Maker Faire Producers from Across the Globe Convene at Maker Faire New York 2017

Maker Faire Producers from all over the globe gathered Friday before Maker Faire New York for a meetup to exchange ideas, hang with the Maker Faire flagship team, check out behind-the-scenes production and otherwise have some fun.

Beyond the meetup, four Maker Faire producers were invited to “embed” as flagship Maker Faire New York crew. Roniel Guzman Toribio of Santo Domingo Mini Maker Faire, Monica Nitz of Rocklin Mini Maker Faire, Heather Sabin of Madison Mini Maker Faire, and Omar El-Safty of Maker Faire Cairo all started work early Wednesday morning and cycled through a program of work-study in positions across Maker Relations, Transportation, Gates, Stage Management and more. Super fun to have them visit the Producer meetup and get a hit of their infectious energy.

Flagship Maker Faire Producer Louise Glasgow sharing tips on empowering teams with tools and clarity

The “Producers-In-Residence” for Maker Faire New York: Roniel from Santo Domingo Mini Maker Faire, Heather from Madison Mini Maker Faire, Omar of Maker Faire Cairo, and Monica of Rocklin Mini Maker Faire

The Rochester team kicked off the day with a presentation on their outreach strategy

Dorothy Jones-Davis of Nation of Makers on stakeholders and organizing

Ryan from Newark Mini Maker Faire on being an art museum and integrating Maker Faire in a fine art context

Mark of Maker Faire Westport on some of their outreach wins: lawn signs and street lighting flags all throughout town

Dale Dougherty visited for lunch and shared some reflection on his travels and education projects

David Brunet of Maker Faire Houston and Greg Hatcher of Meridian Mini Maker Faire on strategic partnerships with economic development orgs

Workshopping around strategic partners & pitches — this team focused on craft guilds, while others did labor unions, hospitals and Chamber of Commerce type organizations

Producers in Residence full of palpable energy! So good to see their happy faces

Caleb of the Make: editorial team preaching “just email me!”

Swag swap!

Mike Senese of the Make: editorial team

More swag…

and more…

and more!

Backstage tour time, stopping in at radio dispatch

Aerial Sports League dolled out some advice and inside info on the latest in drone sports for show

Chatting up Make: video lead Tyler in the crew tent on best practices

End of day, post-tour Producer Posse

After spending a good 5 hours moving through topics and conversation and special guests, the Maker Faire Producer Posse (MFPP) emerged and strolled the site for a look at the “backend” of Maker Faire production. We talked with the makers of Maker Faire, stopping at spots like the Sustainability HQ where trash, compost, and recycling is inspected and sometimes re-sorted, and the Properties tent where all small tools, supplies, and essentially any crew need is supplied or procured. (Did you know Maker Faire achieves an 80% diversion rate at its shows??!)

Very conveniently the tour ended just in time to join the traditional Maker Dinner and paella party. Thanks so much to all the Producers who made the trip to New York — we love getting to see the whites of your eyes and being at Maker Faire together in real, physical time.

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Interested in learning more about making a Maker Faire or a School Maker Faire where you live?  Check out our Maker Faire Global website.