I’ve written up my experiences at a leadership training class for OpenStack in Ann Arbor this summer. You can read more on the OpenStack blog.
We also had the opportunity to tour a maker space close to the training center, Ann Arbor’s Maker Space, and wow, it is neat. Comparable to a monthly gym membership model, they provide large woodworking and metalworking and industrial sewing and crafting machines for a daily or monthly fees or full memberships. Staff members are available for training, and each station comes with documentation. You can store large and small projects in progress so you don’t have to lug your work back and forth.
Tom Root, a Miami University graduate like me, started the space during the financial crisis in 2008. He has a vision of uniting a community of young people who need and want vocational and trade education with the experienced workers in the community who may have lost their traditional manufacturing jobs but have a lot of knowledge and experience to pass on. The Midwesterner in me knows that this type of collaborative space makes so much sense.
I was so inspired by the woodworking shop I decided to come home, buy some mesquite wood, and mimic some window treatments I’d seen on Fixer Upper for my own living room.
Here are some photos from our tour of the 11,000 square foot Ann Arbor Maker Space.
