Complementing and Collaborating, Coworking and Makerspaces

This post is the first in a series of how coworking facilities and makerspaces can complement each other and collaborate on issues and events of common interest. Today's short post is primarily to get people thinking of all how the two types of facilities can work well together and coexist in ways beneficial to both.

Although the topic of this post can apply to pretty much any adjacent, colocated or nearby coworking facility and makerspace, much of my focus will be on The Avenue HQ coworking space and the new DHMN makerspace (Distributed Hacker/Maker Network), both of which are located at 120 N. Morrison Street in downtown Appleton, Wisconsin, USA.

Both organizations are aiming at somewhat the same entrepreneurial, participant-driven and collaborative culture and atmosphere. Participants of either space are welcome to wear ties and suits if they want, but a majority of people in both spaces will likely be dressed more informally. Both groups will have some people trying to make progress toward a well-defined goal, such as building a talking telepresence robot or making their first million dollars of profit within the next two years. Other participants will have a more ambiguous objective, such as learn a new programming language, or create a new revenue stream for their company.

As a yet-to-be-fully-launched enterprise, The Avenue HQ is a joint effort between IDEAco and Willems Marketing with fantastic plans for creating a new entrepreneurial culture in downtown Appleton. If you're at all interested in the concept of coworking, find the time to connect with one of the founders of The Avenue HQ and learn more about the space. They're ready to sign up tenants and are finalizing the design of the space on the first floor of the Willems Marketing building.

As another yet-to-be-fully-operating space, the DHMN makerspace is open to 'makers' of all different types, and can be thought of as a community workshop. We hope to have the space fully operational in early May. One of our taglines is "Making Art, Creating Technology, Inspiring Community." We have knitters, authors, roboticists, model rocket builders, electricians, engineers, programmers and other types of artisans and builders of 'stuff.' We're always looking for more of the above types of people and for members with different skills and interests.

The demographics of people attracted to coworking facilities and makerspaces have lots of commonalities. In future installations of this series, I'll look at some of those common interests.

To learn about or to obtain a space at The Avenue HQ, go to their Contact webpage.

To join the DHMN makerspace and have 24/7 access to the space, go to the DHMN Membership webpage and become a Full Member today!

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