SparkMacon is a community innovation space equipped with the tools, equipment, and grass-roots education required to convert your idea into a reality. Think of it as a gym membership to exercise your creativity, hands and brain. Our community will serve artisans, technology creatives, and creative tinkers with access to tools and equipment, training, and support for entrepreneurs. In our vision, the space will be equipped with a wood / metal working shop, electronic lab tools and supplies, a laser cutter, engraver, music recording lab, and a professional grade 3D printer giving Macon makers access to tools that would be cost prohibitive to own yourself. Join the Spark Macon project: the movement to build the community and space for grass-roots innovation and art in Macon, GA. Together, we will blend the best of art and technology innovation.
Why should you care?
We believe that supporting creativity and connection between the arts and technology is how we bring the next great ideas to life :
Who are we?
- A group of government, business and community leaders spent almost 9 months exploring the idea of putting a MakerSpace in Macon. From that larger group the small group of "Founders" you see in our team section took the project on. These "Founders" represent many aspects of our community and the desire to bring together and create.
Why are we doing this?
- Part of receiving the full amount from our initial seed grant requires us to be able to show community support through this crowdfunding campaign. We also know that without your support this project will be short lived. We need members and community support from the start to succeed and that is where you come in.
What does your support mean to us?
- With your support we hope to provide a home for the next generation of inventors and creators; support creative hobbies, and provide the resources for those individuals who are ready to create now.
What We Need & What You Get
We want everything we do with SparkMacon to be a two way street. We want members to both give and get from this effort and so should anyone willing to help fund the space. So here are some background on what we need and what we plan to provide:
- The space we secured had an issue around providing ADA access. The landlord graciously agreed to install a lift for us. This did require us to provide for a long term lease where if we don't complete the lease a portion of the lift cost will have to be covered. Funds from this campaign will in part go to cover this cost so we will not have this long term risk.
- While the initial grant will provide for many of the initial tools and resources the space will need, there are many that it won't. Funds from this campaign will go toward expanding our offering to address more needs that the community has outlined in our initial research.
- We hope we have provided perks at all levels for all people no matter their interest. But some of the cool ones are discounted members, Workshop Attendance, T-Shirts, and Invitations to our Grand Opening and Donor Dinner. Not to mention inclusion on our donor walls inside the space.
What are the workshops you ask?
First we plan to hold workshops around 3D printing, laser engraving, woodworking, graphic design, robotics and others that will cover tools and resources inside the space.
But even more special is access to specially arranged workshops from the Macon Arts Alliance Amplify program. These workshops will include topics around marketing, social media, business planning, funding, online business and others.
The Impact
Fostering a Maker City: Why should Silicon Valley have all the fun? We believe that Middle Georgia has the vision and talent to become a center of excellence in art and technology. We look forward to the day that members of our SparkMacon community assume leadership roles in our local economy and start new small businesses. Our SparkMacon community will provide the equipment, tools, and grass-roots training that you need to convert your idea into a reality. SparkMacon will provide hands-on learning opportunities in 3D modeling, marketing, arts, shop skills, running your business, and training for the tools in the space. We believe that our space will help attract top technology talent to Macon, GA. Many of these classes and meet-ups will be led by SparkMacon community members.
Young Makers Program: At SparkMacon, we believe it’s important to help our students be prepared for the economy of the future. This economy will demand that our citizens be innovative, creative and use technology effectively. In our young makers program, we will challenge students to envision and design their own projects. It could be a game, a toy, a mobile app, art, a website or anything they can imagine. Our maker mentors will support the students with coaching, tools training, and resources to help them bring their designs to life in a project based learning experience. We hope to inspire the next generation of makers to love learning and help them be creative and curious.
Growing the Creative Economy: Creativity is contagious. In the SparkMacon community, we encourage artists and artisans to support each other in their crafts. We believe that cross-discipline sharing between artists and technologists will inspire a bold movement of innovation in Macon. Funding and marketing are top concerns to all artists, technology makers, and business owners. Our community will need to grow a culture of leadership and entrepreneurship through education and social meet-ups. All great ideas are the result of extensive focus, ideation, prototyping, measurement and learning from wins and failures. Our space will provide the culture, space, and tools so that you can build, measure, and learn quickly.
Risks & Challenges
Since this effort is being done as a not-for-profit and for the community good, it is being run with very little room for operating below breakeven. Our biggest risk is a lack of interest from makers to become members or support from the community, which would result in a lack of funding to sustain the space.
- We have a small portion of our initial grant funding to use for operating expenses which should allow us enough time to reach sustainability. The founding team spent time at other MakerSpaces and did financial reviews of this effort to ensure we understood our membership numbers.
- Our membership numbers that we need are 80 standard members based on expected expenses, but with support from the community that number could be less.
Other Ways You Can Help
We know not everyone can contribute financially to the effort and that is OK. If you are interested in contributing in a non-monetary way please consider:
- Post on any social media site you are part of about the space and this effort. The more people talking about it the better.
- Tell a friend who might be interested in becoming a member or contributing about the space and the effort. Tell them why you feel the space and effort is important.
- Attend any of the community events we are hosting to show support. We can use hands too!
