This was my first time participating in an event as large as Maker Faire. I must say that it was a lot of work and that two weeks later, I am still tired and recuperating, but it was well worth it. I met a lot of other makers and got to hear about all the interesting projects they were working on, along with meeting a new audience of people that were interested in my work. I also went home with 3 Editor’s Choice ribbons from the team, I totally wasn’t expecting that. Especially when I felt like I was getting my ass kicked with all the traffic that was coming to my area, that really boosted my spirit 😀

I was super worried that I wouldn’t have enough promotional materials and handouts for my workshop, but I surprisingly went home with a little more than half of everything that I brought with me. I ordered all sorts of things like stickers, magnets, postcards, and even refreshed my inventory of  business cards. These will come in handy for the next event that I do, so I’m not going to stress over it. It’s always better to be over prepared than not at all.

(Photos below of workshop participants and my two special people :D)

I had to make some last minute modifications to my workshop, but it honestly went off without a hitch! I had originally planned on showing everyone how to manipulate thin wire to form an armature with pliers but after second thought, I decided to make it more child friendly for smaller children. I ditched the wires and pliers altogether and swapped them out for paperclips. I just showed them how to link everything together and tape it up the same way I would have with the thinner wire. After that, I showed them how to cover the piece with clay and gave them a handout with more instructions for them to follow at home. When I look back at everything, I made the right choice since there were quite a few small children that were having difficulty with the paper clips. The extra time was definitely to get them up to speed with everyone else so that they wouldn’t feel left out.

(One of my smaller groups from the first day)

My only regret was that I didn’t have enough time to actually look around the festival. There were so many exciting things that I saw on the website and I missed the majority of them. Next year I will have to bring more friends and family to help out so that I could run away for a bit. I would also make sure that everything in my area is set up on the first day before the social party so that I can walk around and see more of everything before the public does.

Seeing everything the night before hand was pretty surreal and sweet! Can’t wait till next time!