John Jones (Jonesy), Vice President of the Garland Area Makerspace, at our table. Our theme was answering the question: What is a maker? The answers featured included Community Colleges; members of our makerspace; and two of the several local merchants in our area who have sponsored events for us: Artie Moskowitz of 3D Printer Farms and Jeff Arrendell from Rockler Woodworking and Hardware of Garland.
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The event, sponsored by our Garland Chamber of Commerce was a great success. I did glimpse into the room where the fashion show was taking place from time to time and saw some fantastic fashion outfits—some of them designed by the models. Ana Maria DeYoung a volunteer from our local Chamber and one of my friends, worked with others from the Chamber to make this event the huge success it was. The turnout was to capacity.
As a vendor representing the Garland Area Makerspace, most of my time was spent chatting with people who came to our table so I’ll tell you about them.
I’ll begin by mentioning the two local vendors on either side of us: Alma’s sweet treats and Catering on one side and Lush and Plus on the other side.
Apparently owner Alma Espinosa not only caters events by providing sweets, she also can create decorations for the event as well. When we arrived to set up our table, Alma was busy creating a giant balloon entrance to the event with what appeared to be at least 100 balloons. The effect of walking through the archway was like walking through the bubbles of champagne. Jonesy and I each ate one of her delicious cookies. If you need catering for your event, you can call Alma at 972-621-9884.
Lush & Plus Boutique, a new local business in downtown Garland, were our neighbors on the other side. Sonya Owens, owner, has located her business at 804 West State Street. Be sure to stop by to see some fantastic one-of-a-kind items.
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A FEW OF THE SPECIAL PEOPLE WHO STOPPED BY THE GARLAND AREA MAKERSPACE TABLE
Herb Moncibais – Chairman, Founder, and Creator of the Tri-County Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
The Tri-County Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has 17 Branch Hispanic Chambers serving 5 counties in North Texas and has Branch Chambers in 6 Latin American countries.
The Tri-County Regional Hispanic Chamber is expanding in many cities in North Texas and in Latin America offering its members tremendous economic growth here in Texas and Latin America. Herb’s expertise is in marketing and sales, specializing in product branding and visibility for international companies in the United States. The huge growth of the Hispanic market and the untapped market between the Americas (North, Central and South America) could be the tipping point advantage for the Tri-County Regional Hispanic Chamber in Texas 2020 and beyond.
Herb is an extremely personable man who is easy to talk with—a visionary who sees things and opportunities that others might miss. For example when he stopped at our table, one of the things he picked up was an architectural model of the City of Dallas that had been created on a 3D printer. When we explained to him how it had been created, Herb immediately saw the application of this technology to assist some people he is working with in Frisco to create some models for their projects. Then we showed him two of the prosthetics for children also created on a 3D printer and he was even more intrigued, saying “This is exactly the kind of technology for the future that we need to be teaching our kids how to use today. By the time they are adults, many of jobs today won’t even exist.”
WHY WE NEED MAKERSPACES NOW
Herb is right and creating jobs and technology of the future is part of the work of makerspaces. Our schools and community colleges prepare them for jobs that exist now. However, the unique environment of a makerspace is that it is also a laboratory for creating things of the future. It is a place where people can tinker and talk to one another. A makerspace is a collaborative environment that encourages people to experiment and tinker with new ideas. A makerspace is a place where it’s OK to make mistakes and try again. Already some of our technology of the future has come from a makerspace. For example, The SQUARE , a device that allows business people to easily swipe credit and debit cards on their phone to building out a custom solution on their payment platform, or even selling online—was created in the tinkering/collaborative environment of a makerspace. When people get together and tinker and talk—especially in an environment that provides tools such as 3D printers they might not otherwise afford—all kinds of magic begins to happen.
We hope to talk more with Herb in the future to see how we can work together to support our common efforts.
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AND THEN THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE OF GARLAND
Of course, everyone who was anyone was there.
Garland City Council Members: Deborah Morris (Second District) and Robert Smith (Eighth District)
I don’t know how they do it but it seems that these two council members manage to stop by every single Garland event. And they always have time to talk with me. I love them both—not only for what they do for me, but for what they do for our City.
Deborah with the delightful Somprasong
Kay Moore—Kay is one of the most vivacious and active members of our community. She wrote the lyrics for a Becoming Garland Avenue, a musical drama set in the early days of the last century and performed on the downtown square at the Plaza Theater. The drama featured an original script and musical score. Not one to rest on her laurels, Kay is now planning a huge Christmas event for the historical district of Garland.
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COME JOIN US AND HELP US BUILD THIS BRIDGE!
No community should be without a makerspace. It's the place where new technology and new jobs are born.
Visit our website at Garlandmakers.org
We need you.