The 43,000 square feet of workshops, labs and art studios that make up Grand Rapids Michigan’s The Geek Group is any makers dream workspace. It’s fully stocked with just about any type of equipment that you could need to work on your project and has an enthusiastic and engaged community to support you. And you don’t have to live in Grand Rapids to be part of it.
Makerspaces, or as they used to be called hackspaces, started as a way for the hobbyist maker to have access to equipment that under normal circumstances they would never be able to afford. By forming a collective of like minded tinkerers contributing an equal amount of money and time, these hackspaces learned that they could afford to have a workshop with any equipment that they needed, they would just have to share. But something funny happened when they started to use these new community workshops. What once was a way to connect with a few dozen like minded makers quickly became a way to bring together thousands of like minded makers. Many of the original and largest hackspaces still operate today, and many of the pioneers of the modern 3D printing industry built their first printers within them. Makerspaces became more than a clubhouse, they became a hot spot for emergent technology and exciting new startups and business models.
As with most makerspaces, The Geek Group offers its members access to the facilities equipment, tools and workshops for a modest monthly fee. The makerspace has a fully stocked machine shop complete with multiple CNC stations, computers with the latest CAD design software, a full arts and crafts area, a painting and finishing booth, a full auto shop, a complete laser lab and a full rapid prototyping department with six Afinia 3D printers and a Dimension Stratasys 3D printer. The place is so massive that there is actually very little that they don’t have. But as with most large, modern makerspaces, they offer their members something more. The Geek Group has a willing and helpful community to help each other with their projects, offer advice or even just a supportive word. But unlike most makerspaces, The Geek Group isn’t content keeping that community to itself.
“Our members span the globe. We have a lot of members in the UK and Australia, and even have members in Bulgaria, Scandinavia, and Brazil,” Explained The Geek Group’s Executive Director Lis Bokt in a recent interview with Afinia. “Distant members get access through videos, the live streams we broadcast, and the benefit to having access to other members. We have various methods of communication set up for them, including a live chat room with a couple of hundred people at any given moment. So, for example, if there is a member building something in Bulgaria, s/he can still work with people in the US and get their input and advice.”
It seems that global outreach and education is a big part of the culture of the makerspace, and all of their excellent video content is produced in-house and put up on YouTube for free for everyone to use. Yes, they even have a full audio and visual production studio on premises. You can find an entire training series on CNC machining, electronics, woodworking and tons of videos documenting their members accomplishments and highlighting their events. Like their most recent 3D Printing Party:
Membership is pretty reasonable as well. I’ve heard of makerspaces charging as much as $100 a month, but Geek Group members only have to pay $40 a month for access to all of the equipment, digital content and workspaces. If you are not local but want access to the digital content, you can pay $20 a month, and this also grants you access to the physical space for ten hours a month that you can use when you’re in town.
While there is inherently something missing from a global makerspace, it does have its own benefits. You may not be able to see your neighbors projects in person, and they may not be able to see yours, however they can offer you the perspective of someone on the other side of the planet from you. While being part of a like minded community can be inspiring and supportive, it can also become a little insular. But expanding that community and inviting in points of view and perspectives from people in other communities can give you feedback that you never would have been able to receive before. Education isn’t always about having access to information, sometimes you need that information filtered through someone else. A diverse workspace is a better workspace, and it doesn’t get any more diverse than the entire planet.
You can find out more about The Geek Group on their website, connect to them on Facebook, and find them on YouTube. And if you’re local to the Geek Group and want to take a tour of the facility they have a free weekly General Tour every Saturday from 12:30 to 1:30.
