As I had already announced, this year I went to the Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo, California. Unfortunately this report is a bit late, since I’ve been very busy lately with the preparations for the Maker Faire in Hannover. Still, I don’t want to keep my impressions from you.
On the first day we drove to the Maker Faire by car, which I can only advise against. The road was completely jammed and we were stuck in traffic forever. The parking situation, on the other hand, was pretty relaxed, which was probably also because we got there very early and there are plenty of parking spaces. Unfortunately we depended on the car that first day, because after the Maker Faire we wanted to go on to the hackaday.com after-show party. So the best way to get to San Mateo is by BART. Since this year, free shuttle buses have been running from the local BART station to the fairgrounds. So if you’ve always wanted to ride a yellow American school bus like a first-grader, you should definitely make use of the “public transport” and shuttle service there.
After we had parked the car, a walk of about two kilometers to the grounds followed. True to the motto “Like lemmings, just keep following the crowd.” How you find the car again afterwards is something you can always figure out later 🙂 . The Bay Area Maker Faire opened its gates at 9:00 a.m. and a correspondingly long line of people was already waiting at the entrance. Luckily we had bought a weekend pass online in advance. It spared us queuing at the ticket booth and got us in quickly, straight past the line.
Once on the grounds, total sensory overload set in just 10 meters behind the fence. Right at the entrance I was nearly run over by a cupcake. The other thing that immediately caught the eye was “El Pulpo Mecanico” (see the title picture). A mechanical monster made of metal that spewed fountains of fire non-stop. In general there were a great many fire-breathing creatures to marvel at all over the outdoor area.
As it turned out later in conversations with some of the exhibitors, most of these were machines that apparently come from Burning Man ( a visit there is definitely right at the top of my to-do list). This year the Maker Faire in Hannover also had a few similarly nice creatures on site with Elsie and Rusty.
At first it was a bit difficult to find your way around the grounds. With the free site maps that were being handed out everywhere, though, getting your bearings became somewhat easier. There was also a smartphone app. Unfortunately the app only showed the project names and descriptions, but not in which hall or area a particular exhibitor could be found.
Besides “El pulpo mechanico” there were of course other crowd favorites, such as the “Life sized mouse trap”, a life-size replica of a board game (some of you may still remember it). The “Coke and Mentos Guys” also seemed to be an evergreen, showing with a great deal of humor how to stage an all-out sugar battle with Mentos and Coke.
Many projects were to be found outdoors, which was really fun thanks to the very good weather. The remaining exhibitors could be found in one of the halls or in the numerous tents. The Bay Area Maker Faire offers a broad spectrum of different makers, with disciplines ranging from electronics tinkerers through arts and crafts all the way to gardening. So there was something for everyone. The event was very family-friendly in general and also offered all kinds of attractions for kids, from interactive gadgets to soldering classes and other crafting activities.
I also found the hall with the light projects very interesting, above all because I knew that at the Maker Faire in Hannover I would be at the booth of the “Make Light” initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. So I was constantly on the lookout for inspiration. The absolute eye-catcher in the hall was of course the group ArcAtac, who made music with no fewer than two giant Tesla coils. It was astonishing how close the barrier was to the stage. I suspect that in Germany you wouldn’t even get a permit for a Tesla coil half that size. The following video, which I shot myself, should give you a little impression of how spectacular such a performance was. Unfortunately the sound is a bit overdriven. The guys were great fun. A pity they didn’t play “High Voltage Rock n Roll” by AC/DC. But “The Trooper” by Iron Maiden was at least as good.
Besides makers, hackerspaces and start-up companies were represented as well. I also found it very interesting that I got to see a great many Kickstarter projects there that until then I had only known from videos or blog articles.
At some point the team from hackaday.com crossed my path in one of the halls. Naturally I couldn’t pass up a group photo.
Right behind the big hall was the “Paddle Powered Stage”. A stage where the audience decides whether the artist gets to carry on or not. People pedaled away on about 20 bicycles to supply the stage with power. Apparently all the artists were good, because whenever we stood in front of the stage there was music playing.
The steampunk scene was also out in force. I found it interesting that in the USA the “Wild West style” obviously has a very big influence on the steampunks. Many of the exhibitors’ accessories, the covered wagons among them, spread that classic western flair. These guys, too, were making loud music by the wayside, which of course added enormously to the good atmosphere.
All in all, the Bay Area Maker Faire is worth the trip. In any case, I’ll try to fly over again next year.
At this point I’d like to once again say a big thank you to everyone who voted for my project in the “Make Light Contest 2013”. Of course I’m taking part again in the “Make Light Contest 2014”, which was kicked off last weekend at the Maker Faire in Hannover. I hope you’ll vote for my project again this year. I already know what I’m going to build, and the parts are all lying on the workbench. I don’t want to give away too much yet, but one thing I can already reveal: the new project will be bigger and more exciting than the one in the last contest.
So drop by again soon. Among other things, you can look forward to reports from the Maker Faire in Hannover and from my visit to Noisebridge, the San Francisco hackerspace.
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