This month, the ASU Skysong Program and the Venture Catalyst at ASU opened up the Skysong Hackspace to students and community members in the Tempe/Phoenix area. The space was a recently vacated area that the Skysong Center donated to the public. The hackerspace includes a bunch of tables, chairs, free power and electricity, and most importantly close access to the professionals at the Skysong Center.
Stephen Murphey is one of the community directors at the Skysong Hackspace. I talked with him on the phone to get an idea of what his vision for the space was.
Stephen’s definition of a hackerspace was that it's "basically a common space where people can come and get together to collaborate and get together to launch their ideas. Traditionally a hackspace is more for a place to build stuff and hack stuff.”
The Skysong Hackspace is going to take a more entrepreneurial focus—“Here we want to take your idea and build a business out of it.”
When asked whom the hackerspace was targeting, Murphey stated that, “By the nature of our program we are uniquely qualified for computech, cleanteach, and edutech.” Murphey said that they are open to any and all fields, but that at this early stage, they are going to be very technology focused.
I asked Stephen what he thought students could get out of this space when compared to just using their dorm rooms as startup centers. He replied, “I would say support. Space itself isn’t the huge determining factor, it helps but if you have this idea and you don’t have the skills or anyone to answer the questions than you’re on your own. We are hoping to offer support with the legal issues that startups face, as well as what business strategies to use. Unless you have a network it’s really, really hard to find those answers.”
The space is open to almost all student, students groups, and even community members who have an interest in technology and need space. This could be a great opportunity for anyone who wants to get a startup off the ground but is lacking resources!
If you have any questions about the space email Stephen at Stephen.Murphey@asu.edu
