As some of you may know, I have done some work at the amazing Knowle West Media Centre, doing some arts administration to help support me through my studies.
As they know I am a producer, they were keen to get me involved with a helping to organise a recent event at The Factory.
The event was called Love to Make, and my first duties involved researching the makerspaces, designer-makers, artists studios and fablabs around the Bristol area. From this we curated an invite list of people who might be interested in what The Factory has to offer, and have a say in shaping its future.
I also helped to plan the audience flow through the space, including resetting for several different activities throughout the afternoon, such as a casual networking lunch, formal seated introduction section, hands-on tech demos and smaller group workshops. This was especially challenging given the industrial nature of the spaces at The Factory – one of the two units in particular was not suitable for serving refreshments or extended group visits due to the dust created by the CNC router.
In the end, the event was filled to capacity and went very successfully. The Factory achieved its aim of getting better known amongst the makers of Bristol and received some helpful insights on what the community are looking for in a makerspace. They also had several makers interested in becoming residents through the Network for Creative Enterprise scheme.
