Hello all! I’m Eleanor, your new Community Outreach Coordinator, reporting for duty. I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself, tell you a little bit about what brought me here, and what I’m excited to work on with you here at Shapeways.

I’m a Brooklyn-based writer and indie-rock musician who is constantly inspired by the maker and do it yourself community. I’m passionate about supporting creative entrepreneurs and helping them build sustainable creative projects, businesses and lives. In 2013 I published my first book, Grow, which is a field guide for creatives to achieve success and sustainability on their own terms. Grow shares practical advice on goal setting, planning, budgeting, marketing, and establishing a business, especially for those looking to grow a passion-project into a sustainable, long-term opportunity. It comes out of my personal experience publishing zines, organizing events, and booking rock shows in the DIY community and turning that experience into a career in museums and creative companies. One thing I’m really looking forward to working on at Shapeways is to work with shop owners to build and share their business skills and make their shops even more successful.

A little bit more about me, I started my career working in arts and culture, first at the Brooklyn Museum and then the Rubin Museum of Art as an educator and public programmer who connect community members with works of art in the museum’s collections and exhibitions. I most recently worked at the New York Foundation for the Arts where I organized professional development programs for creatives all over the United States and helped artists raise funds to support their projects through the organization’s fiscal sponsorship program.

I have a strong interest in the business side of creativity. I got my master’s degree in public administration right down the street from Shapeways’ New York offices at Baruch College, where I learned to stop worrying and love financial and statistical analysis. I also recently completed an introductory course on the Ruby on Rails programming language and web framework.

I’m really excited to be at Shapeways because it brings together my interests and experience in creativity, community, technology, and entrepreneurship. I adore how engaged community and staff members are in embracing the future of innovation and creativity. I’m looking forward to supporting the growth of this community and getting more creators from all different fields and interests involved. I look forward to growing our community of Shapies, supporting regular meet ups organized by community members all around the world, hosting Google hangouts, and spearheading special events that will serve different niches of our diverse and robust community.

Do you have an idea of an event you’d like to be a part of that will engage your community around the possibilities of 3D Printing? Are you a Shapie who would like to be more active as a point person for your community? Please get in touch! I look forward to hearing from, working with, and learning from all of you!