Come build and learn at Tam Makers

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Greetings!

We hope you had a wonderful summer. 🙂

Come build cool things and learn new skills at Tam Makers!

Take a class

This fall, we have a great lineup of maker and woodworking classes for you. Course topics range from electronics to laser cutting, hand tools, maker art, wood turning and building an elegant box.

Workshops

Come create your own projects in these weekly workshops:

• Wednesdays 6-9pm: You Can Make It (no loud tools) – NEW!

• Thursdays 6-9pm: You Can Build It (with power tools)

Adult Classes

Learn new skills in these upcoming courses for adults and teens:

• Laser Cutting – Aug. 31 – Sep. 7

• Arduino 101 – Sep. 14 – 21

• CNC Router – Sep. 27 – Oct. 4 – NEW!

• Create an Elegant Box – Oct. 25 – Nov. 15

• Create an Illuminated Wonderbox – Oct. 26 – Nov. 9  – NEW!

No experience necessary. You will join a community of makers who like to create together and learn from each other.

Youth Classes

If you’re a middle-school parent, your kid might like this fun after-school class:

• Maker Art: Create a Haunted House –  Sep. 28 – Nov. 16 – NEW!

Students will build magical worlds with ghosts, witches and other animated creatures — and bring them to life with lights, sounds and motion.

Learn more about these and other fall courses in our Classes page. Be sure to sign up early, before they fill up!

Most classes start at 6pm (except for the youth classes, which start at 3:30pm.) All classes and meetups take place in our new makerspace at Tamalpais High School: 700 Miller Ave, Mill Valley, CA 94941. See map.

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Our next meetup

We invite you to join our next meetup this Wednesday, August 24, from 6 to 9pm.

It’s fun, free and a great way to meet some of the creative makers in our community!

We’ll start at 6pm with tours of our makerspace and demos by community members (you’re welcome to bring and show off your own maker projects). At 6:30pm, we will talk about our fall classes, volunteering and next steps for Tam Makers. At 7:30pm, we will make something fun together and plan a community project for Halloween.

If you plan to come, please RSVP here. Next month’s meetup will be on a Friday, September 23, from 6 to 9pm. If you missed our last meetups, here are the photosslides and video.

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Survey results are in!

To learn what our community thinks of Tam Makers, we ran an online survey from June 9 to August 6, 2016, asking a variety of questions about their interests and our maker programs.

Here are our key findings:

  • All respondents are interested in Tam Makers.
  • Most want to use the makerspace (87%).
  • Most are interested in adult classes (83%).
  • Many want community meetups (57%).
  • Many would consider paying a membership fee (58%).
  • Some are prepared to volunteer for Tam Makers (50%).
  • Some parents are interested in our youth programs (35%).

Here are some of the comments you shared with us:

  • “Thrilled to have a maker space on this side of the bridge!”
  • “An excellent idea. Wonderful use of the school as a community resource.”
  • “It definitely has a community feeling, unlike more commercially motivated makerspaces.”

For more results, read our survey overview (or the full report).

Many thanks to all community members who took the time to share your feedback! We really appreciate your insights, which will help inform our plans for Tam Makers.

We hope to see you at next week’s meetup to discuss all this in person.

For now, we invite you to sign up for classes that interest you — and spread the word in your community. 

Best regards,

Fabrice Florin

Geo Monley

Author: Fabrice Florin

Fabrice Florin is a multimedia innovator who creates unique experiences to inform and engage communities through digital media. He has led the development of many pioneering products and services in news, education and entertainment, working with innovators such as Apple, Macromedia and Wikipedia. He now consults on worthy projects, with a focus on content strategy, community engagement and product development. Fabrice is now working on an interactive art project called the ‘Pataphysical Slot Machine, a community-created poetic oracle created by a collective of artists, engineers, teachers and students based in Mill Valley. He previously worked as movement communications manager at the Wikimedia Foundation, where he managed and edited the Wikimedia blog -- and helped nurture a 'culture of kindness' across online communities.​ Prior to that, he was product manager, leading the development of many new tools for Wikipedia, such as Notifications, Media Viewer and Thanks. His previous ventures include: • NewsTrust.net, a nonprofit social news network, helping folks tell apart fact from fiction • Handtap / GoComics, a wireless content provider for mobile devices • Shockwave.com, a web entertainment site we started at Macromedia • Zenda Studio, award-winning multiplayer game developer • Apple Computer’s Multimedia Lab, a research and development group • Videowest, a producer of rock journalism and entertainment for young adults Read more: http://fabriceflorin.com/about/