December 2021

Our Annual Meeting in December saw a changeover in just two of our Area Lead positions, while continuity is important I fear that the small change was related more to a shallow pool of interest in positions of responsibility at MakeICT.  I want to commend our Area Leads, past and present, on the work that they do to keep our shops stocked and usable, without their work MakeICT will grind to a halt.
Leadership at MakeICT is thin gravy with 3 of our board also serving as Area Leads and most of the rest of the board sitting on multiple committees.  Committees remain critically understaffed while our membership continues to grow and our building has regular use.  Leadership, Committee and Area Lead work is important to the continued operation of MakeICT but it can feel daunting and frankly grinding when little back up is present.  I want to challenge you to become more involved in MakeICT in 2022: visit a committee meeting, volunteer for an event, talk to an Area Lead about how you can help make their life easier, run for a Leadership position, attend a board meeting. 
 

Finance Run Down

November Anticipated Budgeted Operating Cost: $8,189

November Actual Operating Cost: $9,019

Variance: -$830

Largest Reason for Variance:

Added expenses for area maintenance

Additional $284 per month partitioned for Possible Future IRS debts

October Membership Income: $11,309

End result for the month, $2,696 added to reserves.

Loan Progress

Of the $45,000 loan that was pulled to pay for the electrical work in February, we have  $25,000 left to pay off.  That’s just 13 months more of payments.  Please note that five members have their personal finances tied to this loan.  Our monthly loan payments are an effort to remove the risk associated with being a guarantor on the loan.  Paying off our loan from American State Bank in a timely manner also establishes to the Wichita financial community that MakeICT is a safe financial risk which opens the door for us to access funding in the future.  If you would like to donate to help pay off the loan sooner, please fill out a donation slip at the welcome desk and title the donation ‘electrical loan donation’ or go to https://makeict.wildapricot.org/donate

Fundraiser Progress

Current Fundraisers have been met!

However, the sooner we pay off the last of that $45,000 loan, the sooner we can start making bigger and better changes to MakeICT!

Keep an eye out for future fundraisers as we continue to improve the building and equipment for our awesome members!

Donations

Donations are an important source of income for MakeICT and allow us to make extra budgetary decisions such as: new machinery for the shops and purchasing a deeper reserve of backup consumable supplies. If making a contribution to MakeICT is on your mind, there are a few ways you can make that happen.
 

The preferred method for donating to MakeICT is a written check, money order or cash in a donation envelope.  The secure blue donation box behind the welcome desk (moving to the East wall of the Entryway soon!) is always available to take your donation or in the case of a Check or MoneyOrder you can mail it directly to:

Treasurer

℅ MakeICT

5920 E Mt. Vernon St.

Wichita, KS       67218-4628.   
 

You can also donate directly to MakeICT by going to  https://makeict.wildapricot.org/donate which may take setting up a paypal account and will deduct a service fee from your donation.

Please contact the appropriate Area Lead first before making an Equipment or Material donation.  The area leads may not be able to accept every donation, but the leads are well connected with the maker community and could definitely point you towards another group or community that may be in need in those situations. 

Remember that by whatever method you donate to MakeICT by your donation is tax deductible.
 

It’s Easy to Set Up MAKEICT as Your Designated 

Dillons Community Rewards Charity, Here’s how:

Are you already getting fuel points when you shop at Dillons?  You can get even more out of your shopping experience by setting MakeICT as your preferred Community Reward recipient.  The steps can be found on the following link even if you do not have a digital account yet:

https://www.dillons.com/i/community/community-rewards

Amazon Smile Is An Important Revenue Source for MakeICT, Supporting us Through Amazon is Easy:

Do you already have an amazon account? You don’t need to be a prime member to help MakeICT through Amazon.  Just log into your account through smile.amazon.com and after clicking on ‘Supporting’, search for MakeICT and hit select.  After that, a portion of each purchase you make through smile.amazon.com will go to MakeICT. For more information check out the following link:

https://org.amazon.com/

 

Health and Safety

MakeICT continues to take the Covid-19 pandemic seriously. 
Per the last quarterly meeting, from December 19th until the next board meeting, in accordance with CDC guidelines and in deference to Kansas’s designation as a high risk state, MakeICT is requesting mask wearing while in the makerspace. A mask requirement has been re-introduced for indoor group activities and classes. Signs will be posted as reminders. As always, please wash your hands regularly and stay home if you’re not feeling well.

Featured Maker of the Month - DOUBLE FEATURE!

This will be our last Double Feature of 2021! Next year we may go back to a single member of the month and add a ‘Get To Know Your Area/Committee Lead’ section.

Michael Atherton

Michael is quickly proving himself to be a jack of all trades around the makerspace, from helping to repair and clean the Deckel copy mill to running classes on making R/C airplanes.  His latest journey with jewelry making has even led him into becoming the Jewelry Lead! In his spare time, he is a bit of a D&D fan and can often be found in the lounge playing D&D with other makers.

Aaron Rivers

Aaron has definitely been a mover and groover this year as he helped to get the garden committee going and proved out concepts like ‘solarizing’ the garden to help get rid of the weeds.  His latest endeavors have led him to take over as lead of the Woodshop as Doug Wilson hops over to help run Screen Printing. In his spare time, he is involved with Music Theater Wichita.

Noteworthy Projects of the Month

Being our BEST for Kansas BEST

The jewelry lab is going through a bit of reorganization under the guidance of Michael Atherton, Rustin Atkeisson, and Paula Pankratz.  Equipment is being cleaned up, repaired, and reorganized for better usage as we get even more exciting classes on the calendar for 2022!  The new area lead (Michael Atherton) has even been going through the paces of casting and creating ornate jewelry pieces from sand sized silver pearls!


 

Other Happenings - Equipment Upgrades have Begun!

Maker Business

Are you a member and own or manage a business?  Let us know and we'll talk about doing an article about your business in the next newsletter!

Wichita Steel Arts

Alberto Sosa can often be found knocking out projects on the laser cutters, but during the day he runs Wichita Steel Arts. His shop specializes in creating artwork with deep meanings but also does welding and repair work for local businesses.  Currently, his artwork plays with shadows. Depending on how you look at his latest art, the engraving on the wood frame will line up with the outline of the sculpture. To see more of his artwork and projects he not only has a Facebook page and website, he also has a Tik Tok account @WizardSculptor that he actively curates.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wichitasteelarts.net

Website: https://wichitasteelarts.com/

Tic-Toc: https://www.tiktok.com/@wizardsculptor?

2022 Area Leads

Ceramics

Patrick Hutchison
(sub lead: Scott Sullivan)

Preferred contact:
ceramics@makeict.org

Electronics Lab

James Seymour
(sub lead: Rustin Atkeisson)

Preferred contact: erp@makeict.org

or directly at james.a.seymour@makeict.org

Fabrication (Fab) Lab

Steve Saner
(sub-lead: Christian Kindel)

Preferred contact: steve.saner@makeict.org

Jewelry

Michael Atherton
(sub lead: Rustin Atkeisson)

Preferred contact:
michael.atherton@makeict.org

Metalshop

Rustin Atkeisson
(sub leads: John Miranda, James (Jimmy) Tennant)

Preferred contact:
metalshop@makeict.org

Screen Printing

Doug Wilson

Preferred contact:
doug.wilson@makeict.org

Textiles

Malissa Long
 

Preferred Contact:
malissalongwilson@gmail.com

or 512-712-3495

Woodshop

Aaron Rivers
 

Preferred Contact:
Aaron.rivers@makeict.org

or squarenuts on the MakeICT forum

Upcoming Community Events

Artist INC Presents What Works - Wichita

@Harvester Arts

Jan 6th (6pm to 7pm)

This workshop will focus on the habits and behaviors of successful artists and what it took to get there.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1038565440262702/?ti=ls

Monday Night Art Fight Winter Slam

@ Norton’s Brewing Company

Jan 10th, (5pm to 11pm)

The art challenge starts at 6:30pm as a group of artists duke it out in 3 rounds of speed painting.  Each round is 30 minutes long and ultimately one winner will be picked by a panel of judges!

https://www.facebook.com/events/445657727205578/?ti=ls

2022 Cars for Charities Rod and Custom Car Show

@Century II

Jan 14th (Noon to 9pm), Jan 15th (10am to 9pm), Jan 16th (10am to 5pm)

Come check out the more than 300 cars from across the midwest at Century II!  There will even be a kids area for kids to build models, bounce around, and take pictures with cartoon characters.

https://www.visitwichita.com/event/2022-cars-for-charities-rod-%26-custom-car-show/33248/?fbclid=IwAR1uIGDhiJ7_9GCcxPWVf9TkT0CN7N0zo4gJdnU8Pf2l3nWVgsQMdQdSRsQ

2022 Sundance Film Festival 

@Liberty Hall in Lawrence, KS

Jan 28, 2022 at 8 AM to Jan 30, 2022 at 11:45 PM

Come check out this curated list of films meant to engage the local community.

https://www.facebook.com/events/591676042174133/?ti=ls

January Classes and Events

Keep an eye on the calendar at http://makeict.org/calendar/ for the complete lineup of classes and events, but below are some of the bigger or higher demand events coming up for the month.
 

Jan 1st

Happy 2022!

Jan 2nd to 8th

Mon Jan 3rd (6pm) - SilverSmithing with Michael Atherton

                      (6pm) - Basic Transistor Class with James Seymour

                      (7pm) - Fundraising Committee Meeting with Ethan Doak

Tues Jan 4th (6pm) - Ceramics Night

                       (6:30pm) - Laser Cutter Group Meeting

Thurs Jan 6th (6:30pm) - Thursday Night CAD (CNC group) with Steve Owens

                         (8pm) - Classroom Committee Meeting with LaDeana Dockery

Fri Jan 7th (7pm) - Game Night

Sat Jan 8th (11am-2pm) - Makerspace Cleanup day

                     (2:30pm) - Member Orientation

                     (3pm) - Wichita LUG (Linux Users Group) Meeting

Jan 9th to 15th

Mon Jan 10th (6pm) - Basic Electronics with James Seymour

                        (6pm) - Area Leads Meeting

                        (7pm) - Maker Monday

Tues Jan 11th (7pm) - Lathe Basics with Rustin Atkeisson

Wed Jan 12th (6pm) - Inventory Committee Meeting

                        (6:30pm) - 3d Printer Club Meeting with Christian Kindel

                        (7pm) - Metalshop Safety with Rustin Atkeisson

Thurs Jan 13th (6:30pm) - Thursday Night CAD (CNC group) with Steve Owens

Fri Jan 14th (7pm) - Game Night

Sat Jan 15th (7pm) - Game Night

Jan 16th to 22nd

Mon Jan 17th (6pm) - Line Following Robot with James Seymour

                        (6pm) - SilverSmithing with Michael Atherton

                        (7pm) - Mill Basics with Rustin Atkeisson

Tues Jan 18th (6pm) - Member Orientation

                         (6pm) - Ceramics Night

                         (6:30pm) - Laser Cutter Group Meeting

Wed Jan 19th (6pm) - Inventory Committee meeting with Anna DiSalvo

                        (6:30pm) - 3d Printer Club Meeting with Christian Kindel

Thurs Jan 20th (6:30pm) - Thursday Night CAD (CNC group) with Steve Owens

                           (7pm) - Board Meeting

Sat Jan 22nd (3pm) - Wichita LUG (Linux Users Group) Meeting

                       (7pm) - Game Night

Jan 23rd to 29th

Mon Jan 24th (6pm) - Basic Electronics with James Seymour

                        (7pm) - Maker Monday

Tues Jan 25th (7pm) - Metalshop Safety with Rustin Atkeisson

Thurs Jan 27th (6:30pm) - Thursday Night CAD (CNC group) with Steve Owens

Jan 30th to 31st

Mon Jan 31st - Oscilloscopes with James Seymour

Adventures with the VP - Fun in the Sun and a Bit of Christmas Tradition

With much zealousness, I had the chance to visit my home town of Phoenix Arizona this month! It was a great chance to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in decades, as well as do some adventuring during Fuel Fest, and catch up with nature hiking along the Camelback mountains (gotta love double black diamond hikes), but one of the last stops gave me a chance to check out a new makerspace in town called Phoenix Forge.

Phoenix Forge has had their doors open since about March of this year, but in that short amount of time they have already grown to 350 members in their 22,000 sq ft downtown building servicing a metropolitan area of nearly 5 million people.  Surprisingly, they still have a few areas they have yet to open to the public, including a ceramic studio and purpose built storage area.  While other areas that were open are still awaiting some equipment (like a pair of CNC machines for the metalshop).  It was a bit surprising to see that they had their electronics lab, textiles, laser cutters, as well as jewelry labs in the same large room, but at the same time it seemed to follow the vibe of MakeICT with those areas requiring less authorization than the metalshop and woodshop that were kept in separate rooms.  One strong trend I saw throughout all the areas was the organization of their hand tools in either a lockable cabinet at the corresponding table, or behind the counter at their welcome desk.  After the tour with Amy, it sounded like these efforts to stay organized served multiple purposes - not only to reduce theft and loss, but also to help keep track of the condition of tools and equipment.

I am excited to see how the Phoenix Forge continues to grow and evolve in the years to come.  There are a few parallels between MakeICT and Phoenix Forge in terms of size and areas they offer but with a metropolitan area that is about 8 times larger than Wichita’s, it will be interesting to see what challenges they face from a larger population.

(From Mesa Plaza in Arizona)

Now it’s hard to finish off this newsletter without putting a little bit of holiday tradition in.  One that has become a big tradition for me is building a birdhouse for my mom the night before our big Christmas get together.  In a way it’s a bit of a continuation of last minute Christmas shopping my dad started ages ago to get my sister and me out of the house for an evening.  However, my tradition goes from getting my mom some quiet time, to taking my time to make her a special gift from the scraps of other projects I’ve made over the past years.  The last minute gift part does make it a bit of a fun challenge.  Only having one evening to build a birdhouse limits the techniques I can use in a gift that she will end up painting and staining herself (she enjoys that part), and well, also forces me to clean up my shop before and after the project.  Still, the final birdhouse comes out completely different each year given what scraps I can pull together and somehow comes out a little nicer each year quality wise. 

 

Until next time, happy making!

-Rustin Atkeisson (VP)