Thursday, October 25, 2007

How is it Thursday? No really, how can the entire week be gone?

We all gathered in Austin to share, learn and celebrate the idea of Making.
Maker Faire 2007 was fantastic!

Maker Faire!

Yes, this really is a giant home made human powered ride that was there.... I was on the phone with Nathan telling him how much fun I was having and how it was 90 degrees out and this thing comes a-rollin' around the corner..... don't get me wrong, it went pretty slow.
Human Powered Ride!

For those of you who may be a bit behind I was invited to speak at Maker Faire last weekend, to share my experience of making Handmade Nation and to talk about the DIY Craft community. My talk was 30 minutes long and included the revised version of the clip. Three BIG first's happend:

#1. It was the first time I had ever spoke to a large audience.
#2. It was the first time I had ever watched a group of people watch the film footage.
#3. It was the first time I had SEEN the footage on a big screen!!

My talk went well, I got good feedback and I didn't choke up, blank-out OR swear (at least I don't remember swearing) so I am really pleased with that....

As far as the rest of the event weekend I have nothing but rave reviews. I got to learn how to crochet, use a loom, watch ladies hand make lace, see a human mouse trap in action, watch hundreds of bottles of coke explode (click that to watch the movie on the MAKE blog) with the aid of a mentos, check it out...
Mega-Fountain using Diet Coke and Mentos!

Makers of all shapes came out to represent: tech geeks, organic farmers, crafty hipsters, skilled crafts people, bike builders, side show freaks and tons of rad family's with kids who had a blast.

Here is a quick re-cap of my 72 hours in Austin

I left at 5 a.m. for Austin from Milwaukee on Saturday October 20th
Waiting for the taxi, 5 a.m. Saturday

I saw the sun rise outside the plane window....
Sun Rising on the way to Austin!

Got to Maker Faire by 12:00 in the afternoon!!
Maker Check-In

George Hotz, the 17 year old who cracked the iphone...
George Hotz: 17 year old who cracked the iphone

Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching gave a great talk about her skills, inspiration and business
Jenny Hart giving her "talk"

Human Sized Mouse Trap, yes... just like the game!!
Human Size Mouse Trap

I couldn't resist, here is the game (it never was as cool to play as it was on the commercial, right?)


These ladies make lace by hand!!
Handmade Lace!

This guy named Cory Fogel had a conceptual project called "Purl Drums" where he was knitting and playing drums at the same time, for two days!!
Corey Fogel, Purl Drums

Thank you O'Reilly Media for inviting me to be a part of such a fantastic experience.
psssst.. O'Reilly Media is responsible not only for Maker Faire but the fantastic magazines know as MAKE & CRAFT!

I took over 400 photographs (I know totally excessive) BUT then I had a disastrous camera problem. Thankfully, my good friend and assistant editor of Handmade Nation, Joe Wong retrieved the photos using some magic software and a wave of a wand....

The entire flickr set is HERE

No comments: