i3 Detroit on Kickstarter.com

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We are really excited to announce that we are live on Kickstarter.com.  Kickstarter is a really cool website where projects and groups like us can obtain outside funding.  We have a determined goal of raising $5,000 in the next 31 days to expand and develop our new space.  We are growing and it is time to expand.  But we really need your help for the initial up front costs of this task.  Your money will go towards paint, lumber, flooring, drywall, and even nails and screws. It will help us build mobile tables and electronics benches. It will help us expand our craft area and create more classrooms. It will give us the raw materials to physically build our vision of a better community for all.

Kickstarter is a pledge based system which means you don’t get charged until we have actually met our funding goal.  So when we meet our funding goal on April 4th that is when your donation goes through.  You have time to save up!

One great part about Kickstarter is that we can give back to you when you donate.  For example, a $50 donation means an i3 Detroit Tshirt, button, sticker, card and a Free class.  How awesome is that?!  The community has been such a great supporter of i3 and we want you to know just how much it means to have your continued support.

The best part about all of this is that you can watch where your donation goes.  In fact, you can even come pick up a hammer and build with those supplies that you helped us buy.  We are ready for i3 Detroit v2.0.  Are you?

Robots: DONE

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As regular readers may know, i3Detroit has been sponsoring two FIRST Robotics teams, giving them full use of our shop and other resources. It’s been hectic, crowded, noisy, and very productive. And now it’s (almost) over.

Tonight was “ship day”, meaning that all work on the robots had to be completed before midnight, and bags and tamper-evident seals affixed. After that, there was some of the silliness that accompanies a late-night sink-or-swim deadline, and some cleanup. We made it! Two functional robots, a whole bunch of involved students, no fights, no injuries, nothing more than minor tool breakage and wear. Competition starts in two weeks. In the meantime, there’s software to work on, t-shirts to distribute, buttons to design…

Congratulations, 1216 Oak Park and 3302 Clawson! You’ve come a long way, and we’ll be rooting for you at competition!

New twitter based open messaging system!

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twitter_bird

We have had a lot of people interested in knowing when there are members in the space so guests know when they can come out and play. So a few of the members have put together a new switch system in the space that we use to turn on the open sign for example. When this happens this will post a message on our twitter feed to let you know if we are open or closed for guests. So if you are interested in knowing when people are there so you can come by and play be sure to follow our twitter feed.

We are still working on a few new features that will be turning on & off a open or closed sign on our website to also let people know that we are open and you are welcome to come hang out or play. Along with the open & closed sign we will be placing an image from the camera on our website as well for your viewing pleasure. Be sure to check back soon to see the new system and features in place.

Royal Oak Spooktacular!

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Sunday was Pumpkin Carving and Halloween Costume Build Day at i3 Detroit. It also happened to be Spooktacular in Royal Oak where all the families can go trick or treating at the businesses in downtown Royal Oak. We thought it would be fun to take the Cup Cake car for a drive downtown to hand out candy. The response to the Cup Cake car was great as usual and a lot of fun handing out candies and photos with the kids.

Amazing Weekend

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This weekend was an awesome time spent with all the members for our first weekend of buildout at the new i3 Detroit Space. We are making good progress and are very excited to have our Grand Opening Party in a few weeks and wanted to share some photos of the space and happenings over the weekend. Come by and Check us out we will be having our weekly meeting tomorrow evening at the new space @ 7:00 P.M. 322 East 4th Street Royal Oak Mi.

All Photos Courtesy of Nick Britsky and Brad McMahon!