The fourth annual Vancouver Mini Maker Faire was last weekend, and this was the first year I wasn’t at all involved with putting on the event. It was so wonderful to take that break! I was able to fully enjoy the wonder of it all, which is very nicely captured in this short clip from Shaw TV. If you’ve never been to a Maker Faire, perhaps this will convince you to find one. (The “No rules without paper hats” bit comes from one of the makers featured. I love it!)
Owen’s come to the event every year since he was a baby, and this time he was really able to get something from it. He and Greg did a workshop where Owen made a tiny planter out of Lego, then planted microgreens in it. He’s been taking care of it daily, and was so proud of himself when he made it. Aside from that, he was, unsurprisingly, most taken with anything to do with vehicles – models, Lego, pedal-powered.
I may not have aided in the planning of the event, but of course I participated. I taught a Mighty Ugly workshop on Saturday, which I wrote about a little on the MU site. Some pics from that workshop are in the photo gallery, below.
I also moderated a panel on making money as a maker, and the four panelists were amazing. They shared so much about the highs and lows of their experiences, and gave some very wise advice.
And I gave my own talk, which I approached as a testing ground for a much bigger talk I’ll be giving later in the summer (more on that when the cat’s out of the bag). The talk was about the stories we tell ourselves about failure, and I had a really great time putting it together. I’m glad it didn’t crash and burn, because I’m looking forward to fleshing it out and really polishing it over the next few weeks; if it had sucked and I had to start over, well, that just wouldn’t be super fun.
Grand plans for outrageousness are already underway for next year’s event. I can’t wait!
