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OBXDIY Makerspace June 2015 Newsletter 

 

News from the Right Hand of the Maker Guy

I am Margaret Sequeira and I am working with Eric as the Director of Operations. Right now that means helping out with whatever needs doing including calendar requests, communications, meeting with people, and teaching a Social Media class.

The month of May has been a busy one at the Makerspace. Check out the updates from our member teams below. In addition to Member events, I offered an Introduction to Social Media Class - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram OH MY! Dawn Church from Hidden Outerbanks says "The folks at hiddenouterbanks.com loved the OBXDIY Social Media 101 class! The instructor, Margaret Sequeira, was very knowledgeable and presented the information in a fun and easy to understand format. We thought we knew some things about social media, but she still showed us a few new, VERY useful tricks that we utilize daily. As fast as things change in the social media world, seems like every small business could benefit from this class." A second class for small business professionals and solo entrepreneurs took place Thursday June 4.

Eric and I also had the pleasure of meeting with John Rorer, Chairman of the local SCORE chapter. If you don't know about SCORE they help people who are interested in starting or are already running a small business in getting concrete practical help from experienced business owners. John posted the June 4 Social Media class and we are hoping for more collaboration in the future as OBXDIY also seeks to help small business and solo entrepreneurs here on the Outer Banks.

We also had our first ever OBXDIY Makerspace member meeting. For those who participated at the space there was pizza and refreshments and we offered the opportunity for others to Skype and call-in. It was a great meeting with lots of energy around potential events, the future of the space including possible expansion and the upcoming Indiegogo campaign. We will be launching our first Indiegogo campaign in the next 4 weeks or so and we are starting small with a campaign to purchase the Fusion F3 F306. Watch your email, our website and Facebook Page for our campaign launch!

We continue to learn and evolve as we go along! Thanks for taking the journey with us!

Make On,

Margaret M. Sequeira
Director of Operations

 

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Membership Team Updates

 

Music Team:  Ruth and Chris Wyand, Mike Dianna

Ruth Wyand has her music school up and running.  She teaches private lessons and classes in guitar, voice, banjo, Ukelele, songwriting and music theory.  The Middle and High School Rock Bands, coached by Ruth, performed at the Mustang Music Spring Jam.  The Mustang Spring Jam is one of the shows put on by Mike Dianna's Mustang Music Outreach (MOP), owner of Mike Dianna’s Grill Room in Corolla.  The concert was at Mike's restaurant and some of us from OBXDIY went up to cheer on the kids.  They did a fantastic job and we're all very proud of them.  Way to go Ruth, Chris, Mike, Ed Tupper, and others for really pulling the stops out with the kids, your hard work really shows in their abundance of talent. 

The band also had a mentor session from People's Blues of Richmond (PBR) on Monday June 1st at OBXDIY.  PBR played the OBX Brewfest the prior Sunday, and Tim, Matt, and Neko stuck around in support of the kids and were front-and-center at OBXDIY Monday evening.  They did a decent set as an intro, the sounds in The Space was great.  Each of them took a group of young musicians to separate rooms after the set and took them through various workshops on how to take both their playing and their teamwork to a new level.  See pictures below.

Keep an eye on the calendar as OBXDIY will most likely host a few summer music camps that Ruth and others have in the works right now that could include themes such as “Songwriting For Little People”,  “Beginner Guitar & Uke”, and “Jazz Band 101”.  It's great working with Ruth, Mike, and all of the people that gravitate towards this high-energy team at OBXDIY Makerspace.

Game Team:  The Factory Boys

Chuck Beatty is an improvisational comedian from the area.  He also is an avid gamer.  Chuck, Sean O'Keefe and others make up the improv troupe The Factory Boys, and they host a monthly board gaming show (Factory Boys Live). Chuck is looking to further his focus to podcasting, voice-over recording, and starting up a video gaming channel.  Oh yeah, go Dolphins, says Chuck!  Eric says Go Redskins!  Chuck and The Factory Boys will be streaming their June 14 event, watch for post-time fun on Youtube.

Fabrication Team:  Eric Holsinger, Mike Campbell

Mike Campbell has been working very hard on wrapping up his 3D printer RepRap Kit project.  Eric and Randy Ferrel from Custom Micro Engineering out of Hampton, Va. have been providing some support in the electronics and micro-controller area.  June should be the month whereby Mike's next-gen 3D printer prototype is up-and-running, we are very excited about it.  As soon as the prototype is working, Mike will be leveraging the Fusion F306 to print a batch of new parts for the kits.  In July, Eric will be ramping up on Arduino-based micro-controllers for 3D printing, and we hope to have a schedule to start building both the printer kits and a 4x8 bed CNC machine.  In the very near future:  you'll be able to buy 3D printer kits at OBXDIY - made at OBXDIY by Mike and the Fab Team.

We expect that, going into August and September, that the Fab Team will be supporting training and demo of fabrication techniques and best-practices through demonstration of methods and machines that include injection molding, CNC, 3D printing, and other techniques that can be valuable to anyone currently practicing or interested in learning modern fabrication techniques.

We hope to have Brian Morgan back on the Fab Team soon, we wish him and his family all the best.

First Flight Robotics Team:  Jack Crouch

We have had our first two meetings in May at the OBX DIY Makerspace and it has been totally awesome!!!!

Team Members are excited to get together – we had a quick admin meeting in the conference room and it made the guys feel really important! We are looking to increase membership and raise funds for our OBXDIY membership and upcoming FLL competition dues for the 2015 season.

Then it was robot making fun, the boys have matured a lot in the last year and got right down to business challenging themselves to program the sensors on both touch sensors and ultrasound sensors on the NXT and the new EV3 versions of the robots. The common theme tonight was to build “Butler Bot” that would help with household chores.

The team was working away and I jumped on the FFL site to see if they had announced the theme for this year’s challenge and they have! I thought this was very serendipitous – the theme is 2015 TRASH TREK!! Read up on it watch the video here.

Huge thanks to the folks at OBXDIY for leading the way with the creation of the Makerspace here – we are really inspired and so glad to be out of my garage!!! 

2015 FLL Challenge Theme Announced: TRASH TREK

We’re not talking trash – we’re cleaning it up! In the 2015 FIRST® LEGO® League TRASH TREK(sm) Challenge, 290,000 children ages 9 to 16 from over 80 countries will explore the fascinating world of trash. From collection, to sorting, to smart production and reuse, there is more to your trash than meets the eye. Join FIRST LEGO League teams on a Trash Trek to discover the hidden (or not so hidden) world of trash!

FIRST LEGO League (FLL®) challenges kids to think like scientists and engineers. During the TRASH TREK(sm) season, teams will choose and solve a real-world trash problem in the Project. They will also build, test, and program an autonomous robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technology to solve a set of missions in the Robot Game. Throughout their experience, teams will operate under FLL’s signature set of Core Values, celebrating discovery, teamwork, and Gracious Professionalism®.

 

 Be Authentic, Be U! (BABU) Starts in June

**Using mixed media art to foster confidence and self-expression (and creating some AWESOME projects!)**

First Camp week is for ages 6-8 June 29-July 3 9:00 - 12:00 (healthy snack provided each day)
$175 per artist

To be "authentic" means to be true to ourselves without a mask in relationships and in life. At BABU art camp, Ms. Morgan encourages the girls to follow their hearts while fostering self-confidence by allowing freedom of expression through art! This summer, we can't WAIT to have our "nature lovin' girls" theme... the artists will use some supplies from nature to create unique projects, while we talk about self-care, peace and respect for themselves and nature. We will paint, weave, create t-shirts, make flower crowns, collage, use textiles, make jewelry and learn new art journaling techniques. With the tough challenges girls face today (bullying, peer pressure, media influences, etc.) it's important to nurture qualities like originality, genuineness and trustworthiness. By using Mixed Media and TONS of unique art supplies, everyone will have so much fun being CREATIVE and will leave with memories and projects to remind them to be AUTHENTIC!
Pre-registration required. Space limited. Please contact Morgan Hollowell at 252.207.6914 or email BeAuthenticBeU@gmail.com for more info or to sign-up!

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June 4 Social Media for Small Business

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Mustang Spring Jam

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MOP Mentor Session

Factory Boys Live:  Pretty, Pretty Princess Board Gaming

4 guys, 1 game, 0 shame...

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OBXDIY Makerspace Calendar Of Events

obxdiy.com/calendar

Here's the next couple of weeks of planned events at The Space, there may be more added during this time period, so remember to check obxdiy.com/calendar before you head out:

• Every Monday night:  Ruth Wyand and Mustang Outreach Program's Youth Rock Band Practice

• 6/4 Social Media for Small Business (afternoon class)

• 6/11  First Flight Robotics Team

• 6/14 Factory Boys Live gaming event

• 6/25 First Flight Robotics Team

• 6/28 Factory Boys Gaming Night: D&D

• 6/29 - 7/3 Be Authentic, Be U! (BABU) ages 6-8 camp

• 7/4 (tentative)  OBXDIY Fusion F306 IndieGoGo Campaign Kickoff Pot Luck

In The Works and Coming Soon

• Friday Night No Alcohol Pot Luck.  If you're interested in running this event for us, contact info@obxdiy.com.

• Open Make Night