The 2013 Urbana-Champaign Mini-Maker Faire was awarded an Urbana Arts Festivals grant again this year! Thanks to everyone who voted for it and thanks to the Urbana Arts Council!

Event Details:
UC Mini-Maker Faire – September 21, 2013
11am – 5pm
Location: Urbana-Champaign IMC, 202 S. Broadway

Complete event details including maker/group registration will be coming soon!

The dust has settled on the Urbana-Champaign Mini Maker Faire and it rocked! We had 431 guests of all ages come through our doors on Saturday, April 14 2012. If you attended the faire, would you be willing to spend five minutes filling out a survey that tells us about your experience? The survey is here and your answers will help us plan the next faire.

Lots of photos are up on our Facebook page. Go have a look and feel free to tag yourself and your friends. If you haven’t “liked” us on Facebook yet, please do so so we are able to keep you updated about next year’s faire!

Thanks so much for coming to our party and making it such a fun time!

Urbana-Champaign Maker Faire is here! From 10am-4pm tomorrow, Saturday 4/14, we will be live! Here are some nitty-gritty details that will be useful to your tomorrow:

• Maker Faire is at 202 S Broadway in downtown Urbana. That’s the Independent Media Center, which also houses the Urbana Post Office. There will be a giant banner hanging from the post office pillars and you should have any trouble finding us.
• There is lots of free parking in the parking garage at the corner of Elm and Broadway. Please do no park in the post office circle drive before 1 pm or in the Jumer’s Hotel parking lot. Parking either of those places will get you in trouble.
• The faire is free! However, if you think you might get hungry, want to buy a blinky light robot to use at the learn to solder booth, or buy some of the handmade technology or crafts that our makers are bringing to the faire, bring a few dollars to spend.
• There will be free wifi at the faire in case you need to upload pictures, tweet, or convince your friends to come down.

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Jay Schubert will be making music at 1 pm and in between the Tubulum and CMKT4 performances. Jay spins house music via a Vestax Typhoon DJ Midi Controller and will be hanging out to talk about ”ripping” vinyl and preparing the files for use with a digital DJ system.

Performance Schedule for Saturday, April 14

1 pm Jay Schubert spinning house music

2pm Scott Moore on the Tubulum

3:30 CMKT4 Circuit Bent Hacker Space Rock

(clicking on the links above will take you to recordings of Jay Schubert and CMKT4)

 Breaking news: The Crave Truck will be parked outside of the Urbana-Champaign Mini Maker Faire at 10am on Saturday morning. Come join us even if you haven’t had your morning coffee!

 As Maker Faire draws near (only 4 days until Saturday, April 14!!!), I’m getting more and more excited about the faire. I’ve been thinking about why I like Maker Faire so much, and, being a maker at heart (I knit, sew, print, stitch, cook, and make music in my free time), I love that at the core of Maker Faire is the belief that technology is for everyone and the goal of getting together is to share our passions and teach others how to make things themselves.

Here is what I know you can learn how to do at Maker Faire (although I’m guessing there will be less formal learning going on as well):

• Learn to Solder–the robot you see at the top of this post is part of a learn-to-solder LED light kit that the good folks of Makerspace Urbana will be using to teach people how to use a soldering iron.
• Learn to Finger Knit–a cadre of volunteers (including some super rad high school students) will be in the house with yarn and fingers to teach you how to finger knit and, if you have awhile, how to knit with knitting needles.
• Learn to Repurpose your Old Clothes–the Shared Threads Sewing Collective will have a simple sewing tutorial to show you how to repurpose your old tshirts, pants, blankets, etc.
• Learn to Write a Letter–the Letter Writers Alliance will be there with stationary and typewriters to teach you (or remind you) how to write an analog letter.

Remember, the faire is FREE and open to kids of all ages. I would recommend that you bring the money you saved on the entrance fee to buy a soldering kit, purchase a snack, or buy some of the handmade goods that will be on display.

What’s a Tubulum, you ask? Well, it’s that fantastic contraption you see pictured above and Scott Moore will be playing it at 2 PM on Saturday, April 14 at the Urbana-Champaign Mini Maker Faire. His Tubulum was a huge hit with adults and kids alike last year at the faire and we anticipate it being popular again this year. Stop by early so you can check out all the other fun events at the faire and then hang around for the performances.

At 3:30 PM, CMKT4 will be performing their circuit bending hackerspace rock and roll on  hacked children’s toys. Another favorite from last year, CMKT4 should not be missed!

A little bit about CIA:

Central Illinois Aerospace (CIA) is Champaign-Urbana’s model rocket club, an affiliate of the Champaign Park District, the National Association of Rocketry, and the Tripoli Rocketry Association. We’re dedicated to safety, education, and above all FUN in our model rocket activities. Twice-monthly meetings cover a variety of topics. Fully-insured launches are held twice each month, including GARLO, our biggest launch of the year. We coordinate with the FAA for high-power rocket launch waivers. In addition we hold occasional workshops on various aspects of hobby rocketry.

In September, UCMMF co-conspirator Sarah and I went to Chicago for the Renegade Handmade Craft Fair. While there we met the amazing Donovan and Kathy of The Letter Writers Alliance. We convinced them that they absolutely had to come down for our Mini Maker Faire because it is held IN A POST OFFICE. These folks make beautiful stationary and correspondence materials and will be at the faire with their typewriters and stationary especially donated for you to write letters upon.  As if that weren’t enough, they even have a typewriter they will be giving away to one lucky Maker Faire attendee!

You don’t want to miss this!

Let’s have a moment of honesty, shall we? If you are anything like me, your favorite part of any social activity is the food. So I am very happy to announce that THERE WILL BE FOOD at the Urbana-Champaign Mini Maker Faire! Our fabulous sponsor, The Common Ground Food Co-op, have agreed to have an outpost snack shop at the faire. Their staff will be on hand to sell you drinks and snacks as well as tell you about the Co-op and what you can make with their ingredients.