We just got back from Maker Faire in Austin (ermm, two weeks ago), and have much to share!

Geek out, with lots of pix inside!

Let's start at the beginning. Make is magazine that embraces all things DIY, gadgets, electronica, etc. It's a cool magazine, and they also have an active blog. I've found the first issue on newstands, and have been a subscriber since issue 2.

So, the creators of the magazine started to put on Maker Faires. Think along the lines of a trade show, but way cooler. Instead of every booth being packed with some company wanting to sell you stuff, most booths were folks who built something cool, and wanted to talk about how or why they did it.

So, when Make announced that the next Maker Faire was going to be in Austin, Nanc and I were all about it. We even arranged to camp on site for the two day event.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and set up, then wandered around. Many of pictures are from this first day, before the general public was let in. Everyone there was just hanging out, or getting set up. It was a lot of fun.

But nothing prepared me for Saturday, when the Faire opened. There were catapults, giant kites, robots, fire displays, music, and more. The Diet Coke and Mentos guys were there to make geysers of Diet Coke. Art cars, and Art bikes. A life-sized Mousetrap game...There were also myriad talks and demonstrations going on at a given time.

It was far too much to see in one day. Good thing that it ran for two days!

It wasn't all geek though. Make's sister publication Craft was also well represented with knitters, embroiderers, sewers and more. Even the booths selling goods were more than happy to tell you how to make it your own darn self.

Hands down, it was the coolest thing I've been to in a long time. The pictures and descriptions really don't do it justice.

# # #