Mission Mini Maker Faire

I wanted to make sure it was clear to everyone that because we are pushing the faire date out in order to secure a venue, our Call for Makers is still open.  So, go ahead and sign up and continue to spread the word! We have a couple of dozen great proposals, and have room for more.  We are looking for folks/groups to demonstrate their work, maker-vendors who will guide faire attendees through the process of creating something themselves, speakers, and vendors. If you have an idea, but are still in the process of developing it, go ahead and sign up, or drop me a note and I’ll send you some words of advice or encouragement.

This has been quite the journey for the Mission Mini Maker Faire production team. We are so thankful to have met so many new and experienced makers, as well as dedicated volunteers.  Tonight we hosted our third Town Hall, and had the opportunity to engage deeply with a handful mix of new and experienced makers and volunteers. Our company included Mathilde who is heavily involved with 3-D printing, and EMH Studios who have created a table-top recycler for 3-D printing castoffs. How’s that for symbiotic?  I reconnected with Casey an alternative elementary education who offered to help across a variety of areas. Thanks to Michelangelo and Robert and Paul for continued dedicated interest.

The big news right now, and the most critical next step is getting that space locked down!  As you might recall from the last Town Hall recap, we were working with a local high school as a primary venue for the Mission Mini Maker Faire. The administration we were talking with were super interested in, and supportive of our endeavor, however there was rightful, serious concern for the toll that a faire would take on the gymnasium floor–the heart of where we expected the action to take place. The school has a beautiful, recently refinished floor, but no professional floor covering. Oh that we could reach into our pockets and gift a covering to them, as they need one for other all-school events. Principal Mark Alvarado was very thoughtful with us, and if anyone out there has a hook-up for a gym floor covering donation, please hook John O’Connell High School (Home of the Boilermakers!) up with one!

That said, we are in the process of looking at the other options we explored, and realizing that the cogs turn slowly for these types of things. We believe we may have found another perfect space, however we may not know for yet another week, as we cycle through the application process. As such, we will be moving the Mission Mini Maker Faire event date out, along with the Call for Makers.  Many of our Town Hall attendees breathed a sigh of relief, and I hope many of you will also!  All we can say right now is that the MMMF will be held sometime between February and the end of April 2013.  I promise that the minute we have secured our location and date, I will post to the community!

Thanks all for your continued dedication and patience. It will be worth it! Stay tuned!

This weekend, my son and I (and a few other thousand people) attended the East Bay Mini Maker Faire. What an amazing and inspiring event! Although this was their third year holding the event, it was the first time I visited and experienced a Mini Maker Faire in the context of the gorgeous Park Day School campus. We didn’t follow the map we’d printed out, but rather we followed our ears and noses, and wandered and stumbled upon one amazing experience after another! It was thought-provoking to see how the fair settled into the Park Day School and Studio One Art Center environments, and it really drove home how unique each MMF is destined to be.

Our venue planning team (Wendy, Jason, and Melanie) are working hard to source and secure space to help host our faire. Although logistics would be much easier if we could rent out a one-stop-shop exhibition hall, not only are there no such creatures to be found in the Mission, but we really feel that the embedded community approach continues to resonate as the natural habitat for the Mission Mini Maker Faire.  That’s to say, the team is tasked to source a handful of medium to large sized spaces within walking distance of the Brightworks host school, and one another. The Mission has a long history of being an urban hot-bed for makers and tinkerers and hackers and creatives. Our hope is that a few  of you will open your spaces for demonstrations or tours, in addition to those who will host Makers from other parts of the Mission, the City, and beyond.

Here are a few action items for those who want to help us move forward:

1. Have a space you’d like to share or open up for demonstrations or workshops? Please contact info@missionmakerfaire.com.
2. Know of any great spaces within a roughly 4 block radius of Bryant and 18th Streets that you think would be a great venue to hold some aspect of the faire? Let us know. If you have a contact name, all the better!

1. Continue to get the word out about our Call for Makers! Share and like and blog and email and talk!
2. Send email to info@missionmakerfaire telling us what types of makers/vendors/workshops/speakers interest you most.
3. Subscribe to this blog for updates! See the link to the right. It is not only painless, but convenient, as it delivers new blog posts to your inbox. No need to check back for updates!

Keep on makin’!