What is a makerspace anyway?

Makerspaces are community oriented physical places, where people with similar interests can meet to socialize, collaborate, share, and work on projects. They often include elements of machine shops, wood working shops, and art studios where creative minds can get together to share resources, tools, and knowledge to build new things. Members usually embody aspect of the DIY ethic and the spaces and members together are part of the larger DIY Movement. Wikipedia's definition: "A makerspace or hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, fablab or creative space) is a location where people with common interests, often in computers, technology, science, or digital or electronic art (but also in many other realms) can meet, socialise and/or collaborate. Hackerspaces can be viewed as open community labs incorporating elements of machine shops, workshops and/or studios where hackers can come together to share resources and knowledge to build and make things." Now we would like to start a makerspace community on the south coast of Massachusetts.