Sep 9, 2019 1:46 PM

Nation of Makers

*It's a press release.

Nation of Makers -

It's hard to believe the summer has come to an end. At Nation of Makers, we've had an equally busy and restful few months of summer, and we've got lots to share with you in our annual end-of-summer newsletter.

Are you already missing NOMCON? Check out our NOMCON 2019 recap, then save the dates for NOMCON 2020 - June 5-7, 2020 - in beautiful Eugene, OR!

Or perhaps you're looking for an impactful maker project to get started with - something that might change the face of solar energy, or help NASA grow food beyond earth? If so, we've got you covered, with some exciting partnerships that YOU and your organization can get involved with today.

And speaking of getting involved, WE NEED YOU! Did you know our 2019 Annual Survey of Makerspaces is kicking off in just about a month? Whether you're a hackerspace, makerspace, biospace, or unnamed type of space, whether you're in a school, a library, a warehouse, or a basement, we want YOU (both leaders, AND your members) to participate. Read below to learn more about the survey and how you can get involved, and join us for our next all-community call on September 16th for an Annual Survey Q&A.

As always, keep MAKING a difference in your communities, large and small,

Thank you to everyone who participated in NOMCON, Nation of Makers' annual convening. Attended by 350 maker leaders from 198 different maker organizations from 37 states and 3 countries, NOMCON 2019 in Chattanooga, TN, was a great success.

Thanks to the sponsorship of Chimera Creators, the Chattanooga Visitor's Bureau, and the work of R. Porter Films & Kelly Lacy of Make Beautiful Co, we were able to capture all of our IGNITE talks and Keynotes on film. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see all of our NOMCON footage, including this great NOMCON 2019 video recap:

Building on the great success of NOMCON 2019, we're looking forward to NOMCON 2020. We're excited to implement the great suggestions and feedback from our previous NOMCONs into next year's event, and starting in October, we look forward to sharing with you even more ways you can get involved with and ready for next year's event now! Be sure to read our October newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to stay in the know, and

Mark your Calendars for NOMCON 2020!

June 5-7, 2020
Eugene, OR

Staffing Changes at Nation of Makers

This month, we're sharing some news of staff changes here at Nation of Makers. As of mid-September, our fabulous Program Manager, Jade Garrett, will be leaving us to pursue some new opportunities, and the ever wonderful Tim Bailey, who many of you know as NOMCON volunteer wrangler extraordinaire, will be joining Nation of Makers as a contractor for our partnership with the U.S. Dept of Energy. While Jade will be physically leaving us, and we're sad to see her go, she has assured us that she's looking forward to remaining a vibrant part of our community, and we're holding her to it!

Wishing you all the best, Jade, and welcome to the team in this new capacity, Tim!

YOU can help us Make the Data!

The Nation of Makers Metrics of Impact/Data Working group has been working on refining and improving our Annual Survey of Makerspaces. The working group met at Open Works in Baltimore on Saturday, August 31 for Nation of Makers' data retreat - a long and focused, productive day of finalizing the questions for the 2019 Survey of Makerspaces. We have synthesized a lot of community input to make changes that will make the surveys more accurate, robust, and reflective of the makers we serve. We're looking forward to releasing this year's survey in October, and are eager for it to reach makerspaces far and wide - whether you're a hackerspace, makerspace, biospace, or unnamed type of space, whether you're in a school, a library, a warehouse, or a basement, we want YOU (both leaders, AND your members) to participate! The data we gather through this important instrument will provide a longitudinal view of the maker movement within the breadth of makerspaces, and allow Nation of Makers and our entire community to garner important insights into the activities of makerspaces. From providing crucial data points to demonstrate the impact of the maker movement (helpful when you're writing grants), to insights that will allow Nation of Makers to see the areas in which makerspaces have the greatest need (and that we can provide the greatest support), the annual survey helps support the amazing work that we all do, across the country, through making. Our working group is excited to share the results of the ongoing survey at MakeTheData.org. Our focus is to present you with helpful insights, and useable graphics, tables and content. If there are specific topics that you would like to see posts written on, please reach out on the #dataworkinggroup channel in our Slack workspace, OR contact us via the form on the MakeTheData.org web site. We look forward to making the data with you!

Nation of Makers All-Community Call

Join us for our next Nation of Makers All-Community call on Monday, September 16. The topic of our next meeting is the 2019 Annual Survey of Makerspaces. We'll be sharing some of our findings from the 2018 survey, so come with your questions and feedback! We'll also be sharing some information about NOMCON 2020 and giving general Nation of Makers updates. Hope to see you and hear from you on the 16th!

Date/Time: Sep 16, 2019 08:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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Join Nation of Makers at the American-Made Solar Prize Finale!

Who will win the Solar Prize at Solar Power International? If you’re attending Solar Power International (SPI) in Salt Lake City this year, you can see history in the making!

On Tuesday, September 24 at SPI, the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory will give away $500,000+ in cash prizes to each of two winners in the first round of the Solar Prize. After months of competition, the top teams will present their final pitches to a panel of industry judges from 9-11 a.m., announcing winners at 5 p.m. at a special “Power Hour” event hosted by Powerhouse during SPI’s Beers with Peers happy hour.

Learn more and RSVP now to see and get connected to the next wave of solar innovators as they make their big debut. We hope to see you there!

Additionally, the American-Made Solar Prize is also simultaneously running its second round of the $3 million American-Made Solar Prize. Competitors will again have access to a diverse and powerful support network that leverages the expertise of national laboratories, energy incubators, and other resources across the United States. If you're a makerspace or maker organization that is interested in being a facility or service provider for Round 2, please email [email protected] and let us know!

Locations Needed for Solar Prize Engage Events!

As Round 1 of the American-Made Solar Prize Challenge wraps up at SPI, and Round 2 is going strong, we're getting ready to kick off Round 3 with even more cash prizes! To help spread the word about the Solar Prize and facilitate team formation, a series of 1-2 day events will be held around the country starting this fall. Do you have a venues to host these events and a community that would be excited to learn more about the Solar Prize Challenge? Fill our the form here ASAP to show your interest: https://forms.gle/4imHJEdyvcduteYr6 Please email Tim Bailey ([email protected]) if you cannot reach the form or have questions after submitting.

Congratulations to the SBA MaTCH Pilot Winners!

Congratulations to the twelve Small Business Administration MaTCH (Makerspace Training, Collaboration and Hiring) Pilot winners! We're happy to support your spaces as you continue to spur American innovation and the workforce of tomorrow! For the official press release, please see: https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-newsroom/press-releases-media-advisories/acting-administrator-pilkerton-announces-makerspace-training-collaboration-and-hiring-match-pilot

Seed Winners:
• Forge Greensboro Community Makerspace (Greensboro, NC) – Awarded $25,000
• The Fab Lab Puerto Rico (Gurabo, PR) – Awarded $25,000
• Rightfully Sewn (Kansas, City, MO) – Awarded $25,000

Proof of Principle Winners:
• Monadnock Art X Tech (MAxT) (Peterborough, NH) – Awarded $100,000
• Net Positive, The Foundry (Buffalo, NY) – Awarded $100,000
• RUCKUS Makerspace (Indianapolis, IN) – Awarded $100,000

Scale Winners:
• Workshops for Warriors (San Diego, CA) – Awarded $150,000
• New Jersey Institute of Technology Makerspace (Newark, NJ) – Awarded $125,000
• The Clubhouse Network (Roxbury, MA) – Awarded $100,000
• NextFab (Philadelphia, PA) – Awarded $100,000
• Vocademy (Riverside, CA) – Awarded $100,000
• Fab Lab Tulsa (Tulsa, OK) – Awarded $50,000

Help NASA in their mission of deep space travel by re-imagining the ways edible plants are grown in space!

The Growing Beyond Earth Maker Contest is a three-year multidisciplinary endeavor to leverage the ingenuity of minds throughout the nation to reinvent the systems used to grow edible plants on the International Space Station and beyond. As NASA looks toward a long-term human presence beyond low Earth orbit, they face specific science, technology, engineering, and mathematics challenges related to space crop production. Through this contest, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden aims to harness the creativity and talent within their local community and throughout a national network of makerspaces to address those challenges, which include (1) how to efficiently use three-dimensional plant growing space aboard spacecraft, (2) how to maintain plants without human intervention, and (3) how to design a fully automated robotic planting and harvesting system.

The contest consists of two phases and is open to High School, College, and Pro level teams. Five winners from each category will be selected from Phase I to move on to Phase II, and a final team from each category will be chosen to join Fairchild at NOMCON 2020 to showcase their designs during the launch of Year 2.

Entries to the contest will be assessed and judged by NASA engineers and botanists, and winning entries will be considered for implementation on the International Space Station and on future NASA missions!

Visit fairchildgarden.org/Education/GBE-Maker-Contest for more details and instructables.com/contest/BeyondEarth by February 3, 2020 to submit your design.

5th Annual Maker Ed Convening

The Maker Ed Convening is an annual gathering of maker education practitioners from all over the world. This year, Maker Ed will be hosting the event in Pittsburgh, PA, in collaboration with MuseumLab at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. Maker Ed is committed to further exploring last year’s themes—equity, accessibility, and sustainability in maker education—over two full days of sharing, collaboration, and delicious food. Learn more and register to attend at: https://makered.org/convening-2019/

Hey there... Did you know that you can schedule Office Hours directly with our Executive Director?

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CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE YOUR 30 MINUTE CALL WITH DOROTHY TODAY!
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