• by Kelly Samardak , June 6, 2008

Remember the good ole Science Fair days? You know, where your diorama of that elephant (made with homemade clay) just couldn't hold a candle to Chauncey's self-healing, genetically engineered hamster? So you peed your pants and cried? Remember that? Oh wait, that was me. I held it in, though, when I walked through the brain overload that was "An Evening at Maker Faire" in the bowels of Saatchi & Saatchi.

If you can believe it, the fellow in front of me was anxiously yammering into his phone " Yeah yeah, so I'm going to try... I'm going to try and get in. [pause, listening to other side of the phone yammering]... Surerightyeah, if his name doesn't get me in I'll... I'll just try something else..." slams phone closed and eyes dart around for Maker Faire security. His hairy pal showed up in a brown trenchcoat and they began secretly conspiring their sneaky "we're not on the list" entrance.

The story behind me was a lot different. "Yeah, if you're not on the list, they just have you sign your name," a fellow in a blue blazer and an interesting crown of curls lilted to his female cohort.

I walked into what felt like the cellar of Grandpa's Cheesebarn . It was all slick cool cement. Only, instead of wheels of cheese and angry mice, this cellar had plastic party triangles strung from the ceiling, mad scientists rigged up with lights and diodes and wires that connected with their laptops, and a tiny bar dedicated to co-sponsor Brooklyn Brewery, where you could choose your Brooklyn poison. Or a cup of lemonade from the gnarly-looking big white bucket of yellow.

Maker Faire was a time machine back to middle school. Every table made me wish that I hadn't been so lazy. See, these people are doers. They think of something, they go out and get some string, some bandaids, some mustard, and some wire, and end up with a solar-powered ice chipper, MacGyver-style. Me? I was a reader. Buried my nose in the books that painted stories of doers.

My absolute favorite stop in the Maker Faire tour was Sparkle Kits' (the font or typeface or whatever is weird, I thought it said "Sparkle Hits" and "Electronic Hit," which still sounds great) Electronic Kit! In one box full of individual little envelopes ("lots of parts") is all you need to not only discover electronics, but create your own blinking lights, use switches and regulators, and add a noisemaker. Yes, I will be purchasing said kit and exercising my inner nerd.

While small, cramped, and by the time I got there, needing more than just sweet treats, Maker Faire fulfilled my #1 desire for attending: it inspired. Where do you think the creators of the Twitters, Plurks, and "Will it Blend"s get started (or how about that monkey who can use those robotic arms) ? They're experimenters, they're creators, they're grease monkeys, they're nerds. They make stuff. They're Makers. Next time Maker's Faire comes to town (hopefully with elephants!), you better go. I promise, you'll walk away smarter.

Now, I must order my Electronic Kit!

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