Before or as your Makerspace opens its doors, you will have many details to arrange in order to make your own Makerspace. We have people trying all kinds of models for Makerspaces. Regardless of whether you are building a shared community resource or an in-class program, you will need to take care of a few steps we expect all Makerspaces will take.
Get listed
Join our network by adding your Makerspace to our list of affiliates. The network is growing around the country and the world. More people are going to want to find you and learn what you did and how you did it!
Our website, makerspace.com, will list your Makerspace in our “Makerspace Directory” if you fill out the form for us there.
Get connected
Go to makerspace.com to join the Makerspace list. We send announcements relevant to most of the network. The list currently posts announcements only, so to interact with others, join discussion groups too.
Members of the Makerspace Google group help each other, generate discussion, and share resources and ideas. If you haven’t been added to our Google discussion group for Makerspaces and would like to be, please write contact@makerspace.com and request to be added. We are working on developing more resources for our Makerspace partners, including webinars and conference call trainings.
MAKE Magazine, Maker Faire, and Makerspace team are thrilled about the Makerspace movement, and we are willing and able to help you promote your Makerspace and its projects through our media channels. If you have news to share, be in touch!
Please write contact@makerspace.com with news to share.
Spread the idea
You may have enough members and mentors before you start, but if you are having a hard time recruiting, it’s a good idea gather support by identifying partners and engaging the community as you build your Makerspace. You can share news of the Maker movement with schools, colleges, preschools, local businesses, the human resources departments of larger companies with local branches, youth centers, libraries, museums, art centers, and so on. Really, anywhere that people experience community in your community is a place where a community of members and mentors for your Makerspace might grow.
Get the word out by having a visible presence at community events. This can diversify your member pool with people you don’t know personally. When you work a table, have a simple banner to hang, postcards and printed materials to distribute, sign-up sheets for volunteers and members, and something “Maker”: an activity or object demonstrating what Makers are all about, while also giving shy or curious passersby an excuse to come up and interact with you. For example, we often help people put together LED throwies at events. If you don’t have the energy to “table” an event, you can attach posters to poles and business windows just before a fair or other community event you think would attract your target audience.
A slide presentation can convey in an organized and compelling way what the Maker movement is and explain (in pictures!) what a Maker Faire and a Makerspace are.
Identify student makers
You may have a few kids ready to sign up to use your Makerspace. But if it’s just you and a kid or two, you don’t have enough of a community yet! But how big should the group using your Makerspace be? Too few members can lead to a lack of energy, dropping the group below “critical mass”. Too many members can be difficult—and potentially dangerous in a shop environment—to manage. The most important thing is to pick a size that is most comfortable for you. You may want to start off small in your first year to test things out. You need at least a few kids to get the kind of interactions we imagine in all Makerspaces to happen in your local affiliate too.
Set up a website and/or a blog
We strongly urge all Makerspaces to create a website. We also encourage every project team within a Makerspace to maintain a blog to track their project’s progress.
A website is a great tool to use to connect to your Makerspace members, as well as connecting to other Makerspaces, and the greater community of Makerspace supporters that we’re trying to build. You can use it to document projects made by your Makerspace, to recruit new members, and to maintain a schedule of build sessions. Building a website has gotten easier, but it’s still not “turn-key.”
Feel free to use whatever tools and platforms you’re already familiar with. Unless your Makerspace has an individual (possibly one of the students!) who is an expert and is committed to owning the development of a custom website (no small feat), we recommend you utilize a building and hosting application such as Wordpress or Google sites:
Wordpress. Basic Wordpress is free (though you can pay a little for some customization), and has a good tutorial on how to build a blog or website using their templates and servers. It offers over 100 templates (designs) to choose from, clear analytics (usage data on your site), and an easy-to-use management interface.
Google sites is another easy-to-use, free service (our original Makerspace web site was hosted there). When your site is created, contact us to let us know the address. We’ll link to it in your blurb on the Makerspaces Directory.
If you’d like to register your domain name (URL), GoDaddy offers an inexpensive domain purchasing and registration site (but don’t purchase their hosting). Or you can also do it all at Wordpress: registration, site building tool, and free hosting. Then, if you are using Wordpress, map your domain to your site. Wordpress names your site within their own domain (such as “wxqMakerspace.wordpress.com”).
Your site should probably include a home page, an “About Us” page with your Makerspace’s back-story and text about Makerspace, Maker Faire, Make Magazine, and Maker Media (see the Resources section for the wording.) Set up a page to show off the projects being made in Makerspace, too, where you can capture images of their projects in progress, or, better yet, link to the teams’ project pages. Plan to archive your project page each year and keep it on the site as a scrapbook as you continue from season to season.
HINT: Be sure to add plenty of tags with phrases and words related to Maker culture (science, engineering, DIY, do it yourself, art, kinetic sculpture, hands-on, progressive education, Makerspace, maker faire, make…) These tags help Google find your website.
If your members have a social network where they are all hanging out, try to carve out a space there for online discussions about their projects with one another. Or if you find an online tool that works for them and generates a lot of discussion, we’d like to hear about it!
Get into the habit of documenting what is happening in your Makerspace. Here are some basic types of website / blog content that your members may appreciate and that aren’t too demanding to produce:
About Maker Faire. Stir emotions with your passion for Maker Faire. Tell everyone why you’re in it, and who is in it with you. Introduce your audience to Makerspace, Young Makers, Maker Faire, Make, and Maker Media. Please see Resources for the particular language you can use to describe all these entities.
Meet the Maker. Publish interviews or profiles of individual Makerspace in your group. Show them off! Give them the attention they deserve. Check out makezine.com for examples of maker interviews.
Looking for a Mentor! Describe the expertise that you are seeking, or ask a mentor to describe an experience from working with your members.
Set some ground rules
Make sure that everyone who uses the Makerspace has a shared understanding of a few important items:
Purpose: Why does the space exist?
Membership: How does one gain access to the space, how can this membership be revoked?
Space Use: Who can use the space for what activities?
Emergencies: What are the procedures? Does everyone know where the first aid kits and fire extinguishers are, and how to use them?
Tools: How do we train newbies to use the tools safely? Are there prerequisites and requirements for experienced tool users? What measures are there in place—such as checklists—to refresh users’ memories before they touch a potentially dangerous tool?
Please refer to the chapter on Safety for more rules that your Makerspace users should agree to.
Come up with an identity
One advantage of working in a shared Makerspace is the opportunity to create a shared identity. Such things as adopting a mascot, designing a logo, having T-shirts made, having a website, and picking a fun name can all help to create a sense of shared purpose and belonging. You’ll probably want to pick an identity with member input, but don’t spend too much valuable meeting time wordsmithing your group’s name.
Then, in true Maker spirit, ask one of your students to create the logo, and perhaps even manage the website. Some project teams may want to create a T- shirt to wear when they exhibit or present their project.
Find funding for your Makerspace
Your Makerspace may not need much of a budget to operate, if you have a space you can use for free, tools to borrow, and materials found or donated. For some Makerspaces, the ones with lots of parental involvement, many of the projects are self-funded. But if your Makerspace takes place at a school without as much family support, or if you simply do not have this all in place, you may need to research community or family foundation grants to fill in the gap. It’s possible there could be city or other government agency grants available to get your Makerspace what it needs.
Sometimes you can find the funding with a “planning grant.” If you are partnering with a non-profit, get advice from the fundraising staff who may be able to suggest the right foundations to approach. Ask around.
Online tools like Kickstarter and Indiegogo might help you conduct pointed fundraising campaigns towards a specific goal. There are many sites like this – search on “crowdfunding” for more suggestions. While it’s not a Makerspace, we know that the Rhode Island Mini Maker Faire used this tactic to launch a Maker Faire. Maybe it could work for a Makerspace too.
You could invite business sponsors to donate and back up the expenses of your Makerspace, just as local sports teams have support from their community businesses. In general, Maker demographics are a desirable audience for businesses (techies and smart families). Remember that the earlier you establish it, the more valuable the sponsorship would be to the business, so don’t procrastinate.
Be flexible—you may have to “wheel and deal” a bit to secure sponsors. To get funding, you would identify potential sponsors and devote time and energy approaching them, following up, and then—when they sign on—representing them on your website and other materials. But keep in mind you may not be able to feature their logo too prominently at Maker Faire itself. Check in with your event staff before making any promises to potential funders.
Barry Scott of the Da Vinci Center of the San Joaquin County Office of Education in Stockton, California has put together a very helpful blog called Grants for Makerspace schools which is full of links and tips, some of which we’ve quoted here:
Makerspace schools need more resources than most educational programs. It’s not as hard as you might think to find supporters.
National competitive grants may be offered by private sector foundations, nonprofit organizations, or government agencies. Government grants tend to require more complicated applications, while others, like the ING Unsung Heroes grant may be very brief (three pages maximum).
Regional grants are often offered by utility companies and corporations to support families in their communities. These are often less competitive and are usually easy applications to complete. PG&E and Los Alamos National Lab are examples.
Non-published grants and gifts to schools are often made by both large national organizations and smaller local companies and agencies. Most large corporations have a foundation or charitable contributions division which can be contacted for potential support.
Look at your community’s largest employers as potential supporters. They want to provide community support, improve school programs, and they want schools to produce a bright workforce as much as anyone.
Checklist for Grant Planning & Development
General considerations
Your project demonstrates basic understandings of sciences and content involved.
Your grant is based on some things you already do with kids.
Your grant is not dependent upon (or an extension of) another grant, if so it must stand on it’s own merit.
Your project includes a “kids teaching kids” component.
Your students will work with other classes at your site.
Your students will work with students at other schools.
Your project involves students’ homes or families.
Your project has interaction with local businesses.
Your project will impact the community.
Your project will have a positive effect on your school’s culture.
Your project has a long-term vision and may carry on into the next school year.
You have “buy in” from your administrator.
You’ve consulted any school facilities staff that may need to be involved.
Your application is concise, brief, and “paints a picture” of your “finished project”. (less is more!)
You have considered ALL of the potential obstacles to completion of your project
You’ve allowed at least two peers to review your draft and provide feedback, including one non-science person.
Your composition style is easily comprehensible and you’ve checked the spelling of your document.
A detailed budget is provided and all the funds are allocated.
Letters of approval and support are provided.
Follow the application format carefully, it is your blueprint to success, don’t be repetitive.
Specific considerations
Project Title is brief and suggestive of the project’s goals or activities.
Project Description includes specific goals.
You have identified the target audience (this may include more than students).
You describe specific student activities including the energy science content studied.
Student leadership and service learning/community involvement goals are described.
State Content Standards correlations are delineated (this can be at the very end)
An Evaluation section explains how you will evaluate the success of your project.
An Expansion section describes how your project might be replicated or expanded.
— by Barry Scott of SJCOE
Set a deadline and meeting dates
Locate a Maker Faire or Mini Maker Faire near you that you think is timed well for exhibiting your students’ finished projects. If you don’t have one near enough to where you are, you can make a Maker Faire.
Set meetings to be regular: monthly or every other week. Include time for “plussing sessions,” round robins where the project teams share their progress, make connections with other teams facing similar challenges, and get feedback and tips. Regular meetups serve as important milestones along the road to your deadline and also provide some structure and motivation along the way to ensure that a project can be finished in time for the showcase event you choose as a deadline. They are also an opportunity to introduce those lightweight “rituals” that make belonging to a Makerspace more fun. When done in a spirit of good will and making everyone’s projects better, they are good for building community, socializing new members, and boosting morale.
Meet as often as you need to in order to make, but don’t plan to have “meetings” too often. Too many meetings are burdensome for busy and self-directed Makers; sometimes there is a finite amount of time available and a meeting might take up precious time otherwise spent on actually getting something accomplished on the project.
Get your Makerspace Starter Kit
We want to offer our Makerspace partners a few Maker Media items to use in promoting the Maker movement and a sense of belonging once you have members. The Makerspace starter kit support package is yours for the asking. It includes:
promo code for a gift subscription to MAKE Magazine
five MAKE T-shirts
five Maker Notebooks
Maker Shed is working on developing some promotional products and ways to partner with Makerspaces; stay tuned to the Managers group for more information.
