TVCOG News!
Wishing You a Bright Year Ahead in 2022!
12/30/21
Dear Friends of TVCOG
As we welcome a new year, we here at Tech Valley Center of Gravity (TVCOG) would like to take a moment to reflect on 2021, a year filled with both great challenges and great accomplishments. Thanks to the hard work and the incredible support of our members, volunteers, board of directors, and community members like you, TVCOG was able to accomplish so much.
With your help, TVCOG was able to continue our mission to serve as a community resource providing low-cost access to resources, equipment, education and space to the greater Capital Region as we navigated this difficult year. We offered free programs for artists, inventors and entrepreneurs to further develop their professional network and skills, including Food For Thought, our monthly luncheon series which showcases presentations on a technical or commercialization topic and our monthly HATCHED Inventors & Entrepreneurs Meetup, which serves as a regular networking opportunity for product developers.
We partnered with local schools to provide opportunities for STEAM education for children ages 4-12 through our children’s makerspace, the THINQubator, via field trips, workshops and after school clubs. In addition, we provided another year of free drop-in programming with our monthly free STEAM-Powered Saturday Family Workshops.
2021 also saw the successful culmination of our very first Maker-In-Residence program, a program created with the intention of empowering makers and creators in our community by providing resources and support to gifted makers who may not otherwise be able to afford use of the space. Most importantly, we got to see members of our community come back together in the space, to gather, network, participate in our programs, and make.
It has been a tumultuous year and we are grateful for the opportunity to continue serving and enriching our community. However, our work is not yet complete, and your support is more important now than ever before.
We are writing today to ask you to consider making a tax-deductible donation to our annual appeal, if it is financially feasible for you. During this campaign, we want to offer the option to pick how your donation will be used:
- General Fund - unrestricted funding to help fund additional operational needs
- Community Access Fund - funding supports our reduced cost memberships (for those making under the area median income), our maker-in-residence program, and our volunteer program
- THINQubator Fund- funding supports operational costs, supplies and programming in our children's makerspace
Thank you for your continued support! It is critical in advancing our mission to provide low-cost access to equipment, work space, and resources to the Capital Region. We look forward to continuing that mission in 2022.
TVCOG Holiday Hours & Safety Procedures
Dear Friends of TVCOG,
We are writing to wish you a happy Holiday season and to update you on our holiday hours for the next two weeks.
TVCOG offices are closed in observance of Christmas all day Friday, December 24 until 11 am Monday, December 26. In addition, offices are closed in observance of New Years all day Friday, December 31 through 11 am, Monday January 3.
TVCOG staff and volunteers will not be on duty during those times; all previously scheduled safety orientations have been rescheduled. Please note that room reservation requests, fob requests, and equipment reservation requests are only handled when TVCOG offices are open. There will be no STEAM-Powered Saturday for the month of January due to the holiday; programming will return to its regular schedule in February.
As always, the COG is still open to members during their regular access hours. We want to remind our members to please review the following safety guidelines before coming in during the holidays:
Our current COVID-19 policy requires that everyone wear a mask in the facility, regardless of vaccination status.
Masks are required for everyone aged 2+ at all times, except:
1. When actively eating or drinking.
2. When alone in the Board Room or SEFCU Community Room (doors shut).
This policy still stands even when you are in the facility alone. As a reminder, these guidelines have been set in order to comply with current NYS guidelines. Any business found to be noncompliant may be fined and sanctioned.
In addition, we expect members to follow our standard safety procedures as well. Any tool labeled RED should not be operated while alone in the building. Members are allowed to bring guests to act as observers while they operate RED equipment, provided they sign their guest in.
If you are a member planning to come to the facility during New Year's holiday hours and are unsure of your membership status, please check your status by signing into your account on our website.
We hope you have a wonderful Holiday season, and look forward to another year here all together at TVCOG!
Best Regards,
TVCOG Staff
Posted 12/23/21.
Important Notice To Members: Victorian Stroll
Important Notice to Members:
As you know, TVCOG will be hosting events this weekend as part of Victorian Stroll. The event will feature the Make It Upstate Holidaze Market, a free STEAM workshop for children, free holiday portraits, and tours of the COG. The COG will be open to the public for these events from 10am-2pm on December 4 and 12-5pm on December 5.
As such, we want to remind you of this important information regarding the event:
BUILDING & EQUIPMENT ACCESS The entire first floor is reserved for the duration of these events. The COG will only be open to the public during the official event times listed above, but the first floor of the COG will be in use from 8 am on December 4 through 6 pm on December 5. Furniture will be rearranged and some event equipment will remain here during this time; access to Zone equipment on the first floor outside of the official event hours may be limited. Members needing to use the equipment on the first floor during these times should plan accordingly.
The basement floor will be blocked off from visitors unless they are taking a tour; members using the Zones downstairs during the event should expect some interruption from tour groups.
Innovation spaces will remain undisturbed. Alternative coworking space has been arranged during the Stroll events for those who request it.
COVID-19 POLICIES In order to reduce the risk of contagion, we are requiring that all event attendees wear masks while in the building, regardless of vaccination status. Members here working on personal projects during the event are strongly encouraged to wear masks as well, in order to reinforce the event policy for public guests. Members should still sign in and out as usual if working on personal projects.
For more information, or to arrange alternative coworking space, please email TVCOG staff at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Click here to view TVCOG's room reservation, equipment reservation and public events calendar.
Thank you all for your patience and understanding. We hope to see you at the event.
--TVCOG Staff