Caption: The incredible MEEPs (Maker Expo Extraordinary Planners): (back) Darin, Ben, Ravi, Neil, Tyler, Agnes (front) Cam, Jen, Darcy, Tanya
Happy Monday! It’s Tanya from the Maker Expo Organizing committee. One (easy) question for you today:
What was your favourite MakerExpo moment or memory? (use the comments below)
Here’s a handful that came to mind as I sat down to blog.
- I loved the determination of one girl who arrived and told me she was going to do wet felting and that was it. My suggestions of the other 34 activities geared toward kids were met with a less than enthusiastic response because she knew what she came to do at MakerExpo.
- Or the pride oozing out of one child as she told me excitedly about “monkey princess” that she made at Stuffanoms, and mid-sentence she stopped, turned 90 degrees and exclaimed “wow look at that!” and ran off as she realized the TinkerTruck River was her next activity.
- After the organizers had dispersed from taking a group photos in front of Drew Ripley’s amazing balloon art, a young maker came up to me and told me all about her rocket, then we got into a deep discussion of what would happen if the rocket had landed in the fountain and we worked together to work through the pros and cons of all the possible options for retrieving the rocket in the event of a water landing.
What I realized on Sunday, is that despite the awesome-ness of the event, the best part of MakerExpo is the ripple effect that occurs in thousands of homes in the days, weeks (and likely months) after the event.
@CamTurner demonstrates the MakerExpo Hangover we all experienced
@TanyaMorose’s Fitbit stats for Sept 10. Wake up, go to city hall, run Expo, come home, sleep. Apparently running expo == walk 16km.
On Sunday, Cam and I nursed stunning #MakerExpo hangovers (being really tired despite a solid night’s sleep, coupled with a strong desire for both a morning and afternoon nap) while our two little makers bounced around the house full of seemingly endless energy. The experience at Cardboard Kingdom on Saturday developed into a day long project. We started with some dramatic play, sketched a paper prototype, made cardboard version one, learned a few things and perfected the design for cardboard version 2 and then learned about locktite. The periods of intense energy (or bouncing around the house) alternating with intense focus as little hands drew, cut, duct taped and problem solved are what bring joy to Cam and I (and the other Organizers), and why we spend most of the year bringing an MakerExpo to life.
First she made a plan.
Then she made a prototype.
Behold cardboard axe v2 (in progress), inspired by the Cardboard Kingdom
Then there are also Twitter posts like this:
@MakerExpo @Black_Robotics You inspired! He was asking about building robots and reenacting Bot Brawl with trucks! pic.twitter.com/mUMEAZfL5x
— Mike Pereira (@Mikey_Pereira) September 12, 2016
Words don’t effectively convey my gratitude for all those who chose to spend the day with us, your smiles, and enthusiasm are golden. Or my thanks to the 100 volunteers with whom the event wouldn’t have run smoothly. Or to those who shared their passion and creativity with us as exhibitors or installations. Or to the sponsors who enabled us to put on a top-notch event which was free for all to attend. To the awesome team of organizers, what a pleasure working with you. What a difference an enthusiastic group of citizens can make.
Cheer’s to a year long MakerExpo ripple effect to tide you over until fall 2017. – Tanya