Virtually Maker Faire
May 23, 2020 2:17 PM Subscribe
Maker Faire is having a virtual global event today. Videos all over the place...literally. Schedule here. I am unfortunately late to mention it, but it looks like anything that wasn't a Zoom or Zoom equivalent still has watchable videos up today.
Yeah, I was hoping they would keep the schedule and links to any recorded streams up at the Virtual Faire site, but it doesn't appear to be the case at the moment. You can at least get a list of the presentations if you go to the Print Filtered Schedule link and export it as a PDF.
I had this streaming most of yesterday while I was working around the house, it was pretty interesting and more diverse that the big Faires used to be...there were presentations from India and Germany, for example. If live Faires return in the future, I hope they keep up that remote aspect.
And yes, I don't think it was promoted as much as it could have been, but they may have wanted to have a 'soft opening' for this format, and might still be recovering from last year's bankruptcy.
posted by foonly at 10:28 AM on May 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
I had this streaming most of yesterday while I was working around the house, it was pretty interesting and more diverse that the big Faires used to be...there were presentations from India and Germany, for example. If live Faires return in the future, I hope they keep up that remote aspect.
And yes, I don't think it was promoted as much as it could have been, but they may have wanted to have a 'soft opening' for this format, and might still be recovering from last year's bankruptcy.
posted by foonly at 10:28 AM on May 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
I think I found out about it off their blogs like a week-ish? ago, I just forgot to mention it sooner, argh. I signed up for their mailing list but I don't think I got anything from that? I concur that maybe they wanted to "soft open" it. They did have a LOT for what I think was maybe only a week or two at the most's notice before it happened, asking for submissions.
I was also disappointed that they wiped the schedule off their website as soon as the events were over. I wanted to go follow up on some things that aired at 3 a.m. (I confess I slept in that morning) and then that stuff was gone later. I had at least opened up a good chunk of the videos to watch later to follow up on, so I managed to compile a list of stuff that others can watch that made it to YouTube if they like.
I enjoyed the experience, but it was also overwhelming to keep track of it all--then again, that was also my experience at IRL Maker Faire several years ago. I watched some Zoom presentations, slept through some other ones or they ran late because "who cares?" to quote one guy.
I did enjoy the emphasis on robots, particularly the "companion bots" talk, which was adorable and I want one now. I enjoyed watching a guy hand-sew a puppet for an hour, and the paper airplane guy even though I am terrible at origami. I confess the tech aspects sadly whoosh over my head in a lot of ways, though. I did have fun going through Google to track down things people mentioned, like a rideable unicorn that pooped jelly beans and light-up clothes and all the companion bot details.
Anyway, I'm delighted it existed, even if it was a bit overwhelm. Hopefully they do more of this in the future, since even without coronavirus it seemed like they were out of money to throw the big fairs again.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:34 PM on May 24, 2020
I was also disappointed that they wiped the schedule off their website as soon as the events were over. I wanted to go follow up on some things that aired at 3 a.m. (I confess I slept in that morning) and then that stuff was gone later. I had at least opened up a good chunk of the videos to watch later to follow up on, so I managed to compile a list of stuff that others can watch that made it to YouTube if they like.
I enjoyed the experience, but it was also overwhelming to keep track of it all--then again, that was also my experience at IRL Maker Faire several years ago. I watched some Zoom presentations, slept through some other ones or they ran late because "who cares?" to quote one guy.
I did enjoy the emphasis on robots, particularly the "companion bots" talk, which was adorable and I want one now. I enjoyed watching a guy hand-sew a puppet for an hour, and the paper airplane guy even though I am terrible at origami. I confess the tech aspects sadly whoosh over my head in a lot of ways, though. I did have fun going through Google to track down things people mentioned, like a rideable unicorn that pooped jelly beans and light-up clothes and all the companion bot details.
Anyway, I'm delighted it existed, even if it was a bit overwhelm. Hopefully they do more of this in the future, since even without coronavirus it seemed like they were out of money to throw the big fairs again.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:34 PM on May 24, 2020
Hopefully they do more of this in the future, since even without coronavirus it seemed like they were out of money to throw the big fairs again
Last year was going to be the last since it was not financially viable
They kinda dodged a bullet since there was no plan for one this year so no unpaid staff and vendors.
I miss it since I exhibited at the first one , and at the last, and at many in between.
posted by boilermonster at 12:37 AM on May 25, 2020
Last year was going to be the last since it was not financially viable
They kinda dodged a bullet since there was no plan for one this year so no unpaid staff and vendors.
I miss it since I exhibited at the first one , and at the last, and at many in between.
posted by boilermonster at 12:37 AM on May 25, 2020
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posted by wnissen at 10:03 AM on May 24, 2020