An Open Note to Naomi Wu (and Makers Everywhere)

Maker News
An Open Note to Naomi Wu (and Makers Everywhere)

Naomi, I apologize for my recent tweets questioning your identity. I was wrong, and I’m sorry.

The invitation that we had previously issued for you to speak on the main stageย at the upcoming Maker Faire Shenzhen is still very much in place.ย  Let me know if you’d like to present, and I will get you scheduled. I invite you to discuss the issues you have raised and your own journey and work as a Maker.

To Naomi and everyone in the community, I want to say as strongly as I can that we want Make: to be inclusive and provide an arena for all Makers to share their projects, values, challenges, and humanity in a safe and supportive environment. If we fail at that, we take it seriously. I failedย on Sundayย and learned a valuable lesson from all of you about that. I can do better โ€” and I will.

โ€”Dale

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DALE DOUGHERTY is the leading advocate of the Maker Movement. He founded Make: Magazine 2005, which first used the term โ€œmakersโ€ to describe people who enjoyed โ€œhands-onโ€ work and play. He started Maker Faire in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2006, and this event has spread to nearly 200 locations in 40 countries, with over 1.5M attendees annually. He is President of Make:Community, which produces Make: and Maker Faire.

In 2011 Dougherty was honored at the White House as a โ€œChampion of Changeโ€ through an initiative that honors Americans who are โ€œdoing extraordinary things in their communities to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.โ€ At the 2014 White House Maker Faire he was introduced by President Obama as an American innovator making significant contributions to the fields of education and business. He believes that the Maker Movement has the potential to transform the educational experience of students and introduce them to the practice of innovation through play and tinkering.

Dougherty is the author of โ€œFree to Make: How the Maker Movement Is Changing our Jobs, Schools and Mindsโ€ with Adriane Conrad. He is co-author of "Maker City: A Practical Guide for Reinventing American Cities" with Peter Hirshberg and Marcia Kadanoff.

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