#mmfto

A crowd of 4,000 people was no obstacle for the mighty Robot Cavalcade at the Maker Faire Toronto this past Sunday, also promoted as family day so all Makers would be prepared to showcase their best ideas to the little ones, avid to learn new tricks and play the games they can't find anywhere else.   How about chasing R2D2 or dancing with your own Robot armor made of cardboard?

This was the setting in which our team had the luck to bring our Remix the City workshop.   Equipped with our little collection of tablets, we spent the first 15 minutes training our young digital journalists by teaching them some simple tricks to capture good video with a mobile device.   "Steady, pan to the energy, keep it short, move around" were all brief tips that were quickly adopted by the kids, in most cases leading their parents through the tasks.   We had barely enough time to master the art of creating compelling stories in just 3 seconds, now famously know as "Mixes", thanks to our very own web application.   

Everyone holding their tablets, positioned strategically around the stage, we were all in the first row to capture the Robot Cavalcade which was awesome and almost a signature event of the Maker Faire.  Don't believe us?  Just check all the mixes that were created from the event.  

Needless to say that after the Cavalcade we had plenty of videos that we could use to explore the world of remixing.   Through the next 30 minutes we talked about how we create stories, how we make those stories "travel" better through the web and the important role of co-creation and sharing as we move into the brave new world of the Creative Commons.

Although the workshop was designed for kids 10 to 17, we found that most of our audience during the workshop were the whole families supporting the kids as they explore the world of digital video.  We love to see how parents get involved in the process and we are proud of the service we provide by distilling the complex world of video production for the web into a few lessons that hopefully will create savvy future digital citizens.

We have a super special event planned for this Sunday September 22 at the Toronto Mini Maker Faire!   The FabSpaces team will be on stage to bring the "Remix the City" experience to all the kids and youth exploring our urban adventure / digital literacy workshop.    We'll have spare tablets to make sure that everyone gets a chance to create their own "Mixes".  We couldn't have found a better venue to host our workshop as the Wychwood Barns will be full of inspiration and amazing sights thanks to the many innovators, artists and hackers that will be participating.

Congrats @blacklimemedia & @janetyelplanety, you each won a pass to @MakerFaire_TO! Pls DM yr emails #pickmeFITCMMFTO pic.twitter.com/kDvxNWjaK5

— FITC (@FITC)