Maker Faire 2015

Thanks to Ruth Abatzoglou for this footage of the faire!

OCMMF 2015 Highlights

More videos and pictures to come!

Thank You!

On behalf of the volunteers that make up the production team, I wanted to extend my thanks to you for bringing the magic to the third Orange County Mini Maker Faire.  Our goal with the Faire was to bring together Makers in the community with an audience that was excited to experience something new and explore new ideas and possibilities.   It is that sharing and collaboration that makes the Faire such a special place.

This year we had a very diverse set of Makers. We had students that shared what they were learning and exploring in school about entrepreneurship, ecology, and autonomous vehicles. There were professionals who are making 3D printing accessible to all of us. There were organizations that wanted to get together so we could learn new skills in making, programing, electronics, and life. There were meet-up groups and clubs that wanted to share all our wonderful passions, hobbies, and skills.  There were folks trying to turn their hobbies and interests into businesses. There were also so many wonderful shows of artistry, crafting, creativity, and play.   And the list goes on and on. I hope that you keep in touch with those folks who showed that it was possible to do that thing you “always wanted to do” or trigged that spark in you to try something new. Please use the list of makers as a resource to help take that next step in your exploration.

We also want to send a special thanks to our sponsors who helped make this Faire a reality:

Make Media, Urban Workshop, The Beall Center for Art + Technology, Irvine Valley College, Imagine Science, Matter Hackers, Factory eNova, ACRS Medical, University Realty, Earth LCD, Mosaica Online Academy, iLead Charter Schools, Mathobotix, Chiptune, Bergwind Group, Qgits Blackstone Launchpad at UC Irvine, Oval Integration, Steam Powered Education, and Snappie.

Finally a tremendous thank you to all of the incredibly hard working volunteers who were a vital part of making the day run smoothly.  Many of you worked tirelessly throughout the day and we cannot thank you enough for your dedication and kindness shown to the nearly 2,000 people who came to experience the event.  

We’re feeling pretty proud of our Mini Maker Faire and very thankful to all of you for making it happen!

— 

Christopher Reyes

Co-Producer

Discover the Maker in Yourself!

Sponsored by:  Urban Workshop  ~  Madly Making Orange, LLC  ~ Imagine Science ~ Beall Center for Art + Technology at UCI ~  Matter Hackers ~ University Reality ~ Factory eNova ~ Mosaica Online Academy of SoCal  ~ Irvine Valley College ~  Earth LCD ~ iLEAD Charter Schools ~ ACRS

Find us on Facebook

http://www.ocminimakerfaire.com

Bring Clothes for Wearable Hacks

Let your clothes out of the closet!  Bring your old clothes and fabric to use and share at the Wearable Hacks booth. Recycle, upcycle, embellish, modify and remake into whatever your imagination can come up with!  There will be sewing machines, iron, ironing board, needles, thread, scissors and more at your disposal.  Come prepared to discover the Maker  in yourself.  

Squishy Circuits at Imaginology Saturday and Sunday!

We will be at the OC Fair grounds doing doing a Squishy Circuits activity.  Come down and see us!

Squishy Circuits are a project from the University of St. Thomas to allow kids and adults to explore electronics and create circuits using play dough.

By whipping up some simple ingredients you have in your kitchen, you can build circuits that light up, move, and that can be use to explore concepts like resistance, conductivity, and things like parallel and series circuits.

To make up a batch of squishy circuits, follow this easy recipe from Make Magazine. All you will need are ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen, some batteries, and some LED’s.  Use this lesson plan to get started with your experiments.

Tickets are on sale!

Tickets are on SALE! For the 2015 OCMMF happening at Irvine Valley College from 10am to 5pm on Saturday May 9th, 2015.

You will find us outside the Performing Arts Center on the west side of campus off of Jeffery Rd, park in Lot 5.

The Eventbrite for tickets link is HERE!

We will be offering Early Bird prices through March, so don’t wait to get the best price!

What are you Making?  Show it Off, apply to be a Maker.

Maker–A documentary on the Maker Movement is showing at OCMA tonight

From the OCMA website:

OCMA

In the DIY spirit of Riot Grrrl, OCMA offers a special screening of “Maker,” a feature-length documentary on the Maker Movement and its impact on society, culture and economy in the U.S. From the producers of the internationally acclaimed “Design & Thinking,” “Maker” looks into a new wave of Do-It-Yourself and Do-It-Together culture fueled by passion and powered by the advent of new technologies. The film explores the ideas, tools, and personalities that are driving the Maker Movement – and returns with a timely snapshot of one of the transforming influences of the current age.

Director: Mu-Ming Tsai 
Feature documentary
Running time: 65 minutes

Hope to you see you there!

Squishy Circuits

Squishy Circuits are a project from the University of St. Thomas to allow kids and adults to explore electronics and create circuits using play dough.

By whipping up some simple ingredients you have in your kitchen, you can build circuits that light up, move, and that can be use to explore concepts like resistance, conductivity, and things like parallel and series circuits.

To make up a batch of squishy circuits, follow this easy recipe from Make Magazine. All you will need are ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen, some batteries, and some LED’s.  Use this lesson plan to get started with your experiments.

Let us know in the comments what are the cool things you make and learn with this fun project!

Keep on making!
– The OCMiniMakerFaire Team

Sparklecon 2.0

The hackers over at 23b Shop are hosting Sparklecon 2.0!

When?
January 23-25th, 2015

Why Sparklecon?
The name is designed to promote a less formal and more fun approach to infosec and hacker topics. Rather than cultivate an image of corporate meetings or scary blackhats, Sparklecon is intended to be more of a familiar, “around the campfire” experience. This is similar to how Euro events like CCC and OHM work.

Schedule includes:
Music from Tim Marmex (maker of Rythemcore Alpha)
Simple Circuits in Minecraft
Video Game Challenge
Failwaffle Breakfast
and Tons of other fun stuff

Plus they have the Angry Electric Pickle 2.0, which looks awesome and slightly dangerous!

Head over the Sparklecon 2.0 website and RSVP.

Until next time, keep on making!

Steam Maker Fest – Pictures

We spent our Saturday at the Steam Maker Fest and had a fantastic time.  Below are some pictures from the event.

A pipe organ!

Make Your Own Monster!

Chickens!  (Actually he holding a rooster!)

Learn to solder!

Nerdy Derby!

 

Congratulations to the Steam Maker Fest Team for putting on a great show!