We need your help...

Hello Makers!April’s class load is going to be a little low, due to spring break travels for some of our instructors as well as the Easter holiday weekend. We are running a Machine Embroidery 101 class on April 15th, and on April 26th we will run our 3D Printing 101, Intro to Podcasting, Intro to Dye-Sublimation Printing classes.  

With the current economic uncertainty we have seen some impact to the number of active memberships. Thankfully, we were able to cover rent and operating costs the last 2 months as a result of our class income.  We are hoping for a “one door closes, another door opens” sort of strategy to pay off - while some who look at a makerspace membership as a luxury, we are increasingly trying to reach out to those who are looking to start side businesses to augment / boost their financial security.  And of course for those of you who have stuck with us, thank you for supporting our cause!

We’re hoping to count on everyone’s help going forward:

1. If you've been a member, but haven't made it into the space recently, we would love to hear from you and understand what it will take to draw you back in. Feel free to email us at: snocoleadership@snocomakers.org

2. We are actively trying to solicit people interested in starting or expanding side businesses / side hustles to be members. If you know anyone who is interested in augmenting their income and can make use of our wide array of tools, please send them our way! 

3. We've updated our members profile page on Wild Apricot. We’ve added additional fields for people to select their interests, but more importantly we've added a field for sharing employer information.  A lot of companies in our area provide matching funds for non-profit organizations, and we would love to better identify these fund-matching opportunities! The first step is to collect some information so we can formulate a plan. 

4. We've been ramping up our social media presence on Facebook and Instagram, and will consider TikTok as well if that stays a viable platform in the near future. If you are on any of these social media platforms, please follow us, like and reshare our posts to help us reach a wider audience! 

Additionally - there are a few makerspace projects and  improvements that we could complete faster if we have more help and resources. There are (3) infrastructure improvement projects that we would like to get done in the April / May time-frame, and we could greatly use both volunteer help and material donations for these projects:

• Treehouse ‘Fort’ Expansion

• Resin Printing Area - Prep/Buildout

• IT Infrastructure Hardening

If you are interested in any of these projects, please leave us a comment in the Google Doc or reach out to snocoleadership@snocomakers.org.Finally, we are attending NW Model Hobby Expo to expand our community outreach and try to attract new members. We will be showcasing 3D-printed RC forklifts, and this will also count as a practice dry-run for GeekFest this summer, where we aim to have a bigger display including RC excavators, a skid steer and dump truck as well. We will be building these future RC vehicles as a community build event as well. If you have anything hobby-related that you'd like to show off at our booth, or if you have business cards that you’d like to set out for networking purposes, please let us know by Thursday, April 10th. 

In partnership,

The board @ SnoCo Makerspace