HackPittsburgh
First on the list and extraordinarily welcoming for a Saturday morning with little forewarning, the HackPitsburgh crew was decked out in their official uniform. This space is legendary for being early, being active, and having a great spirit. Touring HackPittsburgh reinforced that there is a rhythm to the lifecycle of spaces (accumulate and purge), consistency of layout (clean shop, dirty shop) and a good esprit de corps.
Columbus Idea Foundry
A professional makerspace with heart, they also had a playful side to them as evidenced by the gnawed-off fingers poster for their power tools race. Alex’ vision is to make a big dent in the midwest with making resources and making programs which really affect how learning is done. He has a huge facility that’s growing, that’s filled with tools and people, and is buzzing with activity. Between bidding for a new space, applying for grants, helping launch businesses, and trying to affect education there is a lot going on here.
Buildmore Workshop
A small business in a the tech region of town, Buildmore can invest in an inventory that just makes the rest of the maker universe salivate with desire … here, fasteners galore!
Hive13
Inventiveness, a common trait of makers everywhere I go. For me, seeing hardware innovation born of enthusiasm, fused with competence and made of determination is regularly inspiring. This door switch turns on/off the lights in Hive13 which then automatically changes the Open/Closed status on their web site. If the lights are on, then the world knows the place is open. Fantastic!
Club Cyberia
I’m not the best at giving lots of forewarning of an impending visit but I do try to work around published calendars so my success rate is pretty high. Visiting Club Cyberia was a complete flop. It was the day after a major storm, a “derecho” which took out power and stripped limbs from everything firmly planted. In the case of their sign, it was in tatters waving freely in the wind. However, like any good maker, the response from Club Cyberia was “Great, we wanted to upgrade anyway!” 🙂
Arch Reactor
Due to affordability issues, Makerspaces can find themselves in tough parts of town. Approaching Arch Reactor made me feel less than comfortable … until a arrived at the address and parked in a newly paved and painted gated lot. Very nice! The magical mystery tour only started as I went on and toured their space, explored the larger early 20th century factory building and delighted in the rooftop dance emporium with outstanding views of the city. Special, I tell ya.
CCCKC
To find this space I went to their address on Hackerspaces.org but all I found was a tiny one-room building with an elevator. Seems that CCCKC was located in an underground lair, 120 feet below the surface in a built-out set of caves! Crazy, right? Well, it turns out they had recently moved and I did catch up with them but certainly my first impression became my lasting impression.
Hammerspace
Makerspaces come in a wide variety. Some are like fab labs, some are like hackerspaces, some are like traditional work shops. Hammerspace is the latter but leaning heavily in the direction of augmenting with technology. Not only do they build CNC tools like 3D printers but they have CNC tools like mills. They also act as an umbrella organization under which other groups can meet. For instance CCCKC now calls Hammerspace home and while I visited there was a Lego group meeting. Their inclusiveness is not only good-spirited but it’s also good business.
Omaha Maker Group
In good taste, this picture should be of Omaha Maker Group’s space and not of me riding their wonderfully upgraded electric scooter … but it was such fun to ride! As my primary source for makerspaces is the site hackerspaces.org and they’re not listed, I almost didn’t visit this most authentic of makerspaces in Omaha. They’re just exactly what you’d expect: class room area, clean both clean and dirty work shop situated in an old warehouse. What you wouldn’t expect is how much the facility is being renovated, how empty it is and how much free reign they have of the building. Oh, and they have a surveillance camera system that’s amazing. Check it out at their web site (click the title above).
Bucketworks
What can I say about Bucketworks that doesn’t sound like hyperbole? That they’re one of the earliest spaces? That they’re one of the largest spaces? That they’re having some of the most significant impact? All are true but they sound too good. There’s so much going on here that the tour took almost an hour and the conversation to explain the strategy took almost as long. James was generous with his time.
Pumping Station: One
There’s a point just short of being a professional makerspace where scale could support a business but the community chooses not to. Such is the case with PS:One which has 141 paying members. They’re doing so well that they’ve just moved from a 2,500 sq ft facility to a 6,300 sq ft facility. Oh, and they have fun as you can plainly see from the picture above. 🙂
Cleveland Maker Alliance
The path for makerspaces can be bumpy. The Cleveland Maker Alliance was actually dissolved after a bumpy period of turmoil. Months went by and eventually a co-working start-up facility asked the group to reform and colocate in their facility. The picture above is of Shaker Launchhouse and the Maker Alliance occupies a small area in the huge warehouse behind the office building. A varied community of distinct organizations which hold the potential of benefiting by being together.
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