Calling Local "Makers" for East Bay's first Maker Faire

Rhode Island Mini Maker Faire - East Bay Edition

CALL TO MAKERS

After seven successful years of the RI Mini Maker Faire (held in Providence each year) there is now going to be a SECOND Mini Maker Faire held annually in the State of RI! Announcing the 1st Annual – Rhode Island Mini Maker Faire – East Bay Edition, to be held October 17th – Noon to 7pm at the Florence Gray Center at 1 York Street in Newport, RI.

The Call for Makers, Manufacturers, Performers, STEAM Centered Organizations, Vendors, and Crafters is open now through October 2nd. Any groups or individuals interested in participating in this inaugural event should go to http://makerfaireri.com/ and click on the Call To Makers tab and fill out the webform (http://bit.ly/RIMMFEBCall) to register for the event. Call organizer Todd Thomas at 413-441-7608 with any questions.

We are planning this as a free to exhibit and attend event. Our goal is to showcase the incredible STEAM-related things happening on Aquidneck Island and the entire East Bay – things that often people do not realize. This is also a great way for businesses to recruit and to just let people know the cool things going on under cover here on our Island and surrounding communities. If you are planning on merchandising there will be a very modest fee to cover municipal fees and advertising on our end.

The Rhode Island Mini Maker Faire – East Bay Edition takes after its enormous parent events, such as the World Maker Faire http://makerfaire.com , which hosts many tens of thousands of visitors in Queens, NY. The East Bay RI edition will be a smaller, community-focused event, but will follow the Maker Faire model of celebrating do-it-yourself creativity and tinkering.

“Make, create, craft, recycle, build, think, play and be inspired by celebrating arts, crafts, engineering, food, music, science and technology.”

Featuring both established and emerging local “makers,” the Rhode Island Mini Maker Faire – East Bay Edition is a family-friendly celebration featuring rockets and robots, DIY science and technology, urban farming and sustainability, advanced manufacturing companies, old-world-skills-meets-next-century-technology, alternative energy, bicycles, unique hand-made crafts, music and local food, and educational workshops and installations. In this many words, WE WANT YOU!!

FabNewport (www.fabnewport.org ) and Tinker|Bristol (www.tinkerbristol.org ) – two local nonprofit organizations dedicated to furthering STEAM advocacy and programs, advanced manufacturing skills and techniques, and the art of making things with one’s hands - are the hosts for this event (with support from AS220 (www.as220.org)). We will be using the lower level and Gymnasium of the Florence Gray Center in Newport, RI. There are additional outdoor areas, plenty of parking in a central to Newport County & East Bay location. The RI Mini Maker Faire this August in Providence attracted around 3,000+ attendees, as a first year event we are anticipating 2,000-2,500 attendees. This event is ENTIRELY family oriented. We are not planning on loud amplified music, alcohol, or other nuisance generating activities.

About Maker Faire:

Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth—a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker Movement. It’s a place where people show what they are making, and share what they are learning.

Makers range from tech enthusiasts to crafters to homesteaders to scientists to garage tinkerers. They are of all ages and backgrounds. The aim of Maker Faire is to entertain, inform, connect and grow this community.

For a great short read on just WHAT a Maker Faire is – go check out the following Smithsonian Magazine article: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=/innovation/what-maker-faire-exactly-180955574/

The original Maker Faire event was held in San Mateo, CA and in 2014 celebrated its ninth annual show with some 1100 makers and 130,000 people in attendance. World Maker Faire New York, the other flagship event, has grown in four years to 600+ makers and 80,000 attendees. Detroit, Kansas City, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Orlando, Silver Spring, Paris, Rome, Oslo, Trondheim, Tokyo, Newcastle (UK), and Shenzhen are the home of larger-scale, “featured” Maker Faires and over 120 community-driven, independently organized Mini Maker Faires are now being produced around the United States and the world.

Maker Faire is supported by Make: magazine ( www.makezine.com )and Maker Media (http://makermedia.com/ ).

This 1stAnnual – Rhode Island Mini Maker Faire – East Bay Edition could not happen without the support of the great folks at AS220 - AS220 envisions a just world where all people can realize their full creative potential.