Reconditioned President appointed, and a Call to Action

[Shane Grey]

We've just finished our February Makerspace Board meeting and I wanted to share a significant change.

As most of you know, almost 2 years ago I stepped down from the position of President for the Makerspace organization.

At the time I was under a lot of pressure with my professional work and needed to let go of some responsibility in other areas to maintain effectiveness.

When I stepped down, Jakob Brouillette stepped up.  In the time since then, there have been huge gains made to the equipment and capabilities of the space.  Jakob has put a lot of his time, energy, and money into improving the metalworking area and other related equipment.  He has worked with others such as Zack and Jamie to receive donations of computers, and office furniture, and to turn them into a classroom setting where we can do training on things like 3d modeling in professional CAD software. He's spent time with many members, new and old, helping with their projects, and training them on equipment.

With a ton of work by Marvin and Miles, and probably others I don't know about, the wood shop has been been expanded with many new tools. And a room scale dust collection system was built from scratch and installed.  This is something we've needed from the start, and it's finally in place thanks to the generous donations and hard work of a few of our members.

The Makerspace culture has also gone through a shift in culture in that time as some early members went through life changes and had less time to come to the space. The members who became more active were those who found working with all the new equipment to be of value.

As we move into another spring, we are entering another cultural shift with the organization. So I wanted to write to everyone to remind us all what this kind of organization really is.

I've often described the Makerspace as a place sort of like a Gym.  You pay a membership fee and you get to use the space and a lot of shared tools. You get to meet people. You get to learn from them, and work together.

But our organization is really a lot more than that.  This Makerspace was a community before it was a workshop.  It was a tiny group of friends before it was a community.

This Makerspace grew out of the hard work of a small group in the early years.  Before there was a building rented, they met in free meeting rooms at Harmony Cafe.  Before that, they met in each other's homes.

There was no money being paid to cover rent and utilities.  There was no investment being made into filling a space with tools and materials.  It was a group of like minded people spending time together sharing projects with each other, learning, and making new friends.

I wasn't the first president elected after we had a physical space.  I wasn't even a member when we rented the first space.  Though I did attend some of the open makes at Harmony Cafe and the basement location off College ave after that.

But I think I may have been the first to really push to change our focus to building up the resources available for use in our current space. 

I facilitated the purchase of all of the first major woodworking machines. I led the work on painting most of the space, fixing the walls in the metal shop, installing the window and whiteboards of My Office, and the flooring and cabinetry for the kitchen.  I had a huge amount of help on all of these things. But they were initially driven by my strong desire to see the physical space become more attractive and more useful.

In all that change, I think I neglected the thing that enabled me to have that place to improve upon.  I neglected the community. I didn't put enough energy into organizing activities around the things we like to do.  I didn't schedule enough events to allow other people to find us and decide if we are a group they would like to contribute to.

And without enough focus on those things, it seems I was leading the organization into a culture focused on the building and the tools, without an awareness that the spirit of participation was fading away.

As I described, we have made a huge amount of progress in building out our capabilities for things we can now make at the space.  When you compare to just 4 years ago, it's clear I can't understate that.

But I think it is now time to solidify those changes and move our focus back to building a community centered around enjoying our common interests by using all these awesome new tools to make things.

If we started out five years ago with everything we have now, it would have been amazing!

Over this time, we've done things as varied as paper mache projects, custom PCBs, furniture making, engine rebuilding, and of course the reconstruction of a complete airplane!

Now we have all this capability. And we have some very active members who continue to fix the equipment and make improvements. But we desperately need to rebuild the spirit that our community depends on. That community spirit is what attracts others and keeps pouring fresh energy into what we are all building together.

Like all before him, Jakob has served his time as president of this organization with a great deal of energy and dedication to making the organization strong. He has effectively lived most of his life on site at the space for the last 2 years while going to school full time and working part time. As he has worked on his airplane project following his intense passion for aviation, he has spent a lot of time teaching others how to use equipment. He's spent many of his hours talking with new members and getting them familiar with the space. He's been there to lead and organize meetings where we made decisions on where to focus next. And I know he's made some good friends like so many of us have in this community.

But his project has now grown to the point where he has decided to get his own space and relocate. He finished his first degree and has started work on another more challenging degree in mechanical engineering. 

Jakob has reached a point where he needs to redirect his energy.

And I've reached a point where I've regained mine.  

I'm excited to say that tonight the board re-appointed me as President for the Makerspace.

But I want to be clear that the most important change to come is not from me, or the board. It's from all of you.

To refocus on building a vibrant organization, I must ask all of you to take a fresh look at what we have built since we started this. I am asking you to take your mind back to your original enthusiasm that made you join.

Remember the nights you came to the space and couldn't stop smiling because it felt so good to be talking with people who understood you and accepted how you think.  Remember the times you planned to meet up with some of us to work on a project.  Remember something you made at the space and took home to give as a gift that someone you care about now remembers you by.

If you were able to remember those early ideas of the fun things you did, or were going to do, then I want you to also remember how you understood the group to be not just a place filled with tools, but a community built by its members, shared with friends and families by the things we make, and the stories we tell.

I want you to remember how the money you pay for membership is only a tiny part of what has created everything we have. And that the efforts of our members to create the environment have been immeasurably more valuable.

Then I want you to really consider rededicating yourself to putting in the time and effort to build our community not only by putting in some work to continue improving the physical space, but by participating often, and enthusiastically in fun projects that are the true core of the organization.

If any of this means something to you. I'm asking you to put aside any resistance you might have built up over time, and come out for our next Open Make on Thursday at 6pm.  I'll have the door unlocked and the lights on. And I'll smile when I see you.

Shane Grey

President (again)

Appleton Makerspace

[Erin Quick-Laughlin]

Wow.  So glad i decided to read this email.  

 First, because i don't really know how much has been improved (a lot!).  Second, to hear that Jakob persevered with the plane and is now really stepping it up.  Third, because it's nice to be invited back to the community.  It's been too long and I like the energy I'm reading!  Reminds me a bit of all the gatherings we had while dreaming of having a place of our own. 

I should be there Thursday sometime after 8, with beers to share :)

Erin

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[Marvin Hufford]

Thank you Shane for the review of past history, your goals for the future, and call to action! That was a masterpiece and I think clearly presents real life, and how each of us can make a meaningful contribution to "our group" and to the community at large. Thanks again for "stepping up to the plate" and injecting renewed energy into the group! I look forward to each Thursday to share and learn from others.

Marvin