Bench

The People's Workshop

[benchomaha]

We are up and at 'em again!  Glad so many people have made the transition from kickstarter to our support page!  Thank you!

benchomaha.com/support

[benchomaha]

Bench is For You

The entire reason we are creating Bench is to serve Omaha and its culture of Creatives and Creators.  But in case you thought that Bench was more for someone else and not for you, I want to explain just who we can serve.

Hobbyist, Homeowners, Handymen will be able to use Bench's space and equipment for as much or as little time as they need.  We will also offer hands on training to everyone at Bench and classes to improve skills and work through projects.

Craftsmen, Artisans, Inventors  will be able to make Bench their full-time workshop.  We will even offer retail opportunities to BenchMates.  

Anyone looking for Handmade Goods and Services will find a variety of unique handmade products and the professionals to create what it is they are looking for.  

Help us Create Bench!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/philipdesignlab/bench-the-peoples-workshop

[benchomaha]

Working on letters to local businesses. We are going to need there help to create Bench!

[benchomaha]

We started slow but we are gaining traction. We are basically 10% the way to our goal with 3 weeks remaining.

[benchomaha]

Going Postal

Today is day 8 of our kickstarter campaign and we are about 4% funded! That is great but we still have a long way to go.  Tomorrow my wife Vera and I are king to work on getting some letters to out to local businesses asking them to consider supporting Bench at the $100 dollar level.  It is great advertising for local businesses and gets them some beautiful bicycle parking!  

Last night i spoke to the Minne Lusa Neighborhood Association.  They are a great group of people and I learned a lot just from sitting in on the meeting.  I am learning what these Homeowners really care about and I believe now more than ever that Bench is needed in this community!

If you haven't donated yet consider $50-$100 to change the city where we live!  Thank you

[benchomaha]

Bench

Today i got to meet the Minne Lusa Neighborhood Association and spread the word about Bench. We met some great people and got some great feedback. Tonight has me thinking again about Bench's location. I think it is important for us to be centrally located for convenience but at the same time keeping our costs low allows us to keep our rates very low as well. It is something we are going to have to keep in mind moving forward.

[benchomaha]

Day 5 of the Kickstarter campaign.

[benchomaha]

Kickstarter Day 5

The Kickstarter Campaign has been live for 5 days and has been seeing a lot of traction, though the way the numbers break down we will need to seriously increase our traffic in order to see 10K by May 1st.  I have focused on reaching out through social media personally to people and it has had measured success.  I hope to be able to get some coverage of Bench from our local news affiliates.  I will be calling them this week but if you know anyone who works in journalism please contact me. Thank you!

[benchomaha]

Kickstarter Day 1

As you know I launched the Kickstarter campaign yesterday.  A couple people supported our campaign within hours of launching and before I had even really told anyone about it. So today I started spreading the word via social media and we have gotten some great response and some very kind words.  so far I haven't watched the ticker move yet today though.  Oh well It is day one, tomorrow I hope to have a somewhat more concentrated effort toward getting the word out, hopefully that will drive up traffic and donations!

I spent the better portion of today working in my own workshop and bidding new work.  As I work in my shop I think about how different it will be to be moving into a larger space and to be working with people.  Now as I complete a task I think about how I could teach someone to complete a similar task, or wether this project would make for an appealing class to people.  Bench is causing my perception of my work to change, and it is exciting!

[benchomaha]

Kickstarter Launch

We got approval from kickstarter.com to launch a fundraising campaign the other day. This is incredibly exciting and nerve racking at the same time.  Kickstarter's style of fundraising sets a definite time limit on fundraising and requires all or nothing funding. 

So I set the end date to May 1st, the goal to $10,000, and I am about to press the green launch button.  I really don't know what else to do for now, so here we go!

[benchomaha]