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!
The Daleks are Coming!
If you’re keeping track (like we are) there are still 234 days until Maker Faire Milwaukee, and that’s fine with us, because it just means that Dalek Asylum Milwaukee has more time to build more Daleks!
Haven’t heard of the Dalek Asylum Milwaukee? Our friends at Milwaukee Record have the Dalek Scoop!
If you happen to stop by Milwaukee Makerspace for the Maker Faire Milwaukee Planning Meeting, you can probably get an in-person sneak peek at a few of the Daleks. While they seems a bit scary, they don’t mind having their photos taken.
Maker Faire Producers’ Summit
Hello, Milwaukee! Three of our Maker Faire Milwaukee Producers were able to attend the Maker Faire Producers’ Summit held in San Francisco this past weekend.
We were able to connect with people from around the world to find out how they run their Maker Faires, and to share what we know about doing it in Milwaukee the first two years.
We also got to talk to the crew at Maker Media, and gave them feedback, and got lots of great advice. (We also got a tour of American Steel Studios and got a sneak peek at MegaBots!)
We’re excited for 2016 and brought back a ton of ideas about how to make our Faire bigger and better than before! If you’re interested in helping with the planning, get in touch with us at volunteer@makerfairemilwaukee.com
Fired up for 2016!
We’re getting Fired up for the next Maker Faire Milwaukee! Mark your calendars now because it’s happening September 24th & 25th, 2016.
Sure, we’re still more than eight months away from the event but the planning committee has been busy with preliminary discussion about what we’d like to do for 2016.
Bigger and better than last year? That’s the plan! If you’re interested in attending Maker Faire Milwaukee, add it to your calendar now! (And if you’re interested in helping plan the event, get in touch with us!)
Remembering Maker Faire…
Did you miss Maker Faire Milwaukee? Or, were you there, but you miss it already because it was back in September? Fear not! We’ve got a great collection of photos for you to relive the experience. (We may even have a photo of you doing something awesome!)
Check out even more photos over on Flickr!
Star Wars Imperial March by AudioBody
Did you get to see AudioBody perform at Maker Faire Milwaukee? If not, here’s a taste of what you missed. Here they are performing the Imperial March from Star Wars. (And yes, a light saber battle does break out on stage!)
You can also see this video on YouTube.
Portrait of Bob Uecker
One of the things we did at Maker Faire Milwaukee was something we called “Cap and Scrap”, which involved collecting up all of the plastic bottle caps we could find, and using them to create a portrait… and we figured we should honor a Milwaukee legend in the process, so Bob Uecker was the obvious choice!
We couldn’t have done this project without the help of the community. Many family members and friends collected caps, and we even had our friends from the Fort Wayne Regional Maker Faire send us a big box of caps.
And finally, artist and designer Dena Nord was instrumental in taking the project on and helping people take part in the process by gluing the caps in place. (We also had a number of other volunteers helping out during the weekend so Dena could take a break!)
