Happy 2015 Yukon Makers! I figure this is a good time to reflect on where we’ve come from and where we are going.
Amazing to think YuKonstruct was barely an idea a year ago. Today, we have a space, tons of cool tools (with more coming), a thriving and growing membership, and a small army of passionate volunteers working tirelessly to realize our collective dream for YuKonstruct. The result is a coalescence of a creative community where people are learning new skills, building new things, and in some cases developing new products. What does this mean? It means YuKonstruct is becoming the symbol and vehicle for creativity, skill-development, community-building, innovation and entrepreneurship.
When we look back, we note January 15th last year when over 230 Yukoners showed up to the first YuKonstruct event to share cool projects, a passion for making, and a collective will to create the first makerspace north of 60. A ‘Core Team’ of over a dozen dedicated volunteers emerged becoming the driving force behind YuKonstruct. YuKonstruct became an official Society, launched a balloon into space, hosted Hacking Health, and found a space before the summer. In September we opened the doors of our 135 Industrial Road location with a full slate of weekly workshops and built the membership to over 80 makers, with over 100 others participating in various workshops. YuKonstruct was also invited to speak at Air North’s infamous annual business after-hours where it show-cased the 3-D laser-cut planes built for Winterval. Throughout the year, volunteers worked to successfully solicit funding and support from a variety of government and private supporters.
So where are we heading? From here our initial focus is to continue building our membership, offering a range of great workshops, increasing our tool-base, and ensuring we create a sustainable and well-run organization. We are also keeping our eyes on future opportunities for sustainable growth, creative partnerships, and wicked events that ignite the creativity in every Yukoner.
I would like to make a special thanks to all the volunteers who continue to poor countless hours into our collective dream. I would also like to thank all of our funders who took a risk by supporting our passion and believing in the potential of YuKonstruct. Your investments are paying off. And thanks to our membership: ultimately, it’s people that make our dream the success it is.
Here’s to making 2015 the year we make YuKonstruct the household-name for creativity, innovation, and “yes, that’s possible”.
Yours,
John Glynn-Morris
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