A Journey of Maker Discovery

Make It Dayton has, to date, been a loose gathering of local Makers who banded together to bring Dayton the 2015 and 2016 Maker Fest and the 2016, 2017 and soon 2018 Dayton Mini Maker Faire.  Through these events, we’ve built relationships with numerous makerspaces, maker clubs, startups, libraries, schools and other groups who are interested in growing the Maker Movement in and around Dayton.  Lately, we’ve been thinking – if we’ve managed to bring together 85+ exhibits and 3000+ attendees for the Dayton Mini Maker Faire, and if we now have this growing network of makers, what is next?  How can we make Make It Dayton a force for good in our community?

The answer is – we’re not sure!  But, we’ve recently sent out a survey to the “brain trust” that we’ve pulled together over the last few years and are starting to form the answer.  Make It Dayton will be undergoing some changes and growing pains in 2018 as we redefine what we are outside of just the Maker Faire planning committee.  If you are interested in coming along on this journey of maker discovery with us, here are a few things you can do:

  • Subscribe to this blog so you are in the loop for all the latest updates
  • Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @makeitdayton
  • Join our mailing list by filling out the Contact Us form
  • Volunteer to help us figure it all out by filling out the Contact Us form
  • Let us know what you think Make It Dayton should be! Guess how? That’s right, fill out the Contact Us form!

We plan on starting to hold regular meetings in the coming months, and we’ll be posting that information here as well as social media.  We hope to see you there.

Maker Fest 2016

*Editors Note: This is historical content that is being relocated to the blog section of the website so that our Events page can be updated to reflect current activities for Make It Dayton.

Maker Fest 2016
The second annual Maker Fest was a resounding success! A bit early for Pi Day (3/12/16), we had 24 exhibitors, 8 presentations and over 600 attendees (not to mention 3 food trucks). It was a ton of fun and a great lead in to Dayton’s first Mini Maker Faire in July at Carillon Historical Park. If you want to see the presentations, check out our YouTube channel.

For pictures of the event, check out:
https://goo.gl/photos/nM9JHcCAPV2JEidq9
http://wbi-icc.com/makerfest2016

MCM Electronic’s wrap up blog post:
http://blog.mcmelectronics.com/post/2016-Dayton-Maker-Fest-Wrap-Up#.Vu8DSuIrKUk

AFRL Maker Fest

On Super Pi Day (3/14/15), the first ever AFRL Maker Fest was held at Tec^Edge.  We had over 500 attendees, several discussion panels and exhibitors from all over the Dayton Area. Make It Dayton is working on next year’s event and looking forward to an even larger turnout!

Here are some pictures of the event:

By the Wright Brothers Institute

and by MCM Electronics