the COGWORKS
Creative Co-op
Making a Makerspace in Edmonds, Washington
The Cogworks:
WebLog
Kirk decided to start a weblog with running commentaries and updates.
Keep watching this space to see what's new.
July19
- Got the Go-Ahead to start-up with a portion of the space - tonights meeting will be a pre-launch party!
- Next Wednesday will be the launch Party!
- Meet & Greet became a Make-&-Take with Leather Stamping - mostly making key-fobs
- Mini:Gallery.Current/cw*
July 14
- Working up to the Kickstarter campaign - We need a Video so:
- Scheduled a Video Making Party so we can have fun, meet new folks and get good material for a video
Check meetup.com for details
- Working with several members to Start more Classes once we get space figured out.
Expect to see
- Making a Maker-Apron basic Learn Basic Sewing and Get a practical Apron to take home
- Holster that Weapon! - Making a holster for your costume weapon working with Leather, Cloth and Webbing.
- Intro to Robotics - in multiple classes : Basics of Programming, Micro-controllers, and Sensor & Servos.
June 28
- Got our Washington Non-Profit business number!
- Building the Kickstarter page and finding someone to help with Facebook.
- Planning a Promo video and graphics.
June 27
- Wow time flies... but lots going on in the background.
- I visited the Edmonds Community College Makerspace and met with the director: David Voetmann
- Added an image of the Floorplan to webpage - Floorplan
- I keep fiddling with the logo... maybe I'll put it out there for a vote.
- New Members keep showing up with great ideas - Join us for Open-House Wednesdays... (7pm)!
- We have the Board of Directors together, the ByLaws written and are filing for Business Licenses
- the Landlord is being very supportive and accommodating - we are close to making the leap and launching...
- Planning a Kickstarter to get the opening funds together. Most likely to Launch Friday.
June 17
- Been down with a flu, but we're still marching forward.
- Reworked the logo and got signs made to put on the building
- Made new Handbills and distributed them around downtown Edmonds
- Edmonds Art Festival is this weekend so, fingers crossed hoping we catch some interest from folks coming to see that
- Got a good connection to Lynnwood Arts Commission Nice since we sit right on the border between Edmond/Lynnwood
- Making progress on Non-Profit Paperwork and business license
June 14
- Got a feeler from King 5 for a possible write-up about the Cogworks... that would be pretty cool!
- Open House was tonight and we have new faces with new interests. One of them, Gretchen, makes her own books and we may get her to teach a bookmaking class shortly...
June 12 (Happy Birthday Bestemor!)
- WOW - This train is building up steam fast! I had an inspiring day meeting Brin at Otherworlds, Meredith at ArtWorks, Jim from Something Special Press, Francis from the Edmonds Arts & Cultural Program, and Suzanne from the Art Spot. It is hard to imagine a more supportive and appreciative reception. All of them folks I look forward to getting to know better and working with as we get this project rolling.
- Expect a Steampunk-themed class from us to be hosted at Otherworlds soon... watch the Meetup feed for Cogworks or for Otherworlds...
- I am getting the incorporation paperwork together and sorting out how to handle the financials.
- My other big push is banners and flyers to have ready so we can catch the eye of folks coming for the Edmonds Art Festival
June 10
- Meetup Membership keeps growing, that's very exciting - looking forward to seeing folks on Wednesday!
- Kirk is cooking up a Class or two to hold - chime in with your preference - Intro to working Leather, or Intro to Micro-Controllers with TeensyUSB/Arduino.
- We have an offer to have have a working HAM radio system in the Funkraum, who knows, maybe we could even get a micro-broadcast station going.
- I'm tinkering with Membership management tools to see how we can handle membership sign-up and billing. I have plans to get signs up for next weekend - The Edmonds Art Festival, in the hopes that we can catch traffic coming and going...
June 8...
Just had a good conversation with Mike the owner of Galaxy Hobby and he is very interested in seeing how he could support our 3-D printing and Arduino development by coordinating and keeping certain items in stock for our members.
June 8:
Last night's meeting went really well! We bounced ideas, looked around the space and talked about everyone's experience and interests. Big results are:
- It is sounding like there is a lot of interest in sewing and leather-work, especially heavy-duty sewing. We will look into finding an Industrial machine (I'm thinking walking-foot)
- We had a great discussion around HAM radio and that seems like an easy angle to add. We could easily add that to the electronics room. Looks like we need a good oscilloscope.
- There should be a lot of synergy with SnoCo Makers, and we are thinking of cloning their administrative aspects if not becoming a satellite location.
- We also discussed pattern-transfer ideas, projectors, using SnoCo's large frame laser etcher... And of course space layout and storage.
- We had a number of topics that came back to kind of a club-house feeling, having regular nights dedicated to subject areas: e.g. Paper-arts on Monday, Leatherwork on Tuesdays, Radio / RC / automation on Thursdays - I'm thinking Wednesday stays as our general open-house. The classroom(s) could also become a revenue source as groups could rent the space for meetings.
June 6:
- Rough Numbers... but it's looking like if we can get 2 more studio spaces rented and 25 membership commitments then we are a launch!
The Big-Space version needs 4 more studios and 40 memberships. (things can shift with Locker/bin rentals, donations, grants... but this gives us ball-park numbers.)
- Set up a regular Meet & Greet for Wednesdays at 7pm starting tomorrow... Sign up via meetup.com and search "Cogworks"
Or just show up... 7833 196th St. S.W. , Edmonds, WA
- I set up a Meetup account and we're already getting great responses!
