2013 Annual Member Survey Results!

Feedback and constructive criticism can be great tools for planning and managing any sort of endeavor.  Gauging the interests, concerns, and opinions of our group can help us make better decision on how to spend time and money as well as working with each other and the community.  Last month we asked our members to take a survey and share their thoughts with us.  Why do people come to Milwaukee Makerspace?  What do they do here?  What would they like to see more of?  What can we do better?  44 members responded (or about 39% of the total group) and after spending some time slaving over spreadsheets, we published the results.

Two of the biggest questions we asked survey-takers were: 1) What do you come to Milwaukee Makerspace for? and 2) What is important to you?  The following results can be found in our 19 page report, available for download here:  http://wiki.milwaukeemakerspace.org/_media/2013_annual_mms_member_survey.pdf

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Laser Cut Safety Lock-Out Tags

Lock-out tags are used by factory workers to clearly identify broken or damaged equipment.  Milwaukee Makerspace is no exception.  A set of stop sign-shaped, 3″ wide, 3/16″ thick, red plastic tags have been created with the words “STOP – NEEDS REPAIR” in bold, white letters.  Tags are hanging over the first aid file cabinet by the light switches in the Workshop.  If you find a machine is out of service, please zip-tie a tag to the machine, preferably over its ON/OFF switch so people can easily spot it and refrain from using a potentially unsafe tool.

Makerspace Organization

It was a banner day at the Makerspace for collaboration and organization. After watching forklift safety training materials with Sean, we drove the new forklift (Thanks, Tom!) around the open bay moving pallets around a bit. I then moved around Sean’s and my storage pallet on the racking. I restacked the lumber and extra bench tops so they were out of the way of the forklift:

The above photo shows the four newly installed pallet rack shelves I brought down from from the upstairs storage. I moved Jason’s audio gear to his very own storage pallet (Sorry!). It also shows the bench tops that Brant and Co. recently cut. I finished screwing these sections together with the new 19.2 V Cordless drill that Ben just donated to the space today. Now the bench tops won’t drop through the racking – They’re 16 feet of usable benches!

I also cleaned up the bay – moving the carbon fiber beams under the new bench tops, and moving the extra batteries, motors, pumps, gears and saw to a pallet on the new section of racking. Only the Pots of Gold and saws remain in the cleaned up bay:

After Brant, Ron and I hung the new 4′ by 4′ pegboard that Rich made, I put the second half of the tools up on the pegboard: