Maker Speed Dater

Photography by Sam Dunne

Last week saw Make Works' first Maker Speed Dater event take place in West Brewery, Glasgow. Having been talking about speed dating for makers for a long time, it was fantastic to finally get the chance to run the event and see Fi take on her role as Cilla Black. 

Fi Scott is basically the Cilla Black of manufacturing and design/craft world. #CCMakeshift

— Craft Innovation (@CC_Innovation) November 20, 2014

Make Works is a factory finder for designers and makers. We believe in digital, and whilst our focus is on building the Make Works directory online we also see the incredible value of offline face-to-face interaction each week as we tour the country visiting new factories and fabricators.

Endeavouring to share this experience with all the people that we've met along the way, we invited 20 designers to meet 20 of the manufacturers and makers listed on our directory. We had an impressive array of industries in attendance including laser cutters, shellac suppliers, 3D Printers ,mills, seamstresses, upholsterers, circuit-board makers, water jet cutters and printers.

Maker Speed Dater fittingly took place in the Templeton Building, a converted carpet factory which was romantically decorated with confetti and lit by candlelight.

Over 90 minutes, twenty designers slowly made their way around the room, guided by the sound of the klaxon (courtesy of Titan props.) We watched hands shake, business cards cross paths and conversations about new fabrication projects fill the room.

Since Maker Speed Dater, fantastic feedback has been flooding in so we're now planning on rolling these events out across Scotland.

If you would like to see a Maker Speed Dater event near you please let us know.

Want to find out about other Makeworks events? Check out our blog