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Robots & Makers in Akron -- Oh, My!

Blog Date
Author(s)
Julie Smith
Stuart O. Smith, Jr.
Tags
Akron
Technology
Hackerspace
Maker
Library

Akron's October 2014 Mini Maker Faire

Robots! 3-D Printers! Hackers! Mobile Broadcasting! Makers! Astronomy! Circuits! Kites! Make A Telescope! - Akron's October 2014 Mini Maker Faire had all of this and more!

Congratulations to the Akron-Summit County Public Library (@AkronLibrary) staff for this year's success! They doubled the attendance this second year of the event, with over 1,500 attendees.

Here is the description from MakerFaireAkron.com, explaining how this event relates to the city of Akron's (@CityofAkronOhio) rich tradition of innovation:

The Akron Mini Maker Faire is a family-friendly event to make, create, invent, learn, craft, recycle, think, and play, presented by the Akron-Summit County Public Library and Maker Media. It will inspire you with arts, crafts, science, technology, engineering, and innovation. Your admission is free.  
 
Akron Mini Maker Faire builds on the rich tradition of innovation which made Akron “The Rubber Capital of the World,” and continues today with leading polymer, medical device, and communications technologies.  
 
The excitement of the Akron Mini Maker Faire is both the focus on home-grown technology and the diversity of both the exhibitors (called Makers) and attendees. We welcome tech enthusiasts, crafters, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors who enjoy learning and who love to share what they can do.  
 
Primarily forward-looking, showcasing new and innovative uses of technologies, Akron Mini Maker Faire will feature innovation and experimentation across the spectrum of science, engineering, art, and craft.

Having attended our first Akron Mini Maker Faire (MakerFaireAkron.com) in 2013 (please feel free to read our Akron Mini Maker Faire & SYN/HAK The Akron Hackerspace Open House blog post), we were excited to attend again this year. The event took place on Saturday, October 18, 2014, 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. at the Akron-Summit County Public Library, Main Library (@AkronLibrary). This was truly a family event for us, since all the Smiths were interested in the technology presented there.

We had to arrive a bit late this year, since Stuart had his WebSigCleveland.org meeting that morning on: Google Fusion Maps & Social Media Strategy. It was a great way to start a technology day. WEWS NewsChannel5 Social Media Specialist Faith Boone(@FaithLBoone) spoke about creating Google Fusion Maps, and the effective use of Google+ and Google hangouts. She also shared a social media engagement strategy. Please return to the sosAssociates.com blog in the near future for a full blog post about Faith's presentation.

We would like to send a special thank-you to the Akron-Summit County Public Library Manager of the Science & Technology Division, Monique Mason, for sending us pre-event information and the official schedule for the day (view PDF). It lists all the makers and the sponsors who made this day possible -- thanks to them all.

Akron Mini Maker Faire 2014 Schedule
View Official Schedule

Photos & Videos

Here are out photos and videos from the day. We also recommend that you watch the offical MakerFaireAkron.com website for photos that will be posted there.

If your device does not support Flickr.com photos, please view them here.

Tweets and Retweets

Learn more about the day by seeing the videos and photos in our tweets and retweets. Also see links to useful resources.

 

What Others Are Saying

I always like to include what others write about the events I have attended. If you know of additional articles, please feel free to add them in the comment section below.

Mini Maker Faire Info

As writing this blog post we learned that the Kent State Mini Maker Faire will be April 10, 2015.

Learn about our experiences at the Akron and Cleveland Maker Faires in our blog posts: