COVID-19 and LMN

Administration
1

@Members
We’ve made a few adjustments to our programming and policies to help our members and community in light of the recent changes in the COVID-19 pandemic. Our official information source is:

https://www.lansingmakersnetwork.org/covid-19/

Lansing Makers Network is taking the proactive step of canceling our upcoming blacksmithing and woodworking classes scheduled for Saturday, March 14th. Additionally, we’re cancelling public events through Sunday, March 22nd. This includes our upcoming Maker Meetup and weekly Open Forge events. All participants in cancelled classes will receive a full refund (including Eventbrite’s Fees)

We’ve also amended our class and membership policies in light of the current situation as follows:

Classes

Participants who feel unwell, are self-isolating, or choose to practice social distancing can request to move to a later class session or request a refund by emailing education@lansingmakersnetwork.org. Please note that we are unable to refund Eventbrite’s portion of the class fees (moving to a different session will not involve any fees, however).

Members:

Members who feel unwell, are self-isolating, or choose to practice social distancing may request an extension of their membership by emailing membership@lansingmakersnetwork.org.

Open-Hours Members:

Currently, there are no plans to curtail or cancel existing open hours schedules. We have, however, made clear to our volunteers that we will work with them to cover shifts if needed. As such, we may find ourselves in a situation where specific shifts may not be able to be covered. We’ll communicate these situations via talk.lansingmakersnetwork.org as soon as we are aware of them.

Our goals with these policy changes are to provide community members with the opportunity to make the best decisions without the pressure of financial implications. While we recognize that the potential exposure risk may seem small in comparison to the more significant closures and cancellations that we have seen in the last few weeks, we realize the importance of limiting the spread of COVID-19 and want to give our volunteers and members the opportunity to make the best decisions regarding their own exposure risks.

We’ll continue to heed the advice of our local, state, and federal health agencies and strive to make the best decisions for the safety of our community and staff. As such, we’ll be meeting regularly to review our ability to remain open to members and make decisions about upcoming classes.

For perspective on some of the research that influenced our decisions, we’d invite you to view/read the resources below:

Coren, Michael J. “This Chart of the 1918 Spanish Flu Shows Why Social Distancing Works.” Quartz. Quartz, March 11, 2020.

2 Blue 1 Brown. “Exponential Growth and Epidemics” YouTube video, 8:56. March 8, 2020.

2

I will also add that we’re disinfecting the safety glasses and will be providing a “Used Safety Glasses” bin for safety glasses to then be re-disinfected and put back into circulation.

3

Following the Governer’s executive order today (2020-09) it seems likely that LMN will close to open hours members in compliance with the order.

From the Governor’s press release:

Under Executive Order 2020-9, effective Monday, March 16 at 3:00 pm, the following places of public accommodation will be closed; restaurants, cafes, coffee houses, bars, taverns, brewpubs, distilleries, clubs, movie theaters, indoor and outdoor performance venues, gymnasiums, fitness centers, recreation centers, indoor sports facilities, indoor exercise facilities, exercise studios, spas, and casinos.

We’re not alone in struggling with the appropriate response to the ongoing situation, but our primary focus is on doing our part to protect our communities, members, and volunteers. The @BoardMembers and @MakerspaceStaff will be meeting via Zoom at 6:00 pm today to discuss how we’ll handle the current situation. I and others will stay on the call afterward to answer any questions from @Members.

More information will follow after we meet.

Topic: COVID-19 @ LMN
Time: Mar 16, 2020 06:00 PM America/Detroit

Join Zoom Meeting
Launch Meeting - Zoom

One tap mobile
+16468769923,5172026553# US (New York)
+13126266799,5172026553# US (Chicago)

Meeting ID: 517 202 6553

4

@Members @BoardMembers @MakerspaceStaff @SpaceForce

In compliance with Gov. Whitmer’s executive order (2019-9) LMN will be closed to members (open hours and keyholding) until further notice. This is a difficult time and we don’t take the decision to close to all members lightly. In keeping with the spirit of the Governer’s order and our responsibility to do our part to keep our members and community safe, we feel this is the only sensible option.

All classes and scheduled events will remain canceled. Participants can expect to receive a full refund for any canceled classes. Memberships will be extended appropriately when the makerspace re-opens.

We will make arrangements with any member who needs to access the makerspace to pick up items or projects. Those requests can be made via the talk site or by calling the makerspace (517-234-4566) and following the prompts to speak to an on-call volunteer. If you have other concerns, please feel free to contact us and we’ll help in any way we can.

Many of our members rely on the makerspace for their livelihood, and we understand that this news may cast uncertainty into your plans. Many in our community of members are ready to help others so please reach out if you can help or are in need of help.

Our leadership team will continue to meet regularly in the coming days and weeks to respond to new information as it becomes available. Watch the talk site for updates.

5

Thanks for the heads up.
Keep the forge, platens, servos and laser tubes warm until this flu storm blows on through. Get another tachyon scan run and don’t forget to look for stowaways.

Just think of all the Preventative maintenance that can get done!

Stay healthy and see you when the doors are open again.

1 Like