This has been a pretty good venue for us to show off our projects in
the past... my vote is for sticking with the CSF... send Chris a note
if you have any other suggestions...
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:45:26 -0500
Subject: Cambridge Mini Maker Faire
From: Chris Connors <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Hello Makers!
The new year finds the Cambridge Mini Maker Faire at a crossroads.
You might be seeing this on several lists, sorry 'bout that.
When we started the Cambridge Mini Maker Faire, back in the early
days of 2010, there wasn't much precedent for the event or how to
run one. In the first year, I got the request to organize the
Cambridge Mini Maker Faire, and a few weeks later it was done. We
got lots of great exposure to interesting people, fascinating
projects, and showed off to a pleasantly unsuspecting public.
Our host, the Cambridge Science Festival gave us a date, tents,
chairs, publicity, and a crowd of several thousand. They do have
some restrictions: no commercial sales, no soldering, and they're
kind of picky about safety. Make gives us a larger organization of
events to align with, and we have gotten great publicity for
participants. Many of the people who exhibited for the first time at
the Cambridge Mini Maker Faire have gone on to present at other
minis and full Maker Faires in Detroit, San Francisco and New York.
It appears to me that this experience has been influential for
several people's careers.
In more recent times, there have been some changes. Mini Maker
Faires are a much more established institution. There have been
hundreds worldwide, and several within a couple of hours drive from
the Boston area. In the Fall, many of us had a lot of fun at the
Somerville Mini Maker Faire, sponsored by the amazing
<http://artisansasylum.com/>Artisans Asylum. There are new licensing
deals and fees as the Mini Maker Faire organization becomes more official.
In the next week, there is a deadline for the print materials of the
Cambridge Science Festival. Before making the commitment, it makes
sense to get a feel for people's interest.
What I am asking you is for some input on the continuation of
Cambridge Mini Maker Faire. There are several things that could happen:
* We could participate in this year's Science Festival Carnival,
(which will be on Saturday, April 13th this year). If we do this,
we would need to have more of a collaborative planning process with
a group approach. I would suggest that we consider doing much more
hands-on activities, like what Parts and Crafts and DuckyBoats did
last year. We could also look into having a stage setup for
presentations, but with a short 4 hour window, this might be challenging.
* We could seek out other venues. This is more complicated, as
we would need to find our own tents, chairs, electricity, and
crowd, all of which can be done, but probably not until the summer.
* We could enjoy all the newer events that have popped up in the
time since the first Cambridge Mini Maker Faire in 2010.
If you are interested in a combination of items 1 and 2 above,
please get in contact with me, or use the Google Group to voice your
ideas on making an engaging community experience. Google Group:
<https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/maker-faire-boston-exhibitors>https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/maker-faire-boston-exhibitors
There is also a page on Facebook:
<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cambridge-Mini-Maker-Faire/239495696136994>https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cambridge-Mini-Maker-Faire/239495696136994
In the next few days, I will need enough yes votes and ideas on
development to make sure there's interest before green lighting this
year's Cambridge Mini Maker Faire.
Thanks!
Chris Connors
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]
_______________________________________________
Hardwarehacking mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/hardwarehacking
