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Introduction

Twin Cities Maker (TC Maker) is a community group based in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota area. Our mission is to make, share, and learn.
Paul Sobczak founded Twin Cities Maker as a website on January 6, 2009. A blog post on Makezine.com announced the creation of Twin Cities Maker.
TC Maker operates a cooperative community "maker shop" (or "maker space") for members to build projects using various media and technologies, from wood and metal working to electronics to fabrics and beyond. Our shop is located in Minneapolis and called The Hack Factory.
We have designed an official logo. For creating artistic derivations, a large format black and white EPS image can be obtained HERE. On our website banner this logo has been paired with the American Typewriter Bold BT font.
PHONE: 612-293-MAKE is our current phone number.

Every Wednesday we have a gathering at the Hack Factory that is open to everyone. Currently they are informal gatherings where we talk geek, show off our accomplishments and hang out. In the future we will be inviting people of note to do talks and organizing other activities.
Usual Location: The Hack Factory
Time: 7pm Wednesdays
More information and meeting notes here: Meetings
Our Calendar shows classes, workshops and other meetings.

Members can arrange classes in our maker space (The Hack Factory) to share knowledge on subjects, demonstrate tools and techniques, and bring knowledge into our group.
Classes are indicated in our calendar and are often open to non-members as well as members.
Some classes, demonstrations, or events will require a per-event fee.

Members can sponsor other groups to meet at The Hack Factory when there is a related interest.
Outside proposals to teach or demonstrate at The Hack Factory will be considered. Send requests to twincitiesmaker[-at-]gmail.com.
TC Maker heartily welcomes outstate or out-of-state makers and may make special accommodations to use the space for visitor events.

TC Maker is primarily supported by full member dues of $50/month. The success and sustainability of our organization is directly related to our ability to keep a sufficient base of regular members to cover operating expenses.
Some funds are obtained through fees charged for certain classroom courses.
We accept dues and donation payments via PayPal, cash, or personal check. Automatic monthly dues payments are also possible using our PayPal subscription setup.
Our initial dues announcement was posted in the blog entry TC MAKER IS ACCEPTING DUES AND DONATIONS.
Questions, concerns, or comments about funding or dues may be brought to any general business meeting or conveyed as a reply to this announcement in our forum.
Donations of tools and other equipment: We are always accepting working tools and some other items. For duplicate tools we will keep the best for shop use and leverage the surplus as best we can. WE WILL ARRANGE PICK-UP OF MOST TOOLS AND SOME OTHER EQUIPMENT - CONTACT US TO DISCUSS DETAILS.
TC Maker is always open to considering partnerships and member ideas for generating funds and cutting expenses.
For more on funding, visit our forum post on this topic.

Attend a weekly gathering to meet fellow TC Makers. Wednesday night is open for all to come down and check us out.
Sign up as a dues paying member using the Funding information above.
Make a donation to TC Maker using the Funding information.
Print up some flyers or wallet cards and distribute them around town.
Post in our forum regularly and share your maker interests.
Follow our "tcmaker" group on Twitter, by finding our home page or searching for "tcmaker."
Google Groups http://groups.google.com/group/tcmaker?hl=en is another venue.
Build something amazing to promote us and bring more awareness to our organization.
Tell your family and friends about TC Maker and our mission.
Link to http://www.tcmaker.org from an external website or forum signature block.

We have organized according to a Constitution, Bylaws, and Articles of Incorporation as a Minnesota non-profit organization. For details, see our Organization wiki page.
We plan on partnering with Springboard of the Arts to obtain 401C3 tax-exempt status.
"Twin Cities Maker" is the recognized public name for the organization which operates under the legally incorporated entity of "Hack Factory of Minnesota."
"The Hack Factory" most commonly refers to our maker space in Minneapolis, Minnesota and not the legal entity under which we operate.

We are always involved with building our workspace at the Hack Factory, with activities such as building benches, stands, setting up equipment, refurbishing equipment, and looking at needs.
Members have started to create a 3D PROTOTYPING MACHINE for group use. See Twin Cities Maker 3D Prototyper Project for wiki documentation and this topic in our forum for related discussion.
TC Maker has a MakerBot Cupcake 3D Printer which is available for member projects. For more information see our forum discussion on the MakerBot.
Members built the Spoonapault for Make: Day at the Science Museum of Minnesota on March 14, 2009. For more information, see Spoonapult v1.0 the Wreckening topic in our forum.
Our Spoonapault was showcased at Make: Day 2010 at the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Member Judeling built Bessie the Milk Jug Submersible for the Minneapolis Aquatennial Milk Carton Boat Races. A writeup appears on our blog at A TC Maker’s Sea Cow Brings Smiles at Milk Carton Boat Races. Judeling is planning to build Bessie II for the same event in 2010.
Individual members are working on or have completed several projects. Visit our forum for details, or see the Member Projects list on this wiki.
We encourage members to involve themselves with our online presence, by helping with website and social networking creation, moderation, and administration.

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