A Moment of Reflection

The OCMMF is just hours away and I’m thinking about how we got here.  I think it was a dare.  Really I think Pam dared us to do a Maker Faire.  Amanda said it was a great idea.  But Bequi took the dare.   Then I held on tight to Bequi’s hand.  Maybe that’s not how it really went down, but it’s how I remember it.

There are many pivotal moments in this story and many people to thank, but here are a few moments that really stick out.

At some point Anna became our first sponsor (Thanks Anna!), which meant this project had surpassed idle chit-chat. (For this we are grateful, please buy or sell your house with Anna Child from Coldwell Banker! Please tell her the OCMMF sent you.  She is totally cool and a great realtor!)

This is where the real fretting started, someone else believed in the project too!

At some point Bequi walked into the Beall Center for Art + Technology when it was under construction for an exhibit.  She marched on up to Samantha and David and asked if they would host a Maker Faire.  They replied, “How could we not host a Mini Maker Faire!” Thank you Samantha! Thank you to the Beall Center for Art + Technology and the  Claire Trevor  School of the Arts. Thank you!

Thank you to Make Magazine for sharing your brand with us and all the fine people who helped us like Sabrina.

Thank you to the rest of the core team:  Amanda, Pam,  Michelle and Paige (and Samantha) for doing a great job with almost no money.

Thank you to all the Kickstarters and silent donators.  You know who you are!

Thank you to the Makers, the inventers, the tinkerers, the dreamers and commercial makers for Making, for which there would be no faire!  I had a great time meeting all of you at meetings and meet ups.

Thank you Bequi for just being awesome and inspiring and Making a Faire and taking me with you.

I’m sure if you ask anyone on the core team, they all have their own idea on how this all started.  Some people say it started with a dare.

Thank you, to all the people I have not yet thanked (like Mathobotix)

~James