Nerdy Derby in Madison
In preparation for Nerdy Derby 2016 at Maker Faire Milwaukee a group of volunteers consisting of the Maker Faire Planning Group, employees of Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, employees of American Science & Surplus, members of Milwaukee Makerspace (and a few new friends) took a road trip to the MadisonMini Maker Faire and ran a Nerdy Derby event that consisted of building over 500 cars in 8 hours!
We managed to run out of nails around mid-day, which facilitated a hardware store run, and a quick trip to The Bodgery for a drill, but we just kept going!
The kids had a blast… and so did the adults! Not just the ones checking out the Faire, but everyone who volunteered to run the Derby seemed to be smiling and having a good time helping kids learn how to get hands-on and build cars they could race, and then take home.
It was great to send over 500 kids home with cars that they made. For some kids it may have been the first time they got to swing a hammer or use a hot glue gun. Basic maker skills so many of us take for granted.
Here’s the crazy crew who kept things running smooth all day. Thanks to all of the folks who volunteered their time and expertise!
Want to see more? Check out some of the photos over on Flickr!
Madison Mini Maker Faire
If you’re in Madison this weekend check out the Madison Mini Maker Faire happening on Saturday, May 14th, 2016. It’s their first event and looks like it should be a great start for Madison’s entrance into the Maker Faire family.
The crew from Milwaukee Makerspace and Betty Brinn Children’s Museum (the co-hosts of Maker Faire Milwaukee) will be there running a scaled-down version of the Nerdy Derby activity that’s been part of our event for the last few years.
If you’re there on Saturday stop by and say “Hi” to our crew and build a miniature race car!
The Call for Makers is Coming!
We’re just a few weeks away from the Call for Makers, where we’ll open up the application process to makers, speakers, workshop leaders, Power Racing teams, cosplayers, and anyone else who wants to gather up the awesome things they’ve been creating and share them at Maker Faire Milwaukee.
If you haven’t applied before, the application form will walk you through a series of questions to determine what your needs are. Things like how much space, and how much power you’ll need (if any) and if your exhibit has fire, we’ll need to know about that too.
If you’re worried that you’ll forget about the Call for Makers, just sign up for our Email List. There’s a tiny form in the sidebar of the website. Just enter your email address and click ‘Sign Up’!
National Week of Making
What better way to kick off the summer than with a Week of Making! The White House will be celebrating the National Week of Making June 17th through the 23rd, 2016 and they are inviting libraries, museums, rec centers, schools, universities and community spaces to support and grow the number of citizen-makers.
Here’s a snippet from President Obama’s National Week of Making Proclamation:
“Makers and builders and doers — of all ages and backgrounds — have pushed our country forward, developing creative solutions to important challenges and proving that ordinary Americans are capable of achieving the extraordinary when they have access to the resources they need.”
How can you get involved? Share your latest project, or a maker event you attend. Inspire others to be creative and try new things. If you post anything online about your making activities, use the hashtags #NationOfMakers and #WeekofMaking
Learn more about the National Week of Making, and help spread the Maker Movement in your community!
Maker Faire Planning Continues…
With just over 150 days until Maker Faire Milwaukee we’re back to our regularly scheduled planning meetings. We’ll be meeting this Wednesday, April 20th, 2016 at Milwaukee Makerspace. Join us at 7pm to discuss Maker Faire and various ways we can improve things this time around.
Not sure what you can offer? Come anyway! We’ve got lots of volunteer opportunities, and we’re always looking for people with good ideas, or just to provide feedback on what we have planned.
(If you’re a Facebook user, let us know you’re coming on our event page!)
Maker Faires can impact businesses
For many involved in Maker Faires, they are about seeing and experiencing amazing things, and getting excited and inspired. Maker Faires are a lot of fun! But there’s another side, which involves the business community.
At the Westport Mini Maker Faire local businesses have found that Maker Faires are a great place to showcase new products, find new customers, and connect with suppliers, distributors, partners, and investors. (Check out the article The unexpected business impact of Maker Faire for more on the successes they’ve seen.)
Here in Milwaukee, there are a number of opportunities for businesses to get involved with Maker Faire. At the highest level, sponsoring Maker Faire Milwaukee helps us to continue to put on the largest FREE Maker Faire in the United States. Interested in sponsoring? Find out more!
If sponsoring the event is beyond what your business can do, we’ve got other opportunities for involvement. Get in touch with us via email at sponsors@makerfairemilwaukee.com to discuss.
Hackaday World Create Day
If you hear the word “hack” do you think about a break-in to a computer system, or do you think of a clever solution to an interesting problem?
Maker are often hackers, the kind who come up with crazy (or completely sane) solutions. The web site Hackaday is a daily dose of “fresh hack” from makers/hackers around the world. Hackaday strives to promote the free and open exchange of ideas and information, which is similar to the mission of Maker Faire Milwaukee.
The first Hackaday World Create Day is happening Saturday, April 23rd, 2016, and they’re looking for people to get involved! The goal is to create technology solutions for social change, which is something we’re really excited about. Hopefully some of the ideas will be submitted to the Hackaday Prize, which is about using your maker skills to create a better world.
Check out the Design your concept phase for more info, and join the rest of the hackers/makers in trying to improve the world!
(And if you do come up with something amazing that has world-changing potential, we’d love to have you share it at Maker Faire this year!)
What is a Maker?
Occasionally people ask what a “maker” is, or if they qualify as a maker. Here’s a video that expresses our opinion on the matter.
We believe the answer is simple, all of us are makers!
If you need more convincing, watch the video, and then join us September 24th & 25th, 2016 at Wisconsin State Fair Park for Maker Faire Milwaukee.
Calling all Cosplayers!
One area of making that I don’t personally have much experience with is cosplay (costume play) but I have a few friends who are really into it, and I’m always amazed at the work they do. Some of them are great at sewing, others are masters at making props, and some use digital fabrication techniques while other focus on adding electronics to costumes.
There’s a great collection of cosplay posts on the Make web site, and Adafruit highlights amazing work they find around the web. Another place to find cosplay inspiration is Instructables.
The web sites mentioned are all great, but we want to get real live cosplayers involved in Maker Faire Milwaukee!
If you’re a cosplayer who wants to share your work, either by having a table where you talk to attendees, or by leading a workshop showing a hands on technique, we’d love to help make that happen. Our Call for Makers isn’t open yet, but when it is, we’ll make sure there’s a spot for cosplayers.
And if you don’t want to commit to a table or workshop, you can always come to Maker Faire in costume! Show off your awesome making skills while you enjoy the event.
So Many Maker Faires!
Maker Faires happen all over the world! The flagship events happen in New York and the Bay Area, and there are plenty of smaller events (known as Mini Maker Faires) and even School Maker Faires…
Here in Milwaukee we’re proud to be designated as one of the Featured Faires, which is considered to be an event worth traveling to attend. Less than twenty Maker Faires around the world fit in the Featured Faire category.
What this means to those of us planning the event is that we need to work harder than ever to bring you the best of what Maker Faires have to offer. We want you to be amazed and inspired, not just when you visit Maker Faire Milwaukee, but for months after the event as well. We want you to leave excited about being a maker, and planning your next project.
We hope to see you at Wisconsin State Fair Park September 24th & 25th, 2016 for Maker Faire Milwaukee!