What are Makerspaces?

What is a Makerspace? A Panel Discussion on Sharing Tools, Knowledge & Space

FIND OUT WHAT A MAKERSPACE can be and do with our panel of crafters, hackers, and inventors who manage spaces that foster play, learning, and experimentation with a variety of tools. Makerspaces are part of DIY culture and embrace cross-pollination amongst different kinds of crafting, building, and designing, with a pro-technology attitude. Are they the playroom of future engineers and designers? An incubator for next generation manufacturing? A place to build confidence, skills, and community? Join us!

WHO:  
Speakers:

Alex Leitch, Co-Founder and Executive Director at Toronto’s Site3 coLaboratory: Alex’s talents span arts management, web development, sculpting, building things that throw flames, and public speaking, often about girls and women in the worlds of technology and making. Site3’s member projects also frequently involve fire . . . as do their toilets. Alex designs gallery intranet information architecture for the Art Gallery of Ontario, is an OCAD student in the Digital Futures Initiative, and is on the board of directors at Dames making Games.

James Arlen, Founder at Hamilton’s ThinklHaus: James is an Infosec[urity] geek, hacker, social activist, author, speaker, and parent. Currently a senior consultant at Leviathan Security Group, he has been involved with implementing a practical level of information security in Fortune 500, TSE 100, and major public-sector corporations for 18+ years. James is also a contributing analyst with Securosis and has a recurring column on Liquidmatrix Security Digest. His areas of interest include organizational change, social engineering, blinky lights and shiny things. ThinklHaus creates a space in which Hamilton reclaims its title as “the Ambitious City”.

 Andy Forest, Co-Founder and Chief Instigator at Toronto’s MakerKids: Andy is a lifelong tinkerer and head of curriculum development, having overseen and taught the majority of MakerKids classes and events. MakerKids empowers all kids to be makers in electronics, woodworking, sewing, crafting, cooking, programming, 3D printing, hacking, tinkering and making of all kinds! Andy is an online communication architect and has been the Founder and Creative Director of Dimentians, a web development and marketing company, for 18 years.

WHERE :
Market Hall

WHEN:
October 17, 2013, Doors 7PM, Talk 7:15PM

REGISTER:
www.ptboinnovationtalks.eventbrite.ca

A makerspace is a place where people come together to create and collaborate, to share resources, knowledge, and space. (A related phenomenon, “hackerspaces” are based on the notion that hackers take things apart and make something new). Makerspaces are about creating opportunities for people to understand how things we use work, including technology, and encouraging them to experiment and make for themselves. Makerspaces are springing up all over the world in underused industrial buildings, university campuses, libraries, schools, and in small and large cities alike.