Episode 15 – LVL 1

In this episode, we talk with Danielle Blank, the sitting president of LVL 1, Louisville’s own hackerspace, where nerds go to exercise their creativity and meet like-minded folks who are also interested in making and hacking. We talk about the organization, the cool space they have, what it means to be a member, and how you can get involved.

LVL1 is a hackerspace in Louisville. A hackerspace is an open community lab and workshop democratically operated by its membership. We are friendly community of tinkerers, makers, engineers, educators, scientists, artists, hackers and overall geeks. Anyone who is, aspires to be, or just wants to hang around smart, creative, friendly mad scientist maker/hacker Louisvillians is welcome at LVL1! We’ve got lots of cool tools and equipment. We’ve got a lot of really bright and creative people. We like to work on (and show off) fun and challenging technical projects.

LVL 1 is located at The Pointe, 1205 E Washington St, Louisville, KY 40206, and the space includes wood and metal workshops, makerbots, laser cutters, 3D printers, etc.

Highlights:

• Introduction
• Danielle Blank, president
• What is LVL 1?
• Danielle’s introduction to the hackerspace
• The History of the organization
• World Maker Faire & the Louisville Mini Maker Faire
• ‘Hacker’ as a colloquialism and why this is a hackerspace
• The origins of the term ‘hack’
• 3D printing originating as a hack
• “The ingenuity of people”
• Membership as a democratic collective
• Community openness, inclusiveness, and trust
• Membership cost
• How to get involved and take a tour
• Danielle as a woman president
• Women in the community and as creators, or “active nerds”
• Creativity as the pillar
• Some of the group projects LVL 1 has worked on
• The firetruck “safety vehicle”
• Breaking the rules
• Word of mouth recruitment
• Taco cannons and ice cream ballistas
• Teaching homeless people to use laser cutters
• Check out LVL 1’s website and come to one of their Tuesday meetups

To find out more about LVL 1, visit their space on a Tuesday night when they have their meetups. If you need information on how to get there, check out their their website.

The Crew:

• Mike Pfaff
• Joe Dunman

Intro / Outro music is The White of Noon by STRFKR, graciously provided by Polyvinyl Records.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:32 — 40.8MB)

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