Update7/16/2013

http://decaturmakers.org

Mission Statement and Core Values

• Decatur Makers is a welcoming, family-friendly community of inquisitive, motivated people who work together in a safe environment to discover, understand, design and create interesting things.

• BUILD. SHARE. EXPLORE.

What is a Makerspace?

• COMMUNITY WORKSHOP Imagine a space that is part tool shed, part workshop, part computer lab, and part machine shop, with tools ranging from soldering irons and drill presses to CNC machines and 3D printers.

• COLLABORATION & EXPERTISE Imagine a community of experts and novices all learning and teaching each other how to build and fix things and making cool stuff.

Other Atlanta Makers

• Incomplete list of nearby Maker/Hacker Spaces • Atlanta Freeside (Metropolitan Parkway, Large)• My Inventor Club (Commercial, Incubator)• MASS Collective (Castleberry Hill, Arts,Goat Farm)• Geekspace Gwinnett (New, classes, no space yet)• Gerogia Tech Invention studio(Student operated)• Alpharetta Makerspace (brand new)• Deactur Makers (Family Friendly, K-12, seniors…)

AMMF

• Call for Makers is open.• How will we contribute

(projects, booth)?

Where are we in the process?

• Governance• Finance• Space• Projects• Community• Resources

Governance• We are currently incorporated as a Georgia non-profit. We have an

account at the Private Bank of Decatur.• We have signed an engagement letter with Ballard Spahr LLP and they

will provide pro-bono legal services in connection with our start up as a non-profit (basic services such as federal 501c3 filing, liability waivers, contract reviews, etc.)

• A pre-board has been operating for several months and we’ll have our first official board meeting later in July.

• We are working closely with the Decatur Education Foundation. Donations can be made to the DEF (and earmarked for Decatur Makers) and be immediately tax deductible. We can also accept donations directly but don’t currently have 501c3 status. DEF partnership will be important as we seek larger gifts and grants for specific projects.

FinancesThe funding model for Decatur Makers is based on four anticipated revenue streams:

• Grants (Caitlin Dooley (GSU professor of education with a focus on digital literacy is helping.)– American Honda Foundation (February 2013, not funded)– http://www.wtgrantfoundation.org/funding_opportunities/research_grants/social-settings – https://sites.google.com/a/countessmoirafdn.org/countessmoirafoundation/grant-applicat

ion-guidelines

– http://www.toyota.com/about/philanthropy/education/toyota_usa/ • Membership fees

• sliding scale, family, sustaining, etc.• Classes

• A portion to the teacher, a portion to the space, and a portion for consumables.• Gifts (in cash and in kind)

• Individual• Small independent busineeses• Corporate

Space

TOP PRIORITY. We have looked at several locations and continue to explore options. Prefer walkable, bikeable• The First Christian Church Gym• Atlanta Hot Glass• Oakhurst Village where Mulligans was.• Avondale downtown (former Academy Theater)• Old Austin warehouse on Howard Avenue and Hillyer?• United Methodist Children's Home?• ….

Projects

We can get started without a space!• http://www.instructables.com/id/Pop-pop-or-

put-put-steamboat-made-easy-for-childre/

• http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-04/build-pocket-theremin-cheap

• Flexagon.net (Decatur Arts Festival)• Hackaday.com• Instructables.com• Make magazine (and blogs)

Community

• FIRST Robotics teams (grades 4-12)• Decatur Career Academy • Not just City of Decatur and not just kids.• YOU!

Resources• We have collected a number of links here:

http://decaturmakers.org/resources/ • A materials list from Make Magazine for starting a maker space in a high

school is here (this has some detailed costs of equipment): http://makerspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/hsmakerspacetoolsmaterials-201204.pdf

• Some of the maker culture and taxonomy is discussed in this blog post: http://makezine.com/2013/05/22/the-difference-between-hackerspaces-makerspaces-techshops-and-fablabs/

• Several resouces on how to make a makerspace are available:– http://makezine.com/2013/06/04/making-makerspaces-creating-a-business-

model/

– http://makezine.com/2013/05/23/making-makerspaces-acquiring-insurance/– http://learn.adafruit.com/how-to-start-a-hackerspace-the-list

Next Steps

• Define requirements• Explicitly tell people how they can help ($ is

always good of course)• Small classes/projects (what do you want to

teach/learn/make?)• Grow online community