TULSA BLOGGERS
This week I went to a Tulsa Blogger’s Meetup. It peaked my interest because it was being held at a place called ‘Fab Lab Tulsa’. I hadn’t heard of it before but it sounded cool. I also wanted to go because the presentation was going to be given by the director of an online magazine and blog called ‘Prairie Hive’. I didn’t know anything about it either but it also had a cool name. I get seduced by cool names, can you tell?
FAB LAB TULSA
I got there a bit early and a young woman named Mary gave me a tour of the lab, officially named Hardesty Center for Fab Lab Tulsa, and explained what it was all about. Fab is short for fabrication. The idea is to have a place where entrepreneurs, small manufacturers, artists, programmers, and others can come to build prototypes of products, experiment and learn techniques in materials, create art, and develop ideas for projects. In a word, the place is awesome.
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There is an electronics bench, a milling station, vinyl and laser cutting. It was most impressive. |
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| It has a classic fabrication shop with the addition of an incredible ‘ShopBot CNC Router’ that can precisely cut in 3 dimensions. |
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| They have a 3D printer that can make actual working objects, like the wrench and bicycle chain pictured, from a file you send it. |
Recently they hosted a Hackathon for programmers and this weekend they are hosting a ‘Start Up Weekend’, basically an intense incubator for entrepreneurial idea generation and development. I suggested to them that a similar event for artists could also yield some amazing work. Some day I hope I have a project that will allow me to use that space!
After I got some appetizers and cookies and greeted some of my fellow Tulsa bloggers, Tasha of TashaDoesTulsa, Kate of Fat Ass to Fit Ass, Melanie of Blogging Basics 101 and Kelly of Partially Motivated, we got to hear from Sarah Vespasian, the founder and director of Prairie Hive.
She told the story of the inception of the blog and online magazine. Basically she kept seeing a lot of cool design stuff online from all around the US and Canada and said to herself, “I could do that for where I live, the midwest prairie.” She also realized in short order she couldn’t do it alone. So she gathered a group of dynamic women and they became the hive behind Prairie Hive.
They germinated the idea in February, 2011. And had it launched by April. Pretty impressive if you ask me. It’s even more impressive when you hear that they completely had no technical clue what they were doing. But as with all great entrepreneurs, that didn’t stop them. They kept learning and now they have an online magazine that stands with the best of them!
Check it out, you will see what I mean.
OUR COMMUNITY
I love how dynamic and energetic the Tulsa community is, whether blogging about design in the home or creating detailed prototype products. It’s a great place to live and work!
Marty