I had good fortune to attend Maker Faire 2010 - Bay Area - this past weekend in San Mateo. This was my first Maker Faire and an incredible experience beyond my wildest dreams. I had no idea the massive scale upon which the Faire operates. One could have spent a week and probably not have seen everything:
Aside from all the cool gadgets & amazing inventions, a big highlight for me was spending time in the Learn to Solder tent with Mitch Altman (TV-B-Gone inventor & Noisebridge founder; http://www.tvbgone.com/) and Jimmie Rodgers (LoL shield creator;http://jimmieprodgers.com/). Over 3,000 people learned to solder over the weekend and got to go home with a nifty souvenir they created with their hands and the confidience to tackle more complex kits & projects:
Another highlight was the Hackerspaces panel on the Maker stage which was moderated by Mitch Altman. It was great to see the leaders of spaces from around the country. My local space, Pumping Station: One (Chicago's Hackerspace,http://pumpingstationone.org/), was represented well on the panel by our founding member Eric Michaud.
The most awe-inspiring display I saw was 'Soma' by the Flaming Lotus Girls which modeled neurons in metal & flame:
Also, got to see the wonderful hackerspaces out there Noisebridge & Hacker Dojo (in Mountain View). I thought Noisebridge (https://www.noisebridge.net/) was immense and then I visited the Dojo (http://hackerdojo.pbworks.com/)
which is insanely huge - basically 2 story office building:
I'm still posting backlog of Maker Faire photos at:
http://twitpic.com/photos/pdp7
I'm really pysched for Maker Faire Detroit & New York this year. I need another DIY fix bad =D
Drew
~pdp7~
