Writing for The Daily Review, Rebecca Parr reports that a homegrown group known as HayHackers is working to build a local home for the Maker Movement in Hayward.
“We want a place for the whole family. A place where my kids can hack and a place where either myself or husband can go and hack as well, and it would be right next door,” Cristina Deptula told the publication.
“[With a Maker Space], you don’t have to run to Target or Walmart to make things. I had always imagined my kids being able to make something out of nothing, to be resourceful.”
Meanwhile, Carolyn Lunger said she and her boyfriend view the Maker Movement from a slightly different perspective.
“A Maker Space is a chance to meet friendly, interesting people,” she explained. “Hayward has a bookstore and a couple of coffee shops. But where do you go if you don’t want to go out to eat or go to a bar? Where can you go to meet interesting people without having to buy something?”
Carl Gorringe, a mobile app developer who now lives in Hayward, expressed similar sentiments, noting that he became well acquainted with a San Francisco hackerspace called Noisebridge while living in the city.
“I fell in love with the place. I met many friends. People were taking on electronic and programming projects, volunteering to share their knowledge with others,” he added. ”We’re trying to find other people interested in technology, even the arts, people who like to build things and learn and teach others.”
As Wikipedia notes, a hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, makerspace or hackspace) is defined as a community-operated workspace where people with common interests, often in computers, machining, technology, science, digital art or electronic art, can meet, socialize and collaborate.
Hackerspaces have also been compared to separate regional community-operated spaces with similar aims and mechanisms, such as Men’s Sheds and to commercial ‘for profit’ companies such as TechShop & Fab lab.
Interested in learning more about HayHackers? You can check out the group’s official page here.
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