Yesterday I covered the work of the good folks at Maker Media (MM) that has resulted in a national — and indeed global — “maker” phenomenon. As the movement heads back to NYC in a couple of months for its World Maker Faire in the city, here are the highlights of the rest of Thursday night’s Town Hall, garnered from MM staff presentations, comments by showcased partners, the revelatory Q&A, my individual discussions with Maker Media Team members in breakout sessions and my exchanges in the hospitality-driven meeting-epilogue:
v Adding to World Maker Faire’s growth promise, MMers and the audience-member Makers — at the Williamsburg Town Hall — seem to agree with other knowledgeable players in one important strategic point. NYC appears to be developing into America’s epicenter for Digital Fabrication and 3D printing — outstripping Silicon Valley in this disrupting-creativity segment. As 3D printing technology continues to grow in empowerment and drop in delivered price — particularly on the desktop — more Makers will employ Additive Manufacturing in their “making.”
v Given the booming, demonstrated growth-rates at Maker Faires in aggregate (2013 over 2012) — and extrapolating from the attendance figures of last year’s World Maker Faire New York (75,000) — this year’s Faire in the City could see 100,000 through the gates over its two weekend days of 20 and 21 September.
v As additional confirmations of international Maker Movement growth, MM has well-advanced plans to found a third “Flagship” Maker Faire in London, at Olympic Park, in the Summer of 2015. (This will add to this year’s original two: Maker Faire Bay Area in San Francisco and World Maker Faire in New York.)
v Sherry Huss and the MM Team also showcased the potential leverage and multiplier effects of New York City — the planet’s most diverse mega-city — as THE world hub of international Makerism. Maker Media’s World Maker Faire is designed to foster that important vector. (This is the only Maker Faire with “World” in its title and the branding reinforces the positioning.)
v [Note to MM: consider reaching out to and informing the 150+ foreign consulates in NYC about World Maker Faire and its international commercial implications. And, involve NYC & Company (the City’s official portal for tourism activities) to further spread the World Maker Faire “word.”]
v One MM Teammate commented that New York City — for several compelling reasons — would likely surpass Maker Faire Bay Area (the founding venue nine years ago) in size and influence. First, the City is America’s most prominent magnet for transcontinental flights, international tourism and foreign commerce. (A projected 56 million-total tourists and travellers are likely to visit NYC in 2014, of whom over 20% debark from foreign locations.) Furthermore, World Maker Faire’s geographic location, physical growth potential and transportation infrastructure assets in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens — on the former 1964 World’s Fair site — promise growth vectors superior to the Bay Area’s.
v In her Town Hall introductory remarks, Sherry Huss also announced MakerCon New York 2014. This event debuted in May at Maker Faire Bay Area. MakerCon (this link is to the 2014 Maker Faire Bay Area) is superseding 2012 and 2013’s Hardware Innovation Workshops — and perhaps incorporating other World Maker Faire Week events, e.g., Make a Makerspace Workshops — held as part of the Maker Faires in the Bay Area and NYC. The Hardware Innovation Workshops were semi-exclusive meetups of Maker insiders and industry players — and at least one was, in fact, an award winner. However, consonant with the “Year of the Maker” theme and positioning, MM is apparently out to democratize this Workshop’s usefulness in 2014 and going forward.
v So — Voila! — MakerCon is a conference (held during the Flagship Maker Weeks) by and for Makers. The key themes are tools of innovation, Maker community building and the business of Making. Here the fuller MM profile of this new event (see 2014 Maker Faire Bay Area online Overview here): “The Maker Movement is providing new insights into local and global manufacturing, design, workforce development, education and even creative culture. MakerCon will provide valuable, practical insights into the impact of the maker movement on science, business and technology.” Ms. Huss opined that 300 to 400 would attend the two days of MakerCon New York — prior to World Maker Faire itself — on September 17 and 18, 2014.
v I haven’t talked about some other ancillary (and also important) events during the Week (prior) of World Maker Faire New York 2014. These include:
v The Five-Borough Pop-Up Maker Tour, Sept 15-19: Discover making in NYC
v Maker Faire Traveler Program
v Maker Camp (a free summer camp for building, tinkering & exploring)
v Maker Faire Education Community
v It’s not an exhaustive list by any means, but certainly points to MM’s commitment.
You know, I’ve attended all four of the previous World Maker Faires here in the City. But, until I joined-in the MM Town Hall at Kickstarter in Williamsburg last week — and then researched deep into the Maker Faire phenomenon to write this two-part article — I never really understood how rich the Maker Faire ecosystem is. Maker Media Inc. — according to Sherry Huss — is an organization with only around 50 employees. Yet, MM has figured out how to empower a universe in the Maker Movement via its Maker Faires and its interlocking Maker Media offerings. Kudos!
I’m looking forward to participating in my fifth World Maker Faire New York 2014 in September… here’s hoping we can meet up there!
