LUCY

ROGERS

65

LENS

HS Do you think open source has helped

in creating the conditions where you

can do this? You spoke earlier about the

spread of cottage industries. Is open

source and sharing a big part of that?

LR Yes, most definitely. From sharing,

from people running workshops — even

paid-for workshops — I could run a

workshop on how to start with Raspberry

Pi; someone else could run one on making

chairs. We’ve got not just Makers’ Hour,

we’ve got #makershelp, and if you’ve got

a problem we’ve got quite a few people

watching that hashtag who’ll direct you to

someone who can help.

A lot of the stuff that I make personally,

I have used other people’s open-source

software. And I refer back to it when I

write blogs and how-tos. And I don’t like

saying, “Yay it’s mine now!” Because it’s

not. I don’t want to patent something or

make a profit on someone else’s work.

But I can write the blog, the step-by-

step guide. And now some of those people

who had been helping me can now refer

to my blog. “I helped Lucy do that thing.

How did it work again? Oh, she’s written it

up! That’s how we did it.”

Scratching each other’s backs works

really well. A lot of this stuff isn’t

commercially sensitive. Information about

the difference between a sole trader and a

partnership is stuff that you might as well

share. I’m also hoping to partner with a

legal company, so if you ever do need that

kind of help, you’ll have access to it.

In this village there are probably about

50 makers, but I don’t know them. I’ve

gone round people’s houses and seen

what they do as part of the Open Studios

days. Some of it is for fun. A lot of it is for

a hobby and they sell things for the price

of the raw materials. Which is great, but

it’s not a profession.

This started with me wanting to know

more makers. I want to know more people

who make professionally.

I’ve now got people around the world

wanting to join, and so it’s not only

going to be in the UK – it’s going to

be franchised or licensed somehow

internationally. I’ve got people in New

Zealand, in Sweden, The Netherlands,

Greece, all wanting to do the Guild of

Makers in their own country.

It seems to be something that people

have been waiting to crystallise around.

And this is it.

Whether I want to or not, this is going

to happen.

HS Do you think that you’re trying to fill

a niche that the hackspace movement is

already filling?

LR I think the hackspace movement is

growing up. The maker movement is

growing up, and those who are doing it

as a hobby want to do it as an industry.

So the makerspaces, the hackspaces

are wonderful, but only if you’ve got one

locally and you’ve got the right people in

it, because they’re all run by volunteers.

There aren’t many makerspaces that

have been successfully run as a business.

I’m a member of the Society of Authors,

and when I see that the Society of Authors

is offering me workshops on how to give

a talk, on how to do your tax return, on

how to protect your intellectual property...

I wanted that for makers, and it wasn’t

there... so, that’s ultimately what the Guild

of Makers is for.

Left

As seen on TV:

you may recognise

this dinosaur from

such TV shows as

Robot Wars

Below

“Of course, the best page in HackSpace magazine

• or any other publication – is page 20”