Maker Space Grand Opening Report

How many time am I going to type "Makerspace" before my hands accept that it's not a word?

The St. George Library maker space is now officially open for business. Local news coverage spread the word about the space and a whole host of local people signed up. All day long I was able to answer adult's questions and help kids and adults with the activities I designed for the day.

A wall full of LED Throwies is always a good sign

For day 1 activities in a maker space, without anyone having gone through the safety training, only simple crafts without soldering or training could be used. LED throwies, duct tape ties, and lock picking are excellent activities, with the 3D printers pre-loaded with gCode for Decoder rings, 3D block zoo animals, and other quick prints that people were encouraged to take with them.

There's still a lot to do, with organizing certification classes and other classes, notifying people who have given me their e-mail addresses. Mailchimp is helping with that, though I just learned about the fact that I can (and should) have separate lists for local and global lists, which would allow me to have different landing pages. I'm still learning a lot. Maybe I should write another book for the next person who wants to run a successful maker space. I guess first, I should run a successful maker space, though.