Pete Prodoehl, Author at Maker Faire Milwaukee

Thank you for another great Maker Faire Milwaukee! Thanks to all the attendees, all the volunteers, all the makers and helpers, and everyone involved. We truly could not do this without you! And of course, a special thanks to our sponsors, who make it all possible, and help keep this the largest free attendance Faire in North America.

This year we had over 245 makers, more than 1000 students for Field Trip Friday, and attendance of 16,470. We also moved the Faire to the Wisconsin Center in Downtown Milwaukee, just up the street from Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, the producers of the Faire.

We hope you enjoyed yourselves, and learned something new, and left Maker Faire Milwaukee feeling inspired by what you saw and experienced. If you want to be kept up-to-date with what’s happening, join our mailing list. You’ll be the first to know about next year’s event and when our Call for Makers application opens.

Hello Maker Faire Fans! We’ve now got over 200 makers preparing to wow you with their creativity in less than three weeks. More Makers = More Awesome! Browse through the list and we’re sure you’ll find something you like, or a lot of somethings you’ll like. We are currently processing a number of late applications and if you still want to apply, please do. (No guarantees, but if we can fit you in, we’ll do our best.) As always, if you have question, get in touch at info@makerfairemilwaukee.com

For the Makers out there, you should be reading the Maker Manual right now (check your email!) as it contains all the details you need to take part in the Faire, including deadlines, instructions on load-in, participation of helpers, info on selling at the Faire, etc.

For attendees, get your tickets! We just cannot stress this enough. Tickets are free, and they are required to gain entrance to the Faire. You’ll save yourself a lot of time and you’ll be able to skip the long registration lines (and make thing easier for our crew & volunteers) by getting a ticket ahead of time.

The BizTimes has just released the 2019 Southeastern Wisconsin edition of STUFF, which is a workforce development publication for teens and young adults, and we’re proud to be mentioned with a “mark your calendars” note. (You’ve already marked them for September 14th & 15th, 2019, right?), and to have the support of BizTimes as our 2019 Faire Media Sponsor.

The aim of STUFF is an important one, and is a major theme of Maker Faire Milwaukee, and the year-round work we do at Brinn Labs. If you’ve not yet heard of Brinn Labs, it’s the headquarters for Maker Faire Milwaukee and the Maker Initiatives of the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, offering classes, workshops, and field trips for students. Check them out at brinnlabs.org

Can’t wait for a printed copy of STUFF? Make sure you take a look at the online version. It’s filled with some great local companies doing amazing things, many of whom are looking to hire innovators and makers.

The numbers keep climbing! We now have 125 Makers signed up to join us at Maker Faire Milwaukee this year, and there’s more going through the approval process right now. Take a look at some of the awesome Makers joining us this year. If you’re into Star Wars, Doctor Who, ceramics, high voltage, interactive art, DIY vehicles, 3D printers, or cat toys, you’ll want to join us!

If this your first time applying, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us and we’ll answer questions you might have. Maybe you’re curious about the new venue, or transportation, or parking, or nearby hotels… Don’t worry, we can answer any and all questions!

And if you’re not applying, maybe you just want to attend the Faire, that’s great, too. You can pre-register for tickets now!

We’ve got 80 Makers signed up to join us at Maker Faire Milwaukee this year, and a few more have just trickled in, so expect the list to keep growing. Check out some of the awesome people joining us this year. Sure, we’ve got Daleks, but there’s also electric vehicles, arts, crafts, robots, fibers, scroll saws, cosplay, and even cat toys!

And hey, our Call for Makers is still open until August 1st, 2019, so while it might seem like there’s plenty of time, there isn’t! (Insert bit about time being wibbly wobbly here.)

If this your first time applying, we’re happy to have you join us! Don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions you might have. Maybe you’re curious about the new venue, or parking, or nearby hotels… Trust me, we can answer any questions. Try us!

And if you’re not applying, maybe you just want to attend the Faire, that’s great, too. You can pre-register for tickets now!

Our Call for Makers has been open for roughly 50 days and we’ve got exactly 50 makers approved. If the last five years has taught us anything, it’s that many makers tend to procrastinate. Some of them see something shiny, or start a new project, and totally forget to apply to show off their awesome things at Maker Faire. If you haven’t applied yet, don’t worry, you’ve got until August 1st, 2019 before the Call for Makers closes.

If this your first time applying, we’re happy to see you join us! And, please feel free to reach out to us with any questions you might have. Maybe you’re curious about the new venue, or want to know more about the Career & College Exchange. We can answer any questions you might have.

And if you’re not applying, maybe you know someone who should. If you do, make sure they know the Call for Makers is open, and awaiting more awesome Makers to join us!

We’ve had a few questions about Maker Faire Milwaukee based on the news from Maker Media. We thought we would take a minute to assure you that Maker Faire Milwaukee (September 13-15, 2019) will continue moving forward as planned.

Here are some of the questions we’ve been getting, and the answers to go along with them. If you need further details, please contact us at makers@makerfairemilwaukee.com

Who is Maker Media, and what do they have to do with Maker Faires?

Maker Media published MAKE: magazine and created Maker Faire. They produced two Maker Faire events, San Francisco and New York, and they licensed the name to hundreds of community organizers around the world who produce more than 200 independent Maker Faire events.

In Wisconsin, Milwaukee hosts the largest free attendance Maker Faire held in North America. It’s known as a “Featured Faire” and will celebrate it’s sixth year in 2019. Wisconsin has also had a number of “Mini Maker Faires” in Madison, Elkhorn, Pleasant Prairie, and Sheboygan.

The production teams for these events license the trademarked Maker Faire name from Maker Media. There is brand recognition in the name and in the Maker Movement, and there is a collaboration between the organizations who run them.

Hang on, I still don’t know what a Maker Faire is. Can you explain?

Maker Faire events are an opportunity for curious people who enjoy learning to see what others in the community are working on. It’s a marketplace of ideas and experiments, where makers can show off their passion projects, hobbies, and more.

Maker Faire Milwaukee is a three-day event, and typically sees attendance over 30,000 for the weekend to view the work of over 250 makers and exhibitors.

So the event is going on as planned?

Yes! We’re less than 100 days out from Maker Faire Milwaukee, and our Call for Makers is open, and you can now register and get tickets for the event. (Tickets are free, but there are paid options as well if you wish to help support our mission.)

We love the Maker Media organization and the team that worked there. They helped us get Maker Faire Milwaukee started, and they offered an incredible amount of help and advice to make it a better event year after year.

We need community support more than ever. Now is the perfect time to get involved if you want to continue Maker Faire in your local community.

Who runs Maker Faire Milwaukee?

Maker Faire Milwaukee is produced by Betty Brinn Children’s Museum as part of their Maker Initiatives program. We also collaborate with Milwaukee Makerspace to host the event. We’ve done this for five years, and we’re excited to continue into the sixth year and beyond.

If you’re interested in getting in touch with us or any of the Maker Faire Milwaukee organizers, let us know at info@makerfairemilwaukee.com

How can I help?

Thank you! Tell your friends! Invite your neighbors! Yell from the rooftops! But only during the day, please.

Maker Faire Milwaukee is September 13th, 14th, and 15th. If you want to exhibit, volunteer, or attend, please sign up for future news through our email updates.

Also, we are always looking for sponsors to help support the Faire.

Where to people come from to attend Maker Faire Milwaukee? Where do the Makers travel from to join us and share the things they make?

These are questions we started wondering in 2016, and we did a trial of collecting location information (just their zip code) from attendees and makers so we could find some answers. The test was successful, and revealed some interesting data, so we expanded it and rolled it out in 2017 and did it again in 2018. The map above shows where Makers and attendees traveled from in 2017 and 2018 to take part in Maker Faire Milwaukee.

Here’s a quick “how to” for the live map embedded above. If you touch the icon in the upper left of the map…

You’ll get a sidebar showing the different views you can choose from. (We break it down by year, and separate Makers and attendees. Each year has its own color as well.)

You can turn on and off the views, so you can toggle between the years, and separate Makers from attendees for some interesting data on where people came from. You can also pan and zoom like you can on any Google Map.

As we’ve pulled all this data together, we’ve been amazed at where people have told us they are from. Back when we started in 2015 we never would have imagined people traveling from across the country to take part in Maker Faire Milwaukee. We hope you’ll join us in 2019 to add a few more pins to the map. 🙂

The news is out and we couldn’t be more excited! Maker Faire Milwaukee will be at the Wisconsin Center, 400 W. Wisconsin Ave, in Downtown Milwaukee September 13th through the 15th, 2019. (We’re also thrilled to announce that the Wisconsin Center District is one of our Presenting Sponsors for 2019.)

We will announce details about special programs for students, educators and this year’s Industry, Career & College Exchange soon. Of course, the Faire will also host hands-on workshops, performances, demonstrations and events – and welcomes makers of all ages and interests to exhibit their work at the Greatest Show (& Tell) on Earth.

In the coming weeks (and months) we’ll be telling you all you need to know to show off what you make, join us as a sponsor, and attend the event. First things first, our Call for Makers is open! We need you and the awesome things you make to sign up and join us in showing Milwaukee (and the world) what you create, and how you do it. We’re not much of a show without makers, so don’t wait… the Call for Makers is scheduled to close August 1st, 2019.

To every maker, every volunteer, every helper, and every attendee… Thank You! Thank You for making Maker Faire Milwaukee 2018 happen. We had over 250 Makers, a number of events within the event, including a Field Trip Friday with over 800 students, an Education Conference, Midwest Tech Connect, and talks and performances and hands-on activities, and this year we took on the entire Expo Center, Hall A, B, and C. Whew!

We got a lot of positive responses to the event, and lots of good feedback. The crew is feeling pretty good about things, and we’re excited to come back again next year. We hope you enjoyed yourselves, and learned something new, and left Maker Faire Milwaukee feeling inspired by what you saw and experienced. If you want to be kept up-to-date with what’s happening, join our mailing list. You’ll be the first to know about next year’s event and when our Call for Makers application opens.

We hope to see you next year… Keep on Making!