Makerspaces have become very popular with educators and learners alike. It is not uncommon to find them embedded within libraries, schools and community centres. Furthering this point, the maker movement has gained so much momentum that makerspaces are also being created with profit driven business models and found in unconventional locations like coffee shops, shared office spaces, and pop-up locations. Unfortunately, much of the dedicated support revolving around makerspaces seems to be directed towards the for profit model and not the educational model.
For many education-centric makerspaces, the momentum and enthusiasm that may have helped build the makerspace often falls short of providing the unique and ongoing support needed to run such dynamic learning space. It is not uncommon to find situations where educators or librarians are tasked to run a makerspace but do not receive the necessary technical, academic and administrative support needed.
Learn how LabPal has positioned itself to be an invaluable support to makerspaces, the staff who run them, the educators who teach from them and for learners who thrive in self-directed constructive learning. Watch the elevator pitch video below for a brief introduction to Labpal or review LabPal’s venture pitch for a more thorough perspective.
Hi Julio,
I was drawn to your A3 not because you were first to the stage, but because of the visually stunning OER that you and your team came up with this past week; and the design for this venture pitch didn’t come up short. This is an easy site to navigate, even though at first I clicked on a link and thought I got lost. However, the site guides the visitor along nicely.
Just recently I heard about a similar project to LabPal here in Victoria, BC: it’s called “Tool Library”. Now, really it’s not the same, but the same concept in that you can borrow tools to carry out projects. However, I’m sure that it doesn’t provide the client with the supportive services that you offer with LabPal. Like the Tool Library, I would think that LabPal would have a huge capital ask getting started, and then maintenance along the way.
When I read the display on your phone image that reads “Troubleshoot a 3D Printing Problem” I cannot help but think of my teacher librarian who was struggling with our school’s 3D printers that were purchased five years ago, and have pretty much sat around until the teacher librarian worked with them recently. LabPal would be a wonderful help in this circumstance, where it would help our teacher librarian, and help get the 3D printers in use by the students.
There was one noticeable, and easily remedied typo on your “Get Involved” page; near the top you have written “LabPad” instead of “LabPal”. Super easy fix. Not like mine where I recorded my elevator pitch and realized that I’d said another brand name. If you listen to my pitch, you’ll hear me crop in my brand’s name.
Wonderful pair of pitches. Looks like you have a reasonable roll-out plan as well, so good luck!
Neal
Hi Neal. Thanks for taking the time to review my OER. Also thanks for catching the typo. This one was an easy fix, but I’ve been in your shoes where only after recording do I realize that I have food stuck on my mustache or my collar was tucked into my shirt. Errors like those are not so easy to correct and can be so demotivating. Luckily you were able to catch your error in time.
I think LabPal would be a great compliment to a tool library as it provides the user with added information, educational resources and troubleshooting support on the tools available through the library. I agree this would be a costly venture to start up and that is why I incorporated an investor marketing campaign at the start of my timeline.
Hi Julio,
I love your elevator pitch; it is visually attractive, the characters were engaging, and great attention to detail with the masks! It is a little long by elevator pitch standards, but the visuals and designs were enough to capture my attention throughout that span of time. You also hit a very real pain point in the makerspace realm. I know a lot of institutions invested in creating them, but many of them are not being used to their full potential precisely due to the lack of support. Your solution is straightforward, very feasible, and has a lot of value-added in terms of not only support and resources but also helping teachers and learners manage their makerspace projects.
Your venture pitch website is also very professional-looking and provides me with a very clear picture of what LabPal is and how you intend to drive this venture. Excellent work!
One (possible) suggestion: in addition to crowdfunding and business investors, I think a lot of government institutions like the Ministry, libraries, and school boards would be very interested in investing in this venture. I’m not sure if you already had those in mind when you talked about marketing to investors, but just in case.
Yannick
Hi Yannick. Thank you for reviewing my Venture Pitch. Your analysis was thorough and encouraging. You make a strong point about highlighting academic and government institutions as possible collaborative partners. Reviewing my work, I see that I mention this briefly in my timeline, but I could definitely take some steps to highlight this potential investment partners. great catch!
I agree with the above comments about the visually pleasing format. I found the pitch a bit on the longer end, but it explained everything in great detail so the reader did not have many questions after going through all of the info.
Good work!