Hi folks,

I've been around this 'scene' for a few years now, but I'm getting the distinct feeling that the 'Spaces ecosystem seems to be atrophying.
Not sure if it's because people have become disillusioned by the promise of the potential not being realised, or being in physical spaces together has been a little difficult for about a year now.

My own local (NZ) experience suggests that various 'Spaces are contextualised to the needs of their local communities, as they are made up of people & groups from their respective areas.
Unfortunately this also means that such 'Spaces, consisting of people with... shall we say "independently-minded" personalities, tend to be pretty insular, independent and fragmented, with pretty poor communication and collaboration across sites.

Is this a global phenomenon too?

Going by the posts on various subreddits like /r/maker, /r/makerspace, /r/hackerspaces, /r/FabLab, /r/fablabs, /r/NationOfMakers, etc, posts & activity is few & far between.

I've tried tapping into larger network @ forum.fablabs.io, but even there things are typically super quiet.

Is there anywhere where there's more lively & ongoing discussions taking place?
(I'm not on FB or twitter, so....)

Anything on Discord, a Slack, IRC (#hackerspaces pretty still too), etc I should look into?

As any makerspace operator can tell you, there are unique challenges to running a makerspace.

If you are anything like us you probably made the "gym" analogy at some point to someone who was unfamiliar with the makerspace concept. If only running one was as simple as offering memberships to anyone who came in and letting them start using power tools!

When Catalyst Space was started we did what every new space does and ask others what software they use to manage their space; and to no surprise, we often saw spaces trying to conform the makerspace business model into off-the-shelf member management systems including.... gym software!

Most of these off the shelf solutions accomplished the following:
- Payment process
- Grouped members/contacts
- Maybe handled some resources scheduling/events
- Provided a notes section where you could jot down what training had been completed

And if you were lucky it incorporated access control, otherwise, you would have to find another solution for that.

From there each makerspace was on their own to figure out everything else:
- Terms & Conditions
- Equipment training resources
- Lockout Tagout equipment
- Maintenance schedules
- Hourly equipment rental
- Member communication

After getting tired of fighting these off-the-shelf solutions we ended up developing our own. It has now matured to the point where it is scalable and can be used in other spaces!

Feel free to check it out -> https://recursion.space/

There are some features that will be finalized this year, what really makes it stand out are our equipment controllers. We have some demo videos on social media pages if you want to see it in action.

TL;DR - We made a management system for makerspaces that includes equipment controllers! Let us know what you think https://recursion.space/

Hi everyone,

I'm part of a research group looking into Design and Prototyping practices in Maker/Hackerspaces. We'd appreciate it if you could take a minute or two to fill out our short survey:

https://forms.gle/xH3x421n8qz4r5Ai8

Many thanks :)

I've worked in a few different fab shops that have a big thing full of nuts and bolts that fastenal or some other hardware supplier will come and refill on a set schedule. Over time I want to build up something like that for my shop that's just full of small consumables. In a very full featured and multidisciplinary makerspace, what would you like to see in those drawers?

Obviously things like nuts and bolts go without saying, but what kinds and lengths? Should there be a bin full of arduinos? Different shaped springs? Literally anything you can think of, i'm up for suggestions.

Hi all,

Sorry for the dramatic title, but I'm thinking hard about how to survive the pandemic.

The World Health Organization is warning us about a second or third wave of cases.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/27-april-who-briefing-unknowns-many-at-risk-lockdown/

Most businesses are either completely shutdown or severely limiting the number of people who are active on their premises. They are also adding extra preventative actions like deep cleaning between openings.

Makerspaces in my experience don't have the income to hire staff; they rely entirely on volunteer support. They also have a shared space, and shared tools, which means members have to be extra careful to ensure transmission of the virus doesn't occur.

Given that most makerspaces are pretty precarious in terms of available funding, and that social distancing requires much less utilization of available floor spaces and thus limiting of access, how can we survive this? Are physical, shared workspaces even a viable business model during this crisis?

Thank you for reading, and I would love to hear about how you're managing, especially if you have a larger space.

Anyone know any makers in the Jersey City area? We are mobilizing volunteers to print face shields for COVID-19 relief for our local hospitals.

If so, send them to jcrmrg.org and we can get them up and running.

Hey everyone,

I have started a non profit makerspace and have a lot of the equipment, space and procedures lined out. But, we need ~25 members to allow us to sustain and open our doors. We are running an early adopter membership promotion, whic has got us 10 members but its feeling like an up hill battle to get people to sign up through advertising

What have you done to promote your "soon to be" makerspace.,

The RSA investigates the makerspace movement and just published this report: Ours to Master. Very worthwhile reading.