510 Families + EBMMF = BFFs

510ladiesMedia Partners are essential for spreading the word about the East Bay Mini Maker Faire. 510 Families has been one of our media sponsors since our inception five years ago and we want to make sure all you families know about their resources.

510Families.com is an online guide to East Bay family fun on a need to know basis. They feature the awesome places and activities (like the Maker Faire!) for kids and their parents along with helpful tips.  They have a fun website and helpful newsletter featuring a calendar of events, news and articles and resources for parents, as well as special Summer Camp and Birthday Party guides.

unnamedIf you’ve been coming to the Faire with kids, you likely have met these ladies.  Last year, 510Families got hands-on by parading around in Giant Cardboard Robot garb for fun photo opps, like the one to the left. In other years 510Families joined Sticky Art Lab to make necklaces out of bottle caps….and other times they’ve sponsored craft zones and handed out info about all the coolest things to do with kids in the East Bay.

More important than what they do the day of the Maker Faire though, has been all the ways they show up and get their readers through our gates and helping to raise funds for Park Day School’s scholarship program! Their readers and subscribers always turn out in droves and we are so appreciative!

Thank you 510Families for extending your community and introducing them to our Faire.  We hope to keep partnering with you for many years to come.

That was one HECK of a show.

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We are overwhelmed with appreciation for the spectacular day on Sunday.  This year, our fourth, we showcased just under 200 makers and hosted 7,000 people on the combined venue of Park Day School and Studio One Art Center.  The weather was spectacular, the depth and variety of content superlative, the community feeling strong.  And we had the first-ever, full-scale crate stacking show very likely in the history of the planet!

Thanks go first to our makers, those creative, generous people.  There is no Maker Faire without you.  You are problem-solvers and you are by and large easy.  You collaborate.  You are curious and happy.  Thank you for sharing your talent and your process and your prowess.

Then there’s our partners—Studio One Art Center, a fantastic arts facility owned and operated by the City of Oakland—and MAKE magazine, the entity behind Maker Faire.  And our sponsors (just look to the right rail), those companies and institutions that understand the value of maker culture and how important it is to foster and encourage.

Finally there’s the community of Park Day School.  How many of you reading this realize that the East Bay Mini Maker Faire is produced and organized entirely by the parents and staff of this progressive Oakland K-8 school?  It’s a staggering accomplishment, even for a group of professionals, let alone volunteers.  Thank you parents and staff!

Some nice news / posts came out about the fair:

We’ve been collecting images and loading them into a Flickr feed.  Please please share your images and videos—there were so many unique experiences at the fair that we’re just plain curious to see what you saw! Let us know via comments here, on Facebook or Twitter or G+, or email us at info@ebmakerfaire.com.

So *phew* we’re done for this year.  But before you forget all of this, we’ve got a survey for makers and a survey for attendees that we would so appreciate if you would take a moment to complete.  Your brilliant ideas, constructive critiques, and words of adoration are all very much desired and appreciated, and will help us be bigger, better, stronger, and more fun in 2014.  See you then.

Photos by Stephen Jacobson, Ben Smith, John Orbon, Sabrina Merlo, Karen Marcelo and Jeffrey Braverman/MAKE.  See the full Flickr gallery and attribution info here.

A HUGE Shout Out to Our Sponsors!

If you’ve visited our website over the past couple of months you might have noticed that the list of sponsor logos on the right side of the page has been growing.

We are deeply thankful for our event Sponsors–they help us cover the costs of producing this hands-on, fun-filled, inspirational juggling act we call the East Bay Mini Maker Faire.

The 2012 lead sponsors to date are:  Make Magazine, Park Day School, Studio One Art Center, City National Bank, Clif Kid, Brushstrokes Studio, Orange Door Properties, Galileo Learning, and CAMP 510. You guys rock!

Please frequent their businesses, buy their products, and stop by their booths at the Faire–Clay Sculpting with Brushstrokes, Seed Bombs with Orange Door Properties, Cob Oven Pretzel Making and Tasting with CAMP 510, Masks and Crown Eco-Crafts with Clif Kid, and A Shake and Quake Test Center with Galileo Learning.

We also are extremely grateful to Project 6, Greener Printer, and Lansharks who donated their time and services to help us with little things like design, printing, and wireless technology.

And our media sponsors did what they do best and got the word out to all of you.  Thanks to East Bay Express, Berkeleyside, Oakland Local, 510Families, and Edible East Bay.

See you all in four days!