User:Devin Halsey

About Me

I've been me my entire life.

Contact

Email

2018 Ballot Questions

Tell us about yourself:

  My name is Devin Halsey. I am not a Kansas Native I was born and raised in Grand Island, Nebraska. At the ripe age of 13 my family moved to Wichita, KS. I finished my 7th and 8th grades at Holy Cross Lutheran School and decided I wanted to have a difficult time in High School and took the test for the International Baccalaureate program. After two years at East High in the IB program I decided I had made a mistake and after a series of unfortunate mistakes I graduated from Metro Blvd HS in 2003. 
  After HS I attended the University of KS, while my time attending the university was short lived, I eventually would spend 9 years in Lawrence. I had various kitchen jobs until I worked at a new restaurant called Ingredient where I eventually became the General Manager. I spent 4 years managing the restaurant and was able to bring in sales of over a million dollars per year.
  I decided in 2012 to move to California and leave the midwest. I also decided later in 2012 to move back to midwest after I realized California was not for me. Since 2012 I've been living in the Wichita metro area.
   Currently I own my a concert and even lighting business where I design production for events, rentals for events, consultations, and install lighting for stages. I've worked with my own business for local venues such as The Cotillion, Crown Uptown, Abode Venue, Barleycorn's, Rock Island, and Lucky's Everyday.
  Aside from owning my lighting business I also work for several production companies in the region across three states. I am a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees specifically the Local 190 based here in Wichita. As a trade union member I am constantly looking out for my sisters and brothers whom I work alongside.  Besides my primary expertise in Lighting Design I work at height on various grids from 120' in height like the Mizzou Arena in Columbia Missouri to the grid at Intrust here in town which is about 60' in height. 
  For over 3 years  I've organized 90 weeks of play for an adult kickball league in Wichita called the Wichita Kickball League. For three years we've partnered with the Riverfest to host a tournament on the closing Saturday of Riverfest. We just completed our spring season which had 10 teams in which close to 200 individuals participate in.

I became a member of MakeICT in early December of 2017 and am active in many areas including ceramics, printmaking, the fab lab, and metal shop.

What are some favorite things you have already done for MakeICT?

  I've happily accepted the position of Assistant Area Lead of Printmaking. Since the end of March I have taught a class on using the four head screen press and the flash dryer that I brought to the space and have loaned to MakeICT.  As of this posting I've posted the class 11 times in three months.
  I've been given the opportunity to take tours of people around the makerspace on Maker Monday's. I've spent several hours running wire, crimping said wire, and positioning cameras to (almost) complete our CCTV system making the space more safe and secure and keeping people more accountable. I've spent time helping people who have struggled with equipment in the fab lab, printmaking, ceramics, and the metalshop. These are only a few things that I've done for others or the space itself. 
  Most importantly I've been able to utilize ceramics to create over a hundred pieces in six months time, learned to use the laser cutter to make my own scrabble board and tiles, 3d print the tile holders, plasma cut steel sheets into bottle openers, powder coat said bottle openers and sell them locally. I also really enjoyed my textiles class to make a small Kansas zipper pouch. I’ve submitted to three months of the gallery now showroom events. These are only a few of the things I've done for myself that I've been really happy with and made me proud.

What in your opinion qualifies you to be a board member?

  I care about MakeICT as an organization, community, and persons individually. In a little over six months time I feel like I've accomplished a lot for myself and the space and would love to see what more we can do. I've served in leadership roles in business and community organizations. I also spend a significant time at the makerspace and witness first hand problems and successes of the space. I am a very clear and consistent person who doesn’t beat around the bush and expresses myself freely.

If you have served on the Board in the past, What do you feel you did right? What do you think you did wrong, or could have done better?

  I have not served on the board..

Are you able to be at Board meetings, Maker Mondays and other events for the duration of your term?

  Absolutely.

It is our mission to innovate, learn, and build community at the intersection of art, technology, science, and culture. How would you support our mission as leadership?

What should we do next?

 We need to find a bigger space and focus on our future. We need to enable the volunteers and leaders we have currently to build a bigger base of future volunteers and leaders.

What are your thoughts about MakeICT's direction in the coming year?

  We need to energize our body to get more involved in the space. Whether teaching classes or volunteering to join a committee to help accomplish more in any given area. We have a serious problem with people (myself included) burning out on volunteering their time to do things around the makerspace. Often times individuals don't seek praise or recognition for the things they do while others will ask why things aren't getting done instead of just doing the task themselves.

What's your agenda for what you want to accomplish in the coming year?

  Set in motion an actual relocation campaign with regular updates and oversight and transparency.

How will you gauge whether we're successful as an organization?

  How well we retain and build our membership and areas. Are we adding classes, are we building/buying new equipment, are we bringing in members who want to be involved or are new members just there to pay $25 to use the laser, plasma, etc.

What should our priorities be in terms of trying to find a different space versus extending the lease on our current building?

  I think we should focus on a larger space.

Do you think MakeICT should focus on one space down town or multiple satellite locations in underserved communities?

  I do not support satellite locations. I am very into utilizing more than one area of the makerspace on a project whether it be unloading a ceramic ware out of the kiln and walking to the laser to engrave the piece or screen printing on fabric then taking it to textiles to create a unique one of kind item. I don't believe that paying two leases/mortgages having two sets of utilities will help us in any way.

How should we operate?

  More efficiently and consistently with increased transparency for the body. I feel like a lack of policies in place leads to many decisions being made behind closed doors without a real consensus.

Do you believe the Board should deal with day to day issues? Should area leads have more authority over day to day operations?

  I think that the board should let the Director the makerspace and the Assistant and Area Leads have more control over there areas. I would like to see and support a committee for each area consisting of the lead and at least one if not more assistants. I also support bringing back an assistant to the director of the makerspace.

Do you support an expansion of board terms from 1 year to 2 years? Why or why not?

  No. I don't see it solving problems that I don’t believe to exist.

Would a 2 year term affect your decisions to accept a nomination?

  Yes.

Would you support staggered elections June and December for general directors seats? Why or why not?

  Yes if the body supports it, I would have no objection.

Would you support staggered elections with half the board elected at each Annual meeting?

   Yes if the body supports it, I would have no objection.

Tell us one thing the Board did in the last 12 months that needs an undo. Be specific.

  I think we should put policies in place that prohibit certain individuals on certain lists (or for any reason) before we prohibit, or revoke a key in this specific instance, said individuals from becoming a member pre-policy.  This was a controversial subject- but I support the decision of the board just not the steps or order in which the decision was made. I’m specifically referencing an incident with a member who was found to be on the Kansas Offender Registry. More information about this list can be found at https://www.kbi.ks.gov/registeredoffender/FAQ.aspx

Tell us one thing not done in the last 12 months by the Board that still needs done. Be specific.

  Increased oversight and reporting on committees including putting policies in place to dissolve or restructure committees if they’re found to be inactive. 

Do you believe the entire membership should vote each year at the annual meeting on the organizations Standing Rules? Refer to Article III Section 2 of the bylaws.

  I think that our bylaws as a whole and this section should all be reviewed and that many need to be updated or rewritten.