We’re just about to go to Mare Island and start setting up for Maker Faire Bay Area. Once again, we will strap Makey to a crane to look over everyone who is coming. I’ll spare you the details such that organizers worry about weather, attendance, logistics, etc. To me, Maker Faire is a showcase of makers and a celebration of the maker movement.

Table of Contents

• The Waterfront

• The Naval Shipyard

• Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

• Greeting the early arrivals

• The Dark Room

• The Foundry

• Laser Maze from Benicia Makerspace

• Sponsors are back

• Make: Live Stage

  • Saturday at noon

  • Sunday at noon

  • Sunday at 4pm

• Art at Maker Faire

  • Water Light Graffiti

  • Oculus

  • Mechan 42: The Explorer

• Meet All the Makers

• Our Team

• You have to be there!

The Waterfront

The natural setting at Mare Island is incredible. Every morning at Maker Faire (and at dusk, below), I just enjoy the waterfront view, watching “old man river” go by. If things get crazy, I go stand by the water for a while.

The Esplanade runs along the waterfront. That’s where we have the Maker Parade at 4pm each day.

The Naval Shipyard

Then there’s the built environment of Mare Island’s historic Naval Shipyard Whether it’s the crane that looms overhead, the Coal Sheds or buildings like the Foundry, one is aware that Mare Island is a place with history that still resonates. It’s where people built ships and submarines. I had one maker tell me recently that his mother worked at the shipyard soldering printed circuit boards. How appropriate.

The former Naval Shipyard is a compelling canvas for us to work with. Sometimes, I have felt like we are opening doors that haven’t been opened in more than a decade. We learned that there’s a basketball court on the second floor of the Foundry.

Last year was our first year doing Maker Faire on Mare Island. While it was challenging to work with a new venue, and figuring out where things go, we feel much better going into this year’s event, knowing what worked and what didn’t work last year.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

We have to put up our signs everywhere. We save our signage year to year and sign placement is a big task. Some are to help people find the different areas. Some are branding. Last year, we didn’t have enough signs pointing out the restrooms and we hand-made some signs with large arrows.

I’m told that most people who come to Maker Faire don’t know that we also produce Make: magazine. In fact, our idea was to bring the magazine to life at Maker Faire. So we put up signs to help people make the connection, but it still might not be obvious to them. We want Maker Faire attendees to become Make: subscribers.

Greeting the early arrivals

Makers begin arriving on site on Thursday and usually the bigger stuff comes in early. I believe Russell the Giraffe has been at every Maker Faire Bay Area and it wouldn’t be Maker Faire without Russell rolling around.

The Dark Room

Among the biggest changes this year is that we have added a large building that’s dedicated to the Dark Room. It is more spacious and has higher ceilings.

Drone racing will also be in the dark room. Sepia Lux, the illuminated cuttlefish, will be back and Loren Crotty sent me a video showing a new interactive area that allows anyone to play with and control the cuttlefish.

The Foundry

This year, the Foundry will be transformed into a performance space, hosting Mario the Maker Magician, Science Bob from Crunch Labs, and Adam Savage for his Sunday Sermon.

Mario the Maker Magician is a personal favorite and a person I got to know through World Maker Faire in NYC. Mario Marchese is an amazing talent, combining magic with the message that kids can create the things they dream of. He’s been on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and he had an off Broadway show. We publish two of Mario’s books. I have taken my grandkids to one of his theater performances and they had so much fun and it made them think. I’m really glad that Mario is coming out from the East Coast to do his first performance at Maker Faire Bay Area. Mario will perform at noon on Friday and at 1pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Science Bob of CrunchLabs will be performing on Saturday at 3:30pm. Science Bob Pflugfelder has appeared at Maker Faire before. Now he’s working with Mark Rober at CrunchLabs. Earlier in the summer, I visited CrunchLabs and Bob did a demo of what he will do on the Foundry Stage — an explosion that ejects ping pong balls from a barrel!

Of course, on Sunday at 11:00 am, Adam Savage will give yet another Sunday Sermon. His talks are original, insightful and inspiring. You don’t want to miss Adam Savage in the Foundry.

Laser Maze from Benicia Makerspace

This year, we will have a laser maze, organized by Jim Kennon and others from Benicia Makerspace. It takes place inside a large tent (designed for dance parties) and the challenge is to move through the maze without tripping any of the lasers. We expect long lines from this one.

Some of you might be as interested in how to build a Laser Maze. Jim showed me the control center for the Laser Maze on a visit to Benicia Makerspace. I would like to get the details from him for a Make: article in the future.

Sponsors are back

We are happy to have more sponsors than last year, many of them demonstrating new electronics and digital fabrication products.

We have Microchip Technology, DigiKey, CrunchLabs, Cisco, Cocoa Press, LightBurn, Maineer Tech, eFabless, Clockwork Pi, Rokland, Petoi, LittleMachineShop, ASCAND, InvenTABLE, Prusa, Mill, SwiftShape, Seeed Studio, Halfmore, Port Labs, Shaper, Lune Acoustics. MCE Community Choice Energy and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are Friday Field Trip sponsors.

Make: Live Stage

This year, we will have a larger stage enclosed in a tent located near the main entrance and behind the Storehouse.

Here’s a list of scheduled talks for Saturday and Sunday on the main stage.

At noon on Saturday, a panel of makers including Ben Eadie and Jesse Velez talking about how they got started working on props in Hollywood.

Saturday at noon

Sunday at noon

Sunday at 4pm

Art at Maker Faire

Each year, we have several large art installations.

Water Light Graffiti

I’m looking forward to see this interactive art piece by Antonin Fourneau, a French artist whose work spans installations, attractions, objects, and events, blending technology, games, light, sound, and cinema. The "Water Light Graffiti" is a surface made of thousands of LED illuminated by the contact of water. You can use a paintbrush, a water atomizer, your fingers or anything damp to sketch a brightness message or just to draw. More pictures and details on www.waterlightgraffiti.com

Oculus

Jack Ruszel’s Oculus is a hand-cranked wooden sculpture.

Mechan 42: The Explorer

Mechan 42 is a giant seventeen-foot-tall robot created by Tyler FuQua Creations from Portland, Oregon.

Meet All the Makers

We will have about 300 makers exhibits this year. Here is a link below to all the maker entries.

Our Team

A lot of what happens behind the scenes is the result of our hardworking team on the ground. If you see the crew on site, give them a shout out. They make all the magic happen.

You have to be there!

I hope to see you at Maker Faire Bay Area. Bring a friend or neighbor and invite them to join the fun.

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