SO! The World Maker Faire is over. Sad but true. I didn’t snap off as many pictures as the Bay Area faire because this time around in Queens I was offered the opportunity to be an area manager. A completely different perspective on the faire, and it was completely worth it. I had over 100 projects directly under my belt, along with my cohort co-manager Tyler. We were given Zone A, or the New York Hall of Science itself. Around 4 acres of interior space spread out over 3 floors with half-floors and mezzanines and halls and corridors, it was definitely a challenge. We didn’t have bicycles or forklifts or other vehicles to get around, and expected variables like wireless internet or even electricity were challenging at times. But we pulled it off, and we rocked it, frankly. The weather outside was nice all the way through – on the first day it was hot and humid, on the second a little cool and windy, so it would have been nice to be outdoors and to wander, but inside we surely did the museum justice. And like all “firsts” – this being the first faire at this location – we learned a LOT. About people flow and signage and vantage points and how people interact with projects. A wealth of knowledge that I now need to commit to paper in preparation – yes, already – for future faires, hopefully in Queens again next year! But for now enjoy the rich content below. I’ll do another post soon with all the press linkage and other embeddable content soon – there’s so much content produced in the mere 15 hours that the Faire is open that it’s mind-boggling!

this CNET video is pretty darned awesome. It touches on all the right parts of the Faire and the voice-over is spot-on too:


people Learning to Solder for $1 – and they walk away with a blinky!


RC drawbots… for the kids!


Joe Saavedra talking about his DIY pollution-monitoring kit


the Caddy Whampuss engine of the Swimming Cities radial, which also currently has a kickstarter campaign going – help them!


ShopBot’s lego-like wood pieces – this project just keeps getting bigger and better with each Faire!


kid playing with ferrofluid, or liquid magnets


Doc Advencha paid me a visit while I was at my station – he’s an actual superhero FYI


the NYSCI made some non-Newtonian fluid, Ooblek, for kids to run across


homebrew lighting courtesy of some tesla coils made by ArcAttack in the Great Hall – what a sight! (and sound! OMG the sounds was remarkable in there!)


yarn-bombing one of the rockets in the Rocket Park


the Chariot Races – full final race & video below


some wonderful stereoscopic art – unfortunately regular 3-D glasses won’t work over the internet, so you’ll have to believe me that it was AMAzing!


illuminescent liquid… freaky!


I was actually able to squeeze in just enough time to devour a bowl of noodles in the hidden Noodle Truck – Mark made me a special-quick bowl of udon with all the pickins, including vegan ham and one slice of ginger that absolutely made my day!


the kind of thing you ONLY see at Maker Faire: a giant animatronic skull emerging from an elevator


then we had drinks and we had a dinner and like that, POOF, it was over.

[my full image set on Flickr]

BUT THERE’S MORE! Keep reading, or watching rather: