Over the last few years, I participated in an exploration of what a Cincinnati Makers Council could look like. The Cincinnati Maker community is connected, but could use centralized support to help build capacity for the existing work happening and create a stronger support system.
The Urban Manufacturing Alliance received some funding to kick off this work and I'm excited to support in the work using the budgeted amount for Graphic and Website support for technical support overall. I have a background in providing technical support for communities over the years.
I have a history of operating initiatives where part of the establishment of the initiative involves developing a branding development using the help of volunteers (Precious Plastic, The Remake Project, Cincy Knows Best and others). I work with a variety of online platforms like Catch-a-fire and wemakechange.org for finding volunteers. Because I have a strong background in finding and managing volunteers, I am confident in my approach that can save the council money and get us on a better footing for the sustainability of the council.
Saving $6000+ to support IT Infrastructure and other Expenses
We have the benefit of not needing a physical home initially for the Cincinnati Makers Council because the work is in creating infrastructure for makers so supporting a digital workspace is key to create consistency. A good organized and practical workspace helps with team communications, project management, helps keep comms in one place. To support that, I suggest rethink the budget to support that workspace as those expenses come up - See how I am thinking through that scenario here.
Some potential expenses we can afford if we move forward with this approach:
Ecosystem Mapping Tool
A reference to explain the value and the process- https://ecosystembuilderhub.com/how-to-get-started-mapping-your-entrepreneurial-ecosystem/
Paid Slack Community
We are a working group that doesn't have a physical workspace so having a virtual one is key to helping us accomplish our goals. Slack is a workspace that works in collaboration with tools the working group is already using like Google Drive.
Thanks for reading - Cyrina