Introducing MakerBuddies

Discussion
1

MakerBuddies

MakerBuddies partner with other members to help them feel welcome and supported in the Space. This is a great way to support the community, and volunteer as part of your journey towards getting shutter access.

MakerBuddies can:

  • Tell their Buddy when they are going to be in the Space, and invite them to come along
  • Offer to help with a project
  • Suggest a project to do together

Becoming a Buddy

  • Any member can volunteer to be a MakerBuddy
  • Join the MakerBuddies group on discourse (see the screenshot below)
  • Look out for new member intros and respond with an offer to Buddy
  • Look out for discussion and project postings and offer to assist as a Buddy
  • Send a message to your Buddy(s) telling them when you are going to the Space

image

Request a Buddy

  • Post a request in the Discussion category
    OR
  • Identify a member that you would like to buddy with and then see if they are in the MakerBuddies group. If they are, send them a Direct Message.
6 Likes
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@welcome - any comments before I go public?

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Looks great. I love the low level of admin of it too

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Maybe you could mention that some people might feel a little intimidated to come to the space alone to start with and the maker buddy idea could help with that.

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I really like the idea and I am sure, I would’ve enjoyed that a lot when I first started. I also hope it will bring our community a bit closer together. Other than that - go for it. :+1:

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@Julia - do we have any stats to fill in " Did you know, over half of the current membership joined in the last xxxxx months?"

If not, I’ll just take that out.

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Hi Brendon, great copy!

I would move Tell their Buddy when they are going to be in the Space, and invite them to come along to the first bullet point, as it’s the simplest, low commitment way to participate.

I would love This is a great way to support the community, and volunteer as part of your journey towards getting shutter access. to earlier in the block, to after MakerBuddies partner with other members to help them feel welcome and supported in the Space.

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Thanks for the good suggestions @slimshelly
Will do when I go public!

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Following the members’ meeting last night, we are now trialling the MakerBuddy programme.
More details at the top of this thread.

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I propose we create a new subtopic within discussion to host the MakerBuddies posts. This would allow folks to customize their notification settings around it. Thoughts?

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Yes, I agree, a separate subtopic would be best.

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Happy to add the new category and move posts into there.

Do we want this to be private or public?

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A post was split to a new topic: MakerBuddies

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Private = members only, no google index?
If so, yes, please.

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Done.

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Wouldn’t this be a nice thing for prospective members to see? Adds to the community feel of the makerspace I think. What’s the reason for going behind the private wall!?

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Just guessing, maybe private, because the public pages are being indexed by robots?

But I share your view, it would be nice for all Discourse users to see the MakerBuddies and get inspired and then maybe to join?

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Yes, exactly this. Especially if you’re wanting to learn something. I think Makerspaces can be quite daunting for complete beginners, especially given some of the discussions that happen on discourse, this is a nice way to soften that language and encourage complete beginners to get into making. I love the idea of sharing knowledge for the sake of sharing, without expecting anything back.

Really great initiative @Brendon_Hatcher, hopefully this catches on and evolves to suit the SLMS community :slight_smile:

2 Likes