LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
As Secretary for Nova Labs, I am entrusted with writing the agenda for our monthly board meetings. I usually start by duplicating the previous month’s agenda and polishing its minutes, which also serves to remind me of any open business that hasn’t been addressed in recent weekly Benchwork meetings. The most recent agenda was particularly trying because the March board meeting happened as everything was beginning to shut down, but hadn’t quite yet in Northern Virginia. Our world is so very different now than it was just a short month ago, and reading those minutes highlighted just how quickly those changes happened. What I didn’t know in early March, though, was how quickly Nova Labs members would respond to the pleas of “Get us PPE!” from healthcare professionals and frontline workers. When Margie Foster first asked Jennyfer Peterson to create a PPE_Challenge channel on Slack to give these volunteers a space to coordinate and collaborate from home in the midst of Nova Labs’ physical shutdown, I don’t think any of us imagined that today we would have twelve Slack channels addressing different PPE teams, or that Jennyfer would be adding fifteen new individuals to those channels every day. The worst part of this pandemic appears to be sitting at home, feeling useless. The PPE teams all have a purpose, the knowledge they are providing critical equipment to help save lives, and the camaraderie of self-organized, autonomous teams. This is the maker movement at its best. It is agile, nimble, and able to quickly prototype, produce, and deliver innovative solutions to real-world problems.
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In addition to the PPE challenges, the instructors of Nova Labs have been working closely with Farina Zeb and Jennyfer Peterson to pivot to online classes and events. In just a few weeks, they have created a diverse selection of instructional and demonstration events. Some are free to attend, others are low cost. All have been well done. With the physical makerspace closed, members appear to be exploring new crafts by attending these classes. The “Show Us What You’ve Got” Slack channel provides strong evidence that Makers Gotta Make, and members are still making at home and sharing their creations online. It’s been really enjoyable seeing new faces in the now-virtual Fireside Chat with president Sam Aparicio each week. In short, I have little doubt Nova Labs will not only survive this crisis, but will come out of it stronger than before. Yours in Making, Karen Shumway Secretary, Board of Directors
Find me on Nova Labs Slack: @Karen Shumway
