Today we’d like to introduce you to Danny Chamberlin.
Hi Danny, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In the middle to late 2000s the “maker movement” had started to propagate around the world. Places like MIT’s FabLab, NYC Resistor in New York, and Pumping Station One in Chicago were places where hackers, artists, engineers, craftsman and creatives of all types would converge to share knowledge, collaborate and provide a place for these people to work on their projects in a supportive environment. In early 2010 several people in Memphis – college students, IT workers and others decided a similar place in Memphis was needed. One of my coworkers at Hilton where I worked at the time knew my interests tilted toward this and invited me to join the initial meetings.
A small group of us consulted with a member of Pumping Station One on creating and running a makerspace and in January 2010, Midsouth Makers was born. We initially didn’t have an actual space of our own, but we had weekly meetings at various locations around town, including CBC, the old Republic Coffee and wherever we could find space. Eventually we worked out a deal with a friend of a group to use a facility over on Freemont St just south of the Kellogg plant. We spent almost a year there, but it was a shared space with the owner and wasn’t really a good fit, so we started looking for a permanent location of our own. We moved into our current location at 2804 Bartlett Road in late 2011/early 2012 and have been there ever since. As I noted, I have been involved with the group since the beginning and have held a position on the board of directors on an off during that time. Currently I am serving as Secretary.
Personally, I am a Memphis native, born an raised here, with a small 10 year detour on the East Coast when I did a stint in the Navy. My interests, like many of us in the maker movement are many and varied, including 3D printing, cosplay, and computers/electronics. A few years ago I went back and completed my Bachelor’s in Computer Science at the University of Memphis. In addition to the Midsouth Makers, I am a board member and former chairman of the oldest Science Fiction/Fantasy convention in the Mid-South, MidSouthCon.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One of the things our mentor from Chicago advised was to have a meeting EVERY WEEK – even without a permanent location, it was important to have the regularity, as that is cornerstone of community building. And, except for the pandemic, we have had a meeting every Friday since 2010 with a very rare handful of exceptions for holidays, scheduling conflicts or illness. Speaking of the pandemic,
I don’t think anything has been smooth in the wake of COVID. I will say that the pandemic really demonstrated the value of the community we have built with Midsouth Makers over the last decade and a half. We had to close our doors to the public for almost 18 months. However, we were still active as a group. When COVID hit, the global supply chain was thrown for a loop trying to keep up with the demand for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like facemasks. In response, makerspaces across the world began cranking out face shields, sewing masks and more to make up the shortfall until the manufacturers could get reoriented and refocused. From a standing start in the space of just 12 weeks, the Midsouth Makers mobilized and started printing, assembling and distributing facemasks to first responders and the medical community throughout the county. In those 12 weeks, we produced over 77,000 face shields. We also supported the Memphis Sewing Guild’s efforts in sewing masks by 3d printing sewing jigs for them
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Midsouth Makers?
Midsouth Makers is an organization for providing a place for artist, engineers, hackers, hobbyists and creatives of all sorts to come together and share knowledge about our various interests, hobbies and skills. Midsouth Makers provides a place for its members to work on their projects with access to the tools and resources needed to bring their ideas to fruition they might not otherwise have – like large format laser cutters, CNC machines, woodworking and metalworking equipment and more. In addition to the physical space, the Makers have an active Discord community open to the public on a wide variety of topics from areas as diverse as combat robotics to gardening to cosplay and more.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
If you’d like to work with Midsouth Makers, send an email to board@midsouthmakers.org, come to one of our weekly open houses every Friday at 7pm at the Makerspace – 2804 Bartlett Rd, Bartlett, TN 38134 or join our Discord at https://discord.gg/AjUdR36Jur
Pricing:
- Membership Dues $45/month
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.midsouthmakers.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midsouthmakers
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMidsouthMakers
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/midsouthmakers
