After several years of being absent, Makerfaire is coming back to the Bay Area this year. I’ve been to every single bay area Maker Faire since it was founded. I went to the very first one as a child with my parents, and I had a booth at the very last one. I’m really excited that they are coming back, but the timing isn’t fantastic. It’s in October which is going to be the height of when we’re going to be getting everything ready to ship.
We’ve had a ton of fun in the past and gotten to meet some of you in person which is always cool. It’s also a great chance to show off the machine.
I’m totally torn about if we should have a booth this time or not. I would love to be there, but I also think that the timing is pretty bad, so I’m putting it to a poll.
Not sure if I can comment on a poll but if you wait until next year you will have incorporated nearly a years worth of operating time by hundreds of users and therefore (hopefully) a better product to present.
If you go in October, you will still be working with a prototype that hasn’t had any real world use by more than a handful of people.
I’m not pulling hard for one way or the other. I think that we could show off something very impressive this year, but you are right that there is always next year.
It’s always great to grab a beer with folks after, but we’re a pretty international community so it’s not many people who can make it.
I appreciate that you are looking to focus on getting the product ready and shipping it out, but you should go to the fair. You seem to be the type of person who thrives on community involvement and feedback, and all of us benefit from that. It is obvious that the Makerfaire means a great deal to you, and it would be a good forum to get even further community interest and support, which would benefit the product, and all of us investing in it.
Go to the Makerfaire, show off your amazing work, and let us know how things went, we can wait a little longer to get the kits if need be.
as much as we all want to use the new machine i think i can wait another week. alot of people are coming back for the new machine after stumbling upon an interview on YouTube about a $500 cnc. this is where ideas come to grow and new people find that creativity is more accessible than they thought.
If you feel that going to MakerFaire would give you more energy - go.
If it feels like an energy drain - dont go.
There will not always be a “next year”. If you think it would be fun to go, delaying shipping a week is not really a big deal. Unless you raised the question “nobody” would have thought about the time spent.
I’m thinking less for what I want and more for if a lot of people can come to stop by the booth … But I very much appreciate that so many of you are thinking about what I want.
From a purely selfish point of view I would say Focus on shipping, but I think you should probably go to the MakerFair for your own pleasure and inspiration.
I will pose it to you this way…NO ONE can stop by the booth if you don’t go. Though I would love to stop by, that is on the other side of the country for me, so it is a no-go for me. And as people are saying to do it for yourself (which you should do as I am sure getting everything ready to ship is going to be stressful and this can help give you a break), but you would also be doing it for the community. us old-timers are still going to be here, but the Maker Faire is where you can get the new crowd brought into the fold (where we can then nourish on their souls…hahahahaha!!!). In other words, you already have our backing, but you still want to expand the community, and that is a place to show off and rope in some more suckers…I mean customers!! Plus, you can talk to anyone there that you killed it on the KS, and are getting ready to ship out the first batch, etc.!!
Its sounds like you want to go more than you care to admit but aren’t sure what the community will think of you taking time off to go when you “should be in he middle of getting kits ready to ship” (and you have a lot to ship). If you just want to go because its a tradition and you thrive off of the atmosphere then just go. You dont need to take maslow 4 with you or show it off. You wouldn’t have the additional pressure of having to staff a booth and run demos. You could just go and be.
It sounds like it would be best for Bar to go, even if its just Bar and not Maslow. Another way to look at this is what is best for the new Maslow. If its better to go with the new Maslow then take the time off and bring it. If its best for Maslow4 for Bar to go but fly solo then do that.
However, since it’s the OG Maker Fare and you have been a part of it from the beginning then FFS go regardless. Forget the poll. It’s probably what sparked the inspiration for Maslow in the first place and (selfishly) a good networking opportunity.
Only speaking for myself, I’m not gonna care if my kit comes in a month late. We’ll be in the run up to the holidays so I wont have the time to work with it anyway. You do you Bar. All I ask is if you do bring maslow 4 and if its possible, bring one of the ship kits with you. Because …….marketing
go and market the new M4 to get new buyers. If this is to be a new company that lasts more than a year or 2, then you need as big of a customer base as possible. I really hope this will be sold in home depot and other stores in the future instead of being like so many kickstarters that are around for a couple of years and then disappear.
We’re still 80% that we’ll be there 20% that something comes up that we need to take care of. We’ll be there as long as we can get everything ordered before hand so it won’t mess with the shipping schedule. The goal is to be there!
… But I very much appreciate that so many of you are thinking about what I want.