It’s been a remarkable week! A short punch list is as follows:

• Rory designed the Mask last Thursday night and printed it on Friday.  Go to the Website and click on the elements page.  Flip each piece around.  Rory did this in his head through a process he calls “simulations.”  He did this in a night.  He did multiple versions a day for the next week getting feedback from dozens of people.  We are now at the point of diminishing returns.
• We created and launched the Small-Batch Production Model.  We thought of this last Sunday.  Seven days and it is launched.
• Epiphany Parish Small Batch production facility is up and going.  Alex has slept at the Parish every night this week.  My boys are coming into the house at 3 am every night/morning.  I know this because I have been getting up when they are coming home a couple of times.  Tony Byrd from Teach for America has helped us get over 30 machines from over 20 locations in three days.  If you want to know about red tape, imagine trying to take 3D printers out of a Public School over the weekend….
• On Tuesday Tony Byrd, CEO of Washington Teach for America agreed to help round up Printers and work with Teach for America network to light up Small-Batch Production around the Country.  Tony has secured twenty machines to date with fifteen more on Monday.
• We have run a seven day medical trial at Children’s Hospital.  We have an online endorsement from Dr. Xuan Qin and her associate.  Beth Ripley has moved mountains at the VA and has connected with us the NIH.  Swedish Hospital is in trial.
• A partnership of America Makes, Matter Hackers, Nation of Makers, InfraGard, GettoPPE.org, Etc has formed.  MITRE is fully engaged and taking and extending the proposal. 
• Site is looking GREAT.  Spend time on it.  There are tons of content on the product, amazing endorsements, training videos, context videos, legal stuff ticked and tied, pr link up and running, funding page operational, and so much more. 
• Small-Batch Production facility cranking along.  28 machines are running.  15 on their way Sunday and Monday.  Masks being made as we speak.  Protocols, processes, and training being established as we speak. 
• A full on Launch is in motion. I talked to Megan for the first time about this project on Friday, and tomorrow we’re doing a nationwide PR launch.  Not Possible without the help of many hands.

I’m a bit of a sentimentalist, but we are all doing the good work.  We’re trying to support the real heroes of this thing, the men and women who are on the front lines.  We’re Enablers.  So, on the one hand, we can only pat ourselves on the back, but let’s be clear, the heroes are in the hospitals, driving police cars and ambulances, serving coffee at Starbucks, delivering packages, helping us get groceries, and all the other frontline people.  They are putting themselves at risk every day and then going home to their families and then putting them at risk.  They are the heroes.  We must keep our eye on that ball.  We are enablers, and that’s good enough for me.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to the six people that have made today possible.  Rory.  Enough said.  Garr, who has been there from the beginning (sorry, couldn’t pass that up), but related to this week, has kept Rory on the rails, non-trivial; and driving SO much of this effort.  Taylor.  UNBELIEVABLE amount of work.  He is the poster child of what I’ve been talking about with people in DC  for two years back there.  I’ll call it the Seattle difference in software, architecture, approach, and team.  Alex, who has literally worked around the clock to light up the first Small-Batch Production site and create a franchise model.  Appreciate, this is a 20-year-old kid who is blowing off his online mechanical engineering classes at Case Western to make this happen.  I hope he gets some good internships with all of you when this is done…. Also, I told him that I’d be damned if this hurts his school.  I have some management coaching on how to get out of constant crisis mode that I need to relay to those young guys. The essential role of Heather McMahon.  I fully appreciate that all of this D.C. collaboration is based on the high regard everyone holds her in and her tireless efforts.  Least, and definitely not least, an acknowledgment of Dr. Xuan Gin at Children’s.  Whenever I am feeling a bit beat up, I look at the picture of her holding her thumbs up in the Lab.  We are doing this for her, and that’s a pretty damn good thing.  I have soooo any more people to acknowledge and shout out to, and it’s a slippery slope, but to Harvey, Chris, Mara, Beth, John, Mike, Philip, Megan, Doug, Pete, Bill, Elizabeth, Winston, Chase, Tony, Powell, Kenji, Doyt, Kelli, Rich, Nicole, and so many more people

Thank You!!!

~Jonathan Roberts