#barrelofmakers

It was hot!

I thought so many things would go wrong. "what if it's terrible?" "what if we came all the way here and nothing works?" "what if they hate us?"

I started to feel better when I saw the library in a mall complex and tents were set up...plus breakfast was ready for us.

The day got progressively better from that point on.

Between our two drawing apparatuses and our winning personalities, Jessi and I said NAY to the heat and our doubts! Everyone was more than willing to participate, help, share ideas and collaborate.

The kids had a ball drawing in a way that challenged their skills and abilities.

her face paint was amazing!! Good job guys, really!

...although, some of them "cheated"

but all of them were happy to take home what they had made that day!

They were proud to overcome a somewhat daunting challenge and even more proud to ask their parents to hang it on the frige.

The "grown-ups" were a little harder to convince, but the brave ones got pretty into it.

This guy showed up too!

However it wasn't all about us. There were plenty of other things for people to explore:

natch...

robot wars, awesome!

and what would a makerfaire be without a 3D printer?

So all and all, the day was great. A little sweaty, but great. We empowered our youth and even a few of our more adventurous adults. If we have learned anything from the Huxtables it's that the more of us there are and the more positive we can be, the greater our chances are for success.

these are not the Huxtables, but you get it.

I leave you with this, happy making:

blog by Brian Scatasti

Originally I had intended to be more direct… but what’s the fun in that? If you know anything about your Co-President, it’s that he is the king of big, crazy-fun, nostalgic, Death-Star Proportional ideas. Here’s the game: There will be a FACEBOOK EVENT created with the same title as this blog posts. If I have explained to you my amazing idea for MAKER FAIRE, there has to be at least 15 posts before the real idea is posted. Since I've discussed more than one, NO ONE MAY POST THE SAME IDEA TWICE, but you are encouraged to post more than one idea. Getting friends to post on your behalf will get you extra credit…you are playing for a prize No one will know which post will be the real idea, because there is a mandatory 1st sentence you must paste into your response: “BRIAN’S REAL MAKER FAIRE IDEA IS…” Have fun with it, make something up, put in your idea, try to figure me out, or do all of the above. The point is to be you and see if we can generate some mobilization from our fans, for whom we are building a database. . I can’t tell you what it is yet because I’m not 100% that it will work, but the back-up  plan is an entire blog post on here and facebook, dedicated to you [ and/or your business ]. Free Press on whatever you want to plug. I will be announcing the real idea THIS COMING SUNDAY, MARCH 24th along with the winner. The winner may not necessarily have my idea. I can’t wait to see what crazy things people post on facebook…

Success! We had a great meeting Sunday!

First, we talked about how our main goal with all our events is bringing in more people like us–passionate people, who will make stuff, No Matter What 

(but who will make bigger, cooler, more rocket-fueled stuff when we get a big space).

but, also bringing in people who are not yet makers, but who are curious and open-minded.

So, upcoming events:

Please share these Facebook events on your pages, even if you can't come out!

Maker Happy Hour

Meet up with like-minded people, discuss current projects....maybe find new collaborative possibilities!

It's at Two Stones Pub in Newark on Thursday Night. 5:30-8:30pm --> facebook.com/HappyHourEvent

2nd Sunday Make-Along:

The next on is January 13th.  Brian Givens showed us the project today.  You draw in pencil, hook up the  wires and alligator clamps to a battery, and then run one wire along the pencil marks to play tones.  You'll  have an electronic musical instrument you can play with a pair of earphones or the speaker from a musical greeting card! 

If you have them, bring them along.  We'll have some extras.

It's at the Creative Vision Factory in Wilmington, 1-4pm --> http://www.facebook.com/events/412972895438566/

We also went over details for the fundraiser.  First of all, said Jeff, let's get away from calling it a fundraiser... It's an Art Collabrotative Weekend where the main goals are for participants to have a great collaborative experience, learn new skills, and raise money in the process. : )

He brought recommendations from the organizer he's worked with in the past (Echo Lake Collaborative)

1.  For our first time, keep everything shorter.  

Thursday night: intros (possibly show slides of your work) and layout the "resource table." 

The amount of purchased material is small. Since you only have two days to work,   bringing in semi-finished projects that can be expanded on is the way to go.

If each artist brings something fun/funky to contribute to the table, the other artists will generate creative ideas from them.

Work all Friday, and during the day on Saturday, photograph pieces, with Saturday night for the dinner and auction.

Pro: People only have to take off one day, Con: fewer pieces will be produced.

2.  People will need to learn how best to collaborate-it's not a natural process

3.  Select a few media to work in, then build to more over the years. Which ones:

Here we thought-

printmaking, selling the lithium blocks as well,  

frame making (to add value to the prints) -may be able to get supplies from Anne's boss at Harcastle Framing

wood working, because you can produce big, impressive pieces quickly

Leatherworking can also be quick-Josh has tools

Pre-made glass or ceramics can be brought to incorporate into the art pieces

4.  Invite fewer artists at first, about 30. Can build up over time. (Echo Lake usually invites 40 artists,  looking to make 75-90 pieces of high quality art.  Average sale price should be ~$250, with a range of  $100-1,000)

5. Studios/work areas must be near each other to maximize interactions. (Spaces needed for Echo lake: Metal shop, 

Wood shop, painting room, clean room/flex space, spray room. Plus, need a space to set up for dinner and the auction)

We decided we do want a live auction, because it generates more money, more excitement, and gets everyone to focus  on each piece, giving those artists their moment in the spotlight.

Who wants to be auctioneer-we just need some one enthusiastic.

For the dinner: everyone has a chance to look at the work and talk to the artists 

Echo lake usually has a catered trays of food.  For our first year, we could ask members  to bring in large trays of lasagna, or salads, etc.

Point is: People feel like they have to bid because they just got a free dinner.

Anyone know a business who would like to donate food?

So, we're all caught up.  Thank you for your support all. Have a wonderful holiday.

We'll see you soon,

Happy Monday!

We began 3 HUGE projects at our meeting on Sunday:

Outreach, Environments, and Experiences. 

The basic discussion:

Outreach: What people and organizations should we be connecting with? 

Environments: What would be our ideal rooms and spaces?

Experiences:  People join communities for the experiences they will have. What Events could we hold for/with our community?

Getting started is the hardest part...and we've already done it!

We'd still love for your voices to be heard.  So, head to our site and 

join the Barrel of Makers group on Atrium.

    You'll be able to  see our progress thus far in terms of Outreach, Environments, and  Experiences, by clicking on "Work Tracker" and "by Project."

Then, go ahead and add your ideas!

Basically, Atrium will be the place to keep all our work in progress transparent and accessible, rather than trapping all the information we're  exchanging in one another's e-mail boxes. The Work Tracker is, in fact,  a "community inbox."

There is a "How to Use Atrium

" video posted, but feel free to contact us  with more questions. 

We look forward to talking again soon,

~Barrel of Makers~