply because its relatively cheap to get things done in Asia compared to the rest of the world.
If one wanted a custom timber table they can go to a shop and get it made rather than investing in equipment for a home shop or going to a makerspace to make something.
How many Malaysians will do an oil change on their own cars at home? Its cheaper to pay RM 20 and get it done at a tyre shop :) Even if you gave them a workshop with tools for free, they will still go to a shop and get an oil change rather then getting their hands dirty.
Such services are fairly expensive in other parts of their world which is why they love setting up their own shops or using community makerspaces to bring their projects to life.
@@kafie1980 haha chicken and egg situation bro. It is cheaper to do an oil change because labour cost is cheap. But in my comment, I'm speaking about the DIY crowd already interested in investing tools.
For example, a person working in mcdonald's can buy a table saw with a week's salary. In Malaysia, They would need a month / month and a half's salary to buy one. Alternatively, we can buy locally assembled ones, or imported from china, but quality and safety is nowhere near the branded ones.
I hope soon, more power tools brands will come to Malaysia! and i hope more people will learn to DIY to be more self-sufficient!
Great info, thank you for sharing! Wish we had a maker space inmy area. Moose-out!!
Its a bummer that they aren't more widespread. Where are you from?
@@MakersWorkshopLLC Fairbanks Alaska
So awesome. We're in the process of acquiring all our equipment for a makerspace now. It takes SO. MUCH. RESEARCH! I agree with not doing day passes, what you do y'all think of an upcharged 5-day pass that operates like a punch card system that still requires a general safety class before use? Something to help the monthly membership cost look like a better deal?
This is actually super helpful. Thank you!
Love this for your Makers Workshop
Great video! If you learn from your mistakes, they're investments! That's my moto anyway!
Exactly. The mistakes are all part of the process
Turned out amazing you two!
Thanks crysta!
I got a Laguna C02 Laser in my home :) 🎉 and then got the Laguna 14BX (220 v) for resaw.
Then got the Laguna Dust Collector.. great choice to streamline everything.
Really great learnings - If I tried to open one my video would be titled the 101 Mistakes Ethan Made....
Oh I’m sure we’ve made PLENTY more. These were the five that stood out to us. The way I see it you fail a bunch of times to figure out how to get things to go right once.
Amazing video guys! You made mistakes seem fun!
They’re all part of the ride
Wish we had a makerspace
Nice video, great information. Mahalo for sharing! : )
Our pleasure :)
Great video! I wish you all the best! I would love to be involved in something like this!
Thanks! We love what we get to do
Thanks 👍.
you will never know how far you can go unless you make mistakes and learn from them...
Very true.
Very interesting speech patterns between you two. I feel like when one of you was making a clear and concise point you cut each other off and it got edited out. I do salute your passion and drive wish you both the best of luck! 📈💰👩❤️💋👨
We’re passionate people, what can we say 😎 and thank you
thanks really informative, would love to know what you pay for rent as its crazy expensive here in Australia
I just tried to call you guys - but the phone was disconnected. Have you gone out of business? (say it ain't true...!)
I was looking for some Delrin scraps for a small project and thought of you.
Where did you find the phone number? Bc I don’t think we have one posted anywhere for the makerspace. But very much still open. We unfortunately do not have Delrin however.
Hey guys speaking of mistakes ... I am looking for recommendations for small run (10-20 unit) production of glowforge projects that I design with ... cause you know ... I didn’t save up longer and bought the slower basic cutter.
Really convenient timing. We just launched a virtual makerspace on MakersWorkshop.com. One of the things we are offering to virtual members is cuts like this, but it’s a feature that isn’t quite live yet. Do you have a deadline you need to meet? Worst case if you set up an account you can upload the file through the messaging on there. Or just email us at info@makersworkshop.com that always works too 👌🏻
Here it is: makersworkshop.com/membership/
Hey, are you guys open to the public?
Right now we are not open to the public but we’ve been running peoples files through the machines for them and doing social distanced pick up.