London Mini Maker Faire

[unknowndomain]

Hey folks,

Just throwing this out there, I have been to several Maker Faire's now and I don't get why there isn't one in London, so just interested to see how many people would like to collaborate and get such an event setup here in London...

Have there been attempts before?

Does anyone have experience in this area to share?

Thanks

Tom

[Mike Harrison]

I don't understand why:
a) there hasn't been a full-on London MF
and b) there seems to be minimal crossover between MF type things and the well-established Model
Engineering shows - surely a joint ME show and MF would be the obvious thing to do - the ME show
would get more punters and the MF would have a guaranteed minimum turnout.

[unknowndomain]

Hey Mike,

I totally agree, I don't know why there hasn't been a Maker Faire in London, and why O'Reilly don't seem interested in the UK (or rather non US markets), however I am also puzzled why there hasn't been a Mini Maker Faire in London given the size of LHS and the creative/craft/maker/hacker communities.

With regards to Model Engineering shows, I guess they would work well along side however they have a very specific niche which probably isn't so appealing to the wider audience, that isn't to say they couldn't exhibit or work along side, I remember going to one at a local school as a kid.

Fancy putting your hat into the pile to help out?

Thanks

Tom

p.s. Love the videos, keep it up and where do you get those finds, what do you search?

[Charles Yarnold]

Hi Tom,

Most of the efforts of people at the space who enjoy organising these types of things have had their efforts directed at Electromagnetic Field over the last year.

I have thought about this, but with information from un-named sources, the actual benefit from having the MF brand verses the pain to get it approved isn't worth much. It may well be better to start our own brand, Maker Fete anyone?

Also, putting on events of this size in london is £££££

Sol

[Tom Lynch]

Hey,

EMF is a great idea but it isn't anything like a Maker Faire, it's more like a Maker Camp, anyway I think the MF brand gets a lot, however each to their own.

I have experience organising a series of events called Open GDNM over the past two years (a design conference) and organising exhibitions before, I know events are expensive, however I think a venue sponsor could be a possibility having spoken to many in the past, Venue's make up 50% of the cost of many events in London.

Tom

[Charles Yarnold]

EMF is a great idea but it isn't anything like a Maker Faire, it's more like a Maker Camp, anyway I think the MF brand gets a lot, however each to their own.

Umm, did you come? It may have been more like one than you think.

Asking attendees to the last few MF's I have been exhibiting at, most have never heard about them before, so aslong as the name and branding has the same message as MF its noting to reduce its appeal by calling it another name.   

I have experience organising a series of events called Open GDNM over the past two years (a design conference) and organising exhibitions before, I know events are expensive, however I think a venue sponsor could be a possibility having spoken to many in the past, Venue's make up 50% of the cost of many events in London.

This is one of the many reasons I suggested calling it by another name, getting sponsorship cleared by O'riley is a pain in the bum.

I'm all for holding a MF in london, my main point is "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

[Tom Lynch]

EMF is a great idea but it isn't anything like a Maker Faire, it's more like a Maker Camp, anyway I think the MF brand gets a lot, however each to their own.

Umm, did you come? It may have been more like one than you think.

Unfortunately I couldn't because I couldn't get time off.

Asking attendees to the last few MF's I have been exhibiting at, most have never heard about them before, so aslong as the name and branding has the same message as MF its noting to reduce its appeal by calling it another name.   

I have experience organising a series of events called Open GDNM over the past two years (a design conference) and organising exhibitions before, I know events are expensive, however I think a venue sponsor could be a possibility having spoken to many in the past, Venue's make up 50% of the cost of many events in London.

This is one of the many reasons I suggested calling it by another name, getting sponsorship cleared by O'riley is a pain in the bum.

I'm all for holding a MF in london, my main point is "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

Ahh, wasn't aware of the sponsorship problems. Well the idea still stands, branded or otherwise.

[Mike Harrison]

On Sat, 8 Sep 2012 12:34:44 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:

>Hey Mike,
>
>I totally agree, I don't know why there hasn't been a Maker Faire in
>London, and why O'Reilly don't seem interested in the UK (or rather non US
>markets), however I am also puzzled why there hasn't been a Mini Maker
>Faire in London given the size of LHS and the creative/craft/maker/hacker
>communities.
>
>With regards to Model Engineering shows, I guess they would work well along
>side however they have a very specific niche which probably isn't so
>appealing to the wider audience, that isn't to say they couldn't exhibit or
>work along side, I remember going to one at a local school as a kid.

It seems to me that a combined show would be a very low-risk way of kicking things off and
establishing that there was a demand, as the incremental cost of another hall on an existing event
would seem pretty small compared to a standalone new event.
Last time I went to the London ME show at Ally Pally ISTR there was at least a whole hall unused.

>Fancy putting your hat into the pile to help out?

I'm afraid I rarely have the time, and am not well enough organised to organise anything!


As regards venues/costs, surely there must be an opportunity for a cheap venue with a University or
Arts type space, where they have a non profit-driven remit, and a space that's empty one weekend - a
couple that immediately come to mind are ULU & Ambika P3.

And of course sponsorship is a possibility - look how much Farnell/Element 14 spend on various
promotions of dubious value - sponsoring an event like this would surely get them a lot more
publicity and potential customers.

>EMF is a great idea but it isn't anything like a Maker Faire, it's more like a Maker Camp,

I lost interest at the word "Camp".

>Asking attendees to the last few MF's I have been exhibiting at, most have
>never heard about them before, so aslong as the name and branding has the
>same message as MF its noting to reduce its appeal by calling it another
>name.

And I wonder if a non MF-affiliated event may may it easier to get sponsorship and/or use of
noncommercial spaces maybe?

>p.s. Love the videos, keep it up and where do you get those finds, what do
>you search?

Trade Secret! Two more big teardown goodies coming up soon BTW!

[Charles Yarnold]

On the topic of why a full MF hasn't happened in London:

The only non mini one in the UK, Newcastle, only happens due to massive grants to pay for it, this is the reason there wasn't one last or this year, but will be next.

I'm guessing the scale in cost for Make to put one on in London would mean its pretty much ruled out unless they get hefty funding.

This in't to say we couldnt :)

[Tom Lynch]

Hey,

Perhaps I am crazy for thinking this but I don't see why in the capital city we can't try and make a thing of it, I think the Science Museum would be particularly interested if they aren't already making plans, primarilly because the Manchester MMF was run by MOSI which is a sister of the Science Museum.

I think a company like Farnell, RS or Rapid could be convinced to sponsor the event along with smaller partners, I think a venue could be negotiated for little to nothing from a London University, especially the Royal College of Art or Imperial College and I think free entry would get the crowds.

Thats how I would hope it would happen, and I would like to see a more mixed approach instead of focusing on the kids. I would like to see more hands on and less craft stalls, more makers. The reason for this is that the abundance of craft companies mean the maker faires always seem overwhelmed with craft stalls, I know they pay but still I think a focus on the maker rather than the craft companies is important.

Tom

On 8 Sep 2012, at 20:41, Charles Yarnold <charles...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Mike Harrison]

On Sat, 8 Sep 2012 21:36:07 +0100, you wrote:

>Hey,
>
>Perhaps I am crazy for thinking this but I don't see why in the capital city we can't try and make a thing of it, I think the Science Museum would be particularly interested if they aren't already making plans, primarilly because the Manchester MMF was run by MOSI which is a sister of the Science Museum.

I suspect the inertia in making decisions and politics of getting the SM involved could easily be
more of a hinderance than a help.

[Tom Lynch]

Possibly.

[Charles Yarnold]

Just to clarify, I'm totally up for this, just trying to point out the things I know about :)

[Tom Lynch]

I know it isn't going to be easy, I just think it is about bloody time!

[Jim MacArthur]

Do it. It's been discussed before and people have thrown up
*potential* problems, but I don't think anyone's looked into it in
detail. I'd agree that sharing with the London Model Engineering
Exhibition could be useful. I went last year, and it's not all lathes
and model railways - they have some quite varied stuff although it
does tend to be mechanical rather than electronic. Even just a stand
representing LHS/hackspaces would be good.

[Mike Harrison]

On Sat, 8 Sep 2012 22:07:28 +0100, you wrote:

>Just to clarify, I'm totally up for this, just trying to point out the
>things I know about :)

OK let's start with cost -any ideas on the minimum for, say a 2-day weekend event, to the nearest
power of ten, for a suitable venue and also other costs even if a cheap/free venue could be found?

I think free entry may be ambitious, and I don't think a small entry charge, no more than a fiver
with kids free would be a significant deterrent.

[Tom Lynch]

Personally I think a 2 day thing might be a bit much, the most sucessful MMF/MF I have seen was Brighton today and it is only on for one day for 8 hours. a two day event like the Newcastle MF might be a bit much.

When we ran a three day event out of a space on Bricklane this June it was £4.5k for the space, I think the space could be negotiated if the entry was free because it is more of a community spirited thing.

[Mike Harrison]

On Sat, 8 Sep 2012 22:10:31 +0100, you wrote:

>Do it. It's been discussed before and people have thrown up
>*potential* problems, but I don't think anyone's looked into it in
>detail. I'd agree that sharing with the London Model Engineering
>Exhibition could be useful. I went last year, and it's not all lathes
>and model railways - they have some quite varied stuff although it
>does tend to be mechanical rather than electronic. Even just a stand
>representing LHS/hackspaces would be good.

I've been to the LMEE about 3 times and two things struck me in particular
It was almost exactly the same set of exhibitors
The vistor demographic was primarily the 60+ retired age group.

It would seem that a MF type co-event could give a major influx of younger visitors, and be
beneficial to all concerned. The ME shows already give significant space to clubs (I assume at no
charge), so the concept of space for hackspaces and people showing cool noncommercial stuff as a
visitor attraction should be familiar.

[Mike Harrison]

On Sat, 8 Sep 2012 22:14:18 +0100, you wrote:

>Personally I think a 2 day thing might be a bit much, the most sucessful MMF/MF I have seen was Brighton today and it is only on for one day for 8 hours. a two day event like the Newcastle MF might be a bit much.

That may be a significant point - even in terms of things like overnight security and exhibitor
accommodation it could add signifcantly to costs and probably not double attendance

[Tom Lynch]

I think MMFs are the same, many bits I saw today were the same projects at Manchester and Newcastle the year before.

[Tom Lynch]

Saturdays are best.

[Chris Lowis]

> As regards venues/costs, surely there must be an opportunity for a cheap venue with a University or
> Arts type space, where they have a non profit-driven remit, and a space that's empty one weekend - a
> couple that immediately come to mind are ULU & Ambika P3.

Somewhere like Shoreditch Town Hall perhaps? I've been to a couple of
Fair-type events there and it's a nice space.

http://www.shoreditchtownhall.org.uk/

Chris

[Tom Lynch]

Yep, quite possibly, I would like to see if the space can be donated by a university so that might mean having it away from east london, which I personally wouldn't mind but I know how important location can be.

[Matt Wheeler]

On 8 September 2012 22:29, Tom Lynch <m...@unknowndomain.co.uk> wrote:
> Yep, quite possibly, I would like to see if the space can be donated by a university so that might mean having it away from east london, which I personally wouldn't mind but I know how important location can be.

I have some involvement with the School of Informatics external
activities group at City University (main campus is between Angel,
Farringdon and Barbican tube stations), and could possibly help
facilitate using some space there. The usual requirement is that some
allowance for students to attend is made.

The school does not run any hardware centric modules (e.g. robotics)
so it might not be an ideal fit, but it's still probably worth asking
about if you think the location is suitable.

I'll ask the rest of the group what they think and get back to the list.

--
Matt Wheeler
m...@funkyHat.org

[Peter "Sci" Turpin]

On 08/09/2012 20:41, Charles Yarnold wrote:
> Hi Tom,
>
> Most of the efforts of people at the space who enjoy organising these
> types of things have had their efforts directed at Electromagnetic Field
> over the last year.
>
> I have thought about this, but with information from un-named sources,
> the actual benefit from having the MF brand verses the pain to get it
> approved isn't worth much. It may well be better to start our own brand,
> Maker Fete anyone?
>

> Also, putting on events of this size in london is �����

This. I know some folk who used to run a small con in London a couple of
years ago. A few hundred atendees, about 3 days long. It being in
central London made it cost almost as much as going to a similar
week-long convention in the USA, including flights.

[Russ Garrett]

On 8 September 2012 20:12, unknowndomain <m...@unknowndomain.co.uk> wrote:

> Just throwing this out there, I have been to several Maker Faire's now and I
> don't get why there isn't one in London, so just interested to see how many
> people would like to collaborate and get such an event setup here in
> London...

To answer the implied question: It's not something that Jonty and I
are particularly interested in doing. Happy to provide advice, though.

--
Russ Garrett
ru...@garrett.co.uk

[Mike]

On Sat, Sep 08, 2012 at 08:46:09PM +0100, Tom Lynch wrote:
> Hey,
>
> EMF is a great idea but it isn't anything like a Maker Faire, it's more like a Maker Camp, anyway I think the MF brand gets a lot, however each to their own.
>

You probably purchased the weekend ticket. Purchase a day ticket and it
will look much more like a MakerFaire.

Mike.

[Ant]

Hi, I'm ant, one of the team behind BMMF this year (and a bit last year) and I've exhibited as a maker at Newcastle MF twice and the big bang science faire once. BMMF is yet to have its full debrief this year so these are random personal musings, but I've got a long train ride and some thoughts inspired by this thread, so brace yourselves:

Model engineering is an interesting parallel event to MF and mike p is looking at exhibit at brighton's big 2 day event next year. In Brighton the events are different but complementary. Model world is more commercial- entry is about £10 I think, and there are a lot of commercial stalls who pay to exhibit. Hence the whole operation is rather more like an enterprise. Haven't done ally pally one myself.

It would be interesting to exhibit at a model show too to get a better grip on the differences between the formats.

For the BMMF the focus is on making more makers- we want visitors to come back as makers one day. Visitors will have a wide experience/ ability range, and getting right down to the bottom of that range is an explicit objective of our faire. If you as a visitor have language, some dexterity and an attention span of five minutes we should something you can get your teeth into. There's a pressure to do more and more for really little kids too- we've resisted running a crèche but it'll probably come if we grow much more.

Clearly there is a tension there against the drive to make the faire a forum for the best and "hardest" of makers. It would be lovely to be able to show of a "best of the best" makes- some really inspirational big makes, but those are tough to move around. Also these often come from hack spaces, and as we saw this year these groups are already pushed hard: London had EMF and HacMan has MMMF, and to expect to be able to rock up at another MF a week or too later with some massive construction is unrealistic.

In fact, with Newcastle back next year, and derby and Manchester and Brighton likely to repeat (and others in the offing) I do wonder if another general mini maker faire is needed or desirable. Im not for a moment suggesting that you shouldnt put one on, but two of the most eagerly anticipated participants for BMMF were simply too knackered to join us, and thats largely down to an already packed calendar.

Happy to give more feedback from brighton once we've done our kaisan. I'm up in town every week Tuesday to Thursday, happy to bob to the hack space for a chat.

Cheers

Ant (@meeware)

[Russ Garrett]

On 11 September 2012 09:17, Ant <ant.m...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In fact, with Newcastle back next year, and derby and Manchester and Brighton likely to repeat (and others in the offing) I do wonder if another general mini maker faire is needed or desirable. Im not for a moment suggesting that you shouldnt put one on, but two of the most eagerly anticipated participants for BMMF were simply too knackered to join us, and thats largely down to an already packed calendar.

Yeah, my thoughts too. I'd much rather people made the trek up to
Newcastle and met up with everyone else than started a new mini maker
faire which further split up the hackerspace community (and
consequently made it less fun for everyone).

--
Russ Garrett
ru...@garrett.co.uk

[Adrian Godwin]

London has plenty of events already. It's a blessed relief to go somewhere else for a change.

-adrian

[tom]

yeah, given how stressed Russ and Jonty etc have been with EMF I dont think any of us want to be involved with more event organising. Hell its hard enough to get people to *go* to a makerfaire these days let alone organise one :)

rather than start another one why dont we coordinate our efforts for the next MF a bit better? Nottinghack are getting good at their presences and we cant let them outdo us :p

[Tom Lynch]

Sounds like we can count LHS out for any kind of support, a shame really I don't think the capital city should be without and as the entire infrastructure of London and surrounding areas is about getting to and from central London and the city I would think this would be the best place to hold one. 

I agree the quick succession of faires may be an issue however quite a bit this year is the same at all the faires and at the ones last year.

At this stage I think we will keep looking. Staff at the V&A and Watermans have committed to helping out with funding, equiptment and possibly the non-profit umbrella. Still yet to speak to the science museum.

Sent from my iPhone

[SamLR]

I imagine you'll get help from LHS, we have 507 members so I'm sure will be up for it. I'm afraid I wont be one of them though as I have a Thesis to write and a job to find.

S

[Tom Lynch]

I meant more that with EMF next year you'll probably be busy. I suspect people will contribute still. 

Sent from my iPhone

[Charles Yarnold]

No EMF next year :-)

[tom]

contribute: yes

organise at a level that involves losing sleep, sanity and hair: I doubt it.

if anything i'm more for starting something independent of Make, theyre getting quite sh*t these days.

[Paul Dart]

Just for clarification, EMF isn't actually part of LHS. It is a separate company, has separate accounts etc.

Its just that some of the core members also happen to be LHS core members.

Equally a lot of the crucial people from Hackspace weren't involved  in EMF and vice versa.

There is no hidden agenda here, just making sure its clear :-)

Thanks,
Paul

[Ant]

Totally your call, and I do get the "why not London?" point, but the thing is, it's actually "why not London too?" these days. And I don't think great things spring from a 'me too' approach. Brighton was a bit of a me too after Newcastle but it was the first grass roots MF event in the uk.

Can I suggest that rather than re invent the wheel the London maker community try and do something really innovative and new? Fix a new problem, fill a new hole? think about what stops the further progression of grass roots Hacking, perhaps look at the commercial rollover space. Kickstarter UK is launching soon, so perhaps an event in that space is a more innovative, original idea, and more likely to develop its own dedicated community. It's that phase of turning ideas and hacks into products and services that the uk sometimes struggles with, and one that London is uniquely situated to address.

Please read this with an internal head voice of a happy suggestive, supportive tone. That's how I'm writing it.

[Dominic of Nottinghack]

Hello

 

I'm Dominic, and I organised the Derby Mini Maker Faire. I did this mainly because I knew there wasn't going to be a main UK Maker Faire in 2011 and also knew that the Brighton Mini Maker Faire whilst awesome was a very long way for people north of London to go to. At that time we didn't know there was going to be a Mini in Manchester.

 

We'll probably do another Mini in Derby in 2013 and I've also been asked to organise a Mini in Bristol. I think that the Mini Maker Faires should become a very local event. If people want to travel from say Nottingham to say Brighton to exhibit that's up to them, but these things will become very awesome if the real local makers can be found and convinced to exhibit. For instance at next years Derby Mini Maker Faire, I'll really be trying to get makers locally to have tables rather than groups of makers i.e. individuals who have made something at say Nottingham Hackspace to exhibit that rather than on a group table. Big ticket items like HACMan's Big Toys and London's Mini Golf can be hired in with some costs towards transport if big ticket things are needed and can not be found locally.

 

I'd like to see a Hackspace Foundation stand at Mini Maker Faires, with leaflets and information on all the UK Hackerspaces rather than groups of Hackspaces on their own table. I was impressed in Ireland when I saw a banner with all the different Hackerspace logos on it. Obviously we'd have to do some vetting here in the UK before we added EVERY Hackerspace to a banner as some of them are just 1 creapy guy in their houses.

 

I'm fairly interested in the idea of a new brand for Mini Maker Faires, that doesn't include O'Reilly but that might be quite difficult to get the accolades that their Maker Faires get. That is to say I've found it advantageous to use that brand. The problem with O'Reilly ISN'T getting sponsors past them, it's that the Mini Maker Faire desk is so busy in the USA that they don't seem to have enough time or people to get back and OK application. I kept having to get O'Reilly UK to lean on them. Having said that I now have good communications with Sabastpol CA and the team at Maker Faire after the Derby Mini. The approach was really very hands off, but you have to drive the thing forward yourself really.

 

I'd be very interested in helping to organise a London based Mini Maker Faire, as long as it was about local London makers! I think you'd get an excellent turn out as well.

 

TL:DR - Lets Make MINI MAKER FAIRE a local faire and I'd be happy to help

 

Dominic

[Tom Lynch]

Hello Dominic,

Thanks for getting back to the group, I really appreciate your support and suggestions, I am not averse to the idea of predominantly local makers being featured, for me I too have my own ideas of what I want to bring to it, and that it about having more hands on interactivity, and less of a focus on entertaining kids for the day. I don't mind if there are kid friendly bits but so much of the time the fairs seem overly focused on kids. I am also keen to see if there is flexability for a electronics swap shop, where people could bring things to swap for others, however I am aware that this requires a surplus of stuff people want to start it. 

If your really interested we are going to organise a first meeting with those gathered so far in the next month or so.

Thanks

Tom

[tom]

we do not speak of the golf. Ever. Its gone to a better place now.

[Dominic of Nottinghack]

Tom - may it rest in pieces

 

Tom Lynch - Here is the thing, a Maker Faire isn't aimed at kids especially it's aim at everyone. There is a very proscriptive guidance to running a Maker Faire... out of curiosity have you been to any? I would say it'd be pretty difficult to spoon your own desired event into it. If you'd like this to be an event by techies for techies like a swap meet, I'd recommend organising swap meet...

 

Maker Faire is likely to attract a high number of families where both adults and children who are interested in making stuff. As an organiser you aren't really going to get to visit the faire as a punter either. From my point of view Maker Faire is important for outreach and getting the next generation interested in making. I know a number of people are sceptical about Maker Faire but I see no quick silver bullet to fix it.

 

I would as mentioned be interested in an alternative to Maker Faire but again I think it should be very family friendly.

 

Dominic

[Tom Lynch]

Tom - may it rest in pieces

?

 

Tom Lynch - Here is the thing, a Maker Faire isn't aimed at kids especially it's aim at everyone. There is a very proscriptive guidance to running a Maker Faire... out of curiosity have you been to any? I would say it'd be pretty difficult to spoon your own desired event into it. If you'd like this to be an event by techies for techies like a swap meet, I'd recommend organising swap meet...

I have been to several and I am not trying to making it anything, these are just things I'd like to see, just as you'd like to see it more local orientated, I'd like to see it less kid orientated, and as for the swap shop thing, well realisitically thats not going to happen but it's just a random idea that came out.

Maker Faire is likely to attract a high number of families where both adults and children who are interested in making stuff. As an organiser you aren't really going to get to visit the faire as a punter either. From my point of view Maker Faire is important for outreach and getting the next generation interested in making. I know a number of people are sceptical about Maker Faire but I see no quick silver bullet to fix it.

 

I would as mentioned be interested in an alternative to Maker Faire but again I think it should be very family friendly.

Well perhaps we won't agree, I don't think it should be family unfriendly, or even neutral but I dislike that the workshops and such are for kids only, literally most of them are < 16s only, I think it's important to make it really family friendly by allowing the WHOLE FAMILY not just the < 16s to take part. That is my issue with other fairs I have been to.

[Dominic of Nottinghack]

Well perhaps we won't agree, I don't think it should be family unfriendly, or even neutral but I dislike that the workshops and such are for kids only, literally most of them are < 16s only, I think it's important to make it really family friendly by allowing the WHOLE FAMILY not just the < 16s to take part. That is my issue with other fairs I have been to.

 

No I think we do agree. Age specific workshops ONLY for kids sounds horrid, where was that, at the Brighton one? I agree workshops should be for everyone ideally. At Manchester and Derby we did soldering that was for everyone however parents mostly have their kids do it. It doesn't mean it was only for kids, just that it was kids who got to do it. Neither the Derby nor any other Mini Maker Faire I've been to is aimed at kids specifically. It's aimed at everyone. All the bunting and flags and stuff are part of the Mini Maker Faire brand. The crowds for these events are self selecting.

 

The welding tent run by Tim Hunkin at Brighton was over 18s only. I think often these workshops are self selecting. I'd say in London we could have some pretty good talks/speakers and if we organised a mix of workshops some of which are not suitable for children you might get that mix. Do bear in mind that O'Reilly and sponsors are very interested in families.

Dominic

[Tom Lynch]

 No I think we do agree. Age specific workshops ONLY for kids sounds horrid, where was that, at the Brighton one? I agree workshops should be for everyone ideally.

I am glad to hear that! Yes it was.

At Manchester and Derby we did soldering that was for everyone however parents mostly have their kids do it. It doesn't mean it was only for kids, just that it was kids who got to do it. Neither the Derby nor any other Mini Maker Faire I've been to is aimed at kids specifically. It's aimed at everyone. All the bunting and flags and stuff are part of the Mini Maker Faire brand. The crowds for these events are self selecting.

I think we're on the same wavelength here!

 

The welding tent run by Tim Hunkin at Brighton was over 18s only. I think often these workshops are self selecting. I'd say in London we could have some pretty good talks/speakers and if we organised a mix of workshops some of which are not suitable for children you might get that mix. Do bear in mind that O'Reilly and sponsors are very interested in families.

The workshop may have been 'over 18s' but there were definitely under 18s in there, was great, best part of any Maker Faire I have been to yet!

I won't name, names but I have spoken to a few companies already about sponsorship and everyone has been very positive and wants to be involved so far, I have three/four non-profit organisations who would be interested in helping out, two universities and two art museums, along with some of the other's involved we are going to contact the science museum to get them involved as they ran Manchester.

I should confess that my experience running events comes from several years of running student degree shows and more recently a mini conference for the past two years which had a bunch of workshops and speakers, I suspect if it goes ahead in 2013 I would try to run the mini conference along side the MMF.

Anyways, how about a meetup mid October with the others to discuss the event.

Tom

[Dominic of Nottinghack]

Yep, I did say I'd pop down in October to visit the space and Sugru round the corner, so October seems ideal. I've not got a date yet but I'll be in touch. Could you email me chicke...@gmail.com and we can set something up.

 

Dominic

[Tom Lynch]

Hey,

Pop down, to where?

Thanks

Tom

[Dominic of Nottinghack]

To London Hackspace.

[Tom Lynch]

Sure, sounds good, I am not a member but sounds like a good location. For me thats actually upward.

[Ant]

Just to cover the kids at maker faire issue- it's been tricky for Brighton. We like being a free event in central brighton. That's just a lovely thing to be. Doing that though kinda pushes you to be a family event. Our overall objective is to make more makers- we want visitors of all ages to come along, see what can be done, and have a go themselves.

Obviously visitors of different ages have different abilities, and as you'd expect there is a threshold age, below which we really cant offer much to a visitor. You may be surprised what that age is though- we had 4 year olds soldering succesfully, and 7 year olds making good progress in java coding workshops. By and large the workshops at the event do not have an age limit, or even a guide- the exceptions were the welding (over 18s only) the science museum courses ( expressly aimed at children in two distinct age groups) and the java class (advised 12 yrs and over, but we openly admitted that a smart 10yo might enjoy it). Most wprkshops though were completely open to all ages, and the mix of who participated was set by who signed up on the day.

There advantages and dissadvantages to this arrangement- on the upside we provided a truely stimulating days activities to children between 7 and 14 with loads more hands activities right at the start of the school year. We hope (and annecdotally are reassured) that this is particularly good encouragement for boys and girls going into STEM style coursework. Kids get loads of opportunity for hands on arts and crafts activity, because this is easier to put on imany cases, but there's not a huge amount of scient and tech stuff for kids to do, especially outside school, so we make a difference there. We also encourage this as a shared activity, giving parents the confidence to do these sort of things withtheir kids.

What we do less of (perhaps due to the proponderance of "family" focus on the day) is the "make better makers" element. There is some of this going on- the 3d printer community I'm sure had some useful conversations, and some makers experessly commented on the quality of feedback from interested and interesti visitors (possibly due in part to our proximity to dConstruct ithe calendar). Out talks strand was also well received, and actually explored complex issues beyond the introductory. However, for all that, there is a "depth" issue, in that very many of the conversations and discussions on the show floor are introductory- we are showing things to people for the first time in many cases, not drilling down to the nitty gritty and making a space for makers to learn vast amounts more thenselves.

There probably is a place for that, and in beginning to consider next year's Brighton event we are exploring it.

A

[Tom Lynch]

Hello Nick,

The idea hasn't fizzled out at all, as I am not a LHS member I didn't want to keep pestering LHS members via this forum.

We've got a number of people brilliant, experienced people committed to being in the core team, we've got a venue near Waterloo that have agreed to let us use their spaces for free and will also probably be fiscally responsible for the event.

We also have half a dozen interested sponsors already, and are working on some big names too, we are working with Dominique from the Derby Maker Faire and have our first meeting next Wednesday to make sure those who haven't met yet get to know each other and talk about what our roles will be and making sure everyone is on the same page.

I suspect I will be the main organiser and my core team will be about 5. We don't have a date but are working with Andrew (Brighton MMF) and Dominique (DMMF) to find a way to map all of next years events to avoid collisions, however Dominique rightly pointed out MMFs should be about local makers not the same makers at every faire touring.

I hope this helps to keep everyone apprised and we are currently seeking O'Reilly's blessing.

Thanks

Tom

On 2 Oct 2012, at 12:46, Nick Latocha <whatwouldt...@gmail.com> wrote:

Has this idea fizzled out or is it something that is being discussed else where? I'm very interested in discussing/helping/planning/generally getting involved in a London Maker Faire.

 

Read some interesting stuff on the Make website about setting up your own MMF: http://makerfaire.com/mini/make-a-maker-faire.csp

 

Nick

On Saturday, 8 September 2012 20:12:38 UTC+1, unknowndomain wrote:

Hey folks,

Just throwing this out there, I have been to several Maker Faire's now and I don't get why there isn't one in London, so just interested to see how many people would like to collaborate and get such an event setup here in London...

Have there been attempts before?

Does anyone have experience in this area to share?

Thanks

Tom

[unknowndomain]

Hello,

Quick update:

We are currently finishing off our application for LMMF, we have had our first meeting with the core organisers and are waiting on a few things over the next month in order to finalise the space and date, however we are still going ahead with the faire at some point in 2013.

Thanks for your interest, will keep people up to date.

Tom

[Anish Mohammed]

Hi Tom,

 would be keen to know more :)

regards

Anish

--
Anish Mohammed
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/anishmohammed
@anishmohammed

[marc - HackTheMedia]

Hi Tom 

I'll agree with Anish and would love to hear more, and maybe why not give a hand if needed.

Is there a mailing list where to follow the conversation on this project?

cheers

[Anish Mohammed]

happy to show off some APM/PX4 based drones ;). Thought i should mention this, have been reading Chris Anderson's "Makers" it is very interesting book ( heavy disclaimer - he is an acquaintance of mine, but can assure you that this not a biased view ;)).

regards

Anish

[unknowndomain]

We have put in our application and had a very positive initial response from O'Reilly.

We are currently being requested to provide emails of support from a broad spectrum of the community, thus please could everyone send an email show support for a London Mini Maker Faire.

TO: minimak...@oreilly.com

CC: t...@makerfairelondon.com

SUBJECT: London Mini Maker Faire - Evidence of Support

The message should briefly outline who you are in the London Maker community, and why you think there should be a London Mini Maker Faire.

Thanks