Approximately 12 hours prior to the initiation of New Zealand's Level 4 lock down, there was chatter within the maker forums about the possible shortages of personal protection equipment (PPE) for medical staff.

A couple of wise men sent out a few emails, and what ensued over the following 48 hours was pure chaos, yet somehow organised with such harmony.

By the time a few Doctors had verified the demand for face shields, we had already 60+ members from the maker community logged into a group chat on the slack platform ready to help. It was truly beautiful, each member simply fell into place and took initiative. 

Categories flourished and instantly we had subgroups of team members working on all aspects of the initiative. Some teams were verifying with health professionals which design we should be using, others were optimising machine specific settings to increase manufacturing speeds. We had people contacting suppliers who may be able to help that were potentially still operating at some level, other people organising regional specific freight and logistics channels. 

Laser cutters kicked into action, and alternative clear shield options were discussed and tested. Databases were being built and the data-hackers were arranging automation to streamline data. A charitable funding platform was discussed and arranged, while graphic design members were creating imagery and logos. We even had a governance team, shaping the organisations structure and how decisions would be made!