DMS went up to Denton yesterday for our first maker crawl. The objective was to share the maker spirit and see what resources are available/growing in our common area. It was well received both by the places we visited and the makers who went on the journey. The next one will be in Dallas in about three months. I feel we learned from this one and the next one for even more shenanigans.
I see this as a wonderful opportunity for us to get to know each other a bit better, for us to network with the maker community outside of our common circle and just to see what type of resources are developing all around us.
We started off at The Forge which sees itself as an open community driven resource. The focus of the residents tend to be 3D printing and electronics. Its in a stage of growth.
Snack break
Stoke was the next stop - a communal workplace, it’s free on Fridays, the mortgage is paid for by the city and has about 20 active members currently. It’s in a time of transition. It also typically has free beer and snacks.
The Factory was next out at UNT - they are loaded down with resources for the space that they have and they want to have open access for all tool and resources for all of UNT. One of the challenges they have is promoting themselves and getting the word out to what was possible with the resources they have.
Scrap this is one of my favorite strange places to poke around. It’s basically a thrift store for supplies. It survives on five paid employees and volunteers. *Next to scrap they have a bike shop that helps people figure out how to take apart and repair bikes - next time kiddos
Jeff and Angelas workshop- Jeff lead us around his house and showed us many of his treasures, showed us his glorious woodpile, and toured his workshop. He believes in being a true stuart of the materials available and is wise in how he consumes and uses tools.
Jeff sent us on our way with snacks in hand and we went to East Side for some communal reflection. I was only able to stay for a bit as I had my mom watching my son at home. Next time we will need some sort of indicator that “makers come here”.
I took a bunch of notes about each place and will write them up when my son isn’t on a minecraft youtube binge.
Here’s a link to pictures: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B-9lwxsfTaRgLTBnMDVwOGV4SVU?usp=sharing
Thank you to: @cmcooper0 @Adam_Oas @Shirley @Lampy Kelly B, Michael P, Courtney B, and (other) Adam for being willing guineapigs in this adventure. A super thank you to member @jeffbob and his girlfriend Angela for letting us come over, hosting an unexpected giveaway and for always being so very thoughtful.
