Hello everyone,

The Wayne County Mini Maker Faire is a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness and a celebration of the Maker Movement.  It’s a place where people show what they are making, and share what they are learning.  Makers range from tech enthusiasts to crafters to homesteaders to scientists to garage tinkerers. They are of all ages and backgrounds. The aim of Maker Faire is to entertain, inform, connect and grow this community.

The Daily Record said it best: “Dubbed the ‘Greatest Show and Tell on Earth’; over 1,300 people flocked to the second annual faire at the University of Akron Wayne College last May.  It was a fresh experience with favorite makers from last year coming back along with new makers and new things to see and do.

 

2018 has been a great year for Maker Faire with 200 faires in many countries all over the world!  Some Maker Faires were mind bogglingly large, such as the Bay Area event featuring 1,100 makers and attracting 150,000 visitors.  Another flagship event took place in New York City with 700 Makers and 95,000 attendees. 30+ larger-scale “featured” Maker Faires took place in cities such as Rome, Berlin, Paris, Tokyo, Barcelona, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Seoul, Cairo, Kuwait, Detroit, Kansas City, Milwaukee, and San Diego.  Click here for a number of fun videos from 2018 faires all around the world and here for a showcase of featured faires.

Check-out this great video of Maker Faire Lillie 2018:

Maker Faires are incredible at any size.  In its simplest form, Maker Faire creates opportunities for conversations with Makers.  Tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and entrepreneurs all come together to show their projects and to talk about what they have learned. It is a community based learning event that inspires everyone to become a maker, and connect with people and projects in their local community.  Yet, Maker Faire is a “fair” — fun, engaging, and exciting.

 

We are proud to showcase Ohio makers who participated in the Wayne County Mini Maker Faire this year.  Some of these are J.D. Plybon and his friends from Schantz Makerspace.  They built a huge belt sander drag strip, a long wooden track for two high-speed belt sanders.  Faire attendees activated the sanders by applying power, with hay bales at the end of the track to stop them.  The race track was a huge hit with hundreds of onlookers.  J.D. and his friends did a great job emceeing the event, too.

 

Another person who participated in the Wayne County Mini Maker Faire is Aaron Holmes.  Aaron has been designing and building things since he was a young boy.  He grew up and became an engineer and continues to design and make things in his workshop with his two young children, likely future makers themselves.

With a passion for cycling and woodworking, Aaron designed and built a wooden frame bicycle. The bike is hand made from black walnut and is fully functional. The design and build process were exciting and the first ride was purely satisfying!  DIY speaker building is another fun way to combine design, engineering, making, and of course enjoyment of music.  There are many details to consider from driver selection to crossover designs. On display are several custom built, one of a kind speakers.  We are thankful that Aaron brought his wooden bicycle in 2017 and his custom speakers earlier this year.

 

Rounding out our makers who participated is Daphne Silchuk-Ashcraft from Orrville Public Library.  OPL has been a strong supporter of the Wayne County Mini Maker Faire since the beginning.  They host their own “maker faire” type event called “How To Day” each April, so be sure not to miss it!

In 2016, Daphne brought an interactive Laser Maze Game that is great for kids learning.  At the recent faire, she introduced the cute Ozobot.  These are little programmable robots that will follow colored lines on paper.  By creating different color combinations of these lines, the robots do fun tricks. This hands-on activity provides an opportunity to explore coding for all ages.

 

The Call For Makers is now open for the 3rd annual Wayne County Mini Maker Faire!  Participation is free; You can apply with our online application here.  You can also apply via postal mail and telephone.  Number 3 is going to be bigger than ever for us as makers return to the Wayne College to fill the Student Life Building and landscape with incredible innovation and creativity. Remember, space is limited so you have to apply as soon as possible to ensure that you get your spot at the greatest show (& tell) on earth!

 

Until next week,

Tom