MAKE Asks: Speakers for Maker Faire

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By Michael Colombo
Posted 2013/01/29 @ 12:00 pm
Category Makers, General

MAKE Asks: is a weekly column where we ask you, our readers, for responses to maker-related questions. We hope the column sparks interesting conversation and is a way for us to get to know more about each other.

This week’s question: Maker Faire Bay Area is quickly approaching, and World Maker Faire will follow soon after in September. We are currently booking speakers for these events. When you go to Maker Faire who would you love to hear? It can be anyone from the tech, geek, science or art world. The sky’s the limit!

I would love to hear Dean Kamen speak. He is a true renaissance man, known for his pioneering work in the bio-tech field, the inventor of the Segway, his robotic prosthetic arm, and his off-grid compound on North Dumpling Island. Dean’s a maverick in the field and would fit in perfectly among us makers.

Post your responses in the comments section.

In the Maker Shed

21 Responses to MAKE Asks: Speakers for Maker Faire

Chris Gammell on January 29th, 2013 at 12:27 pm said:

Well, possibly I was prompted by your Dean Kamen suggestion (which is great!), but Elon Musk would be another one. Given the mix of electric vehicle, space and solar companies, he seems like he has some definite overlap with Maker sensibilities. Plus you know he’ll be looking to hire lots of Makers in coming years!

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- Sean on January 29th, 2013 at 1:35 pm said:
  
  Seconds on Elon Musk!
  
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Mark Bünger on January 29th, 2013 at 12:37 pm said:

Navi Radjou, about Jugaad Innovation. Jugaad is DIY in the developing world, and increasingly the developed economies too. Great perspective on creativity, innovation, and sustainability.

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- Mark Bünger on January 29th, 2013 at 12:55 pm said:
  
  …and Bilal Ghalib of GEMSI. He’s started makerspaces in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and now Palestine — another great voice on the global universality of the maker movement.
  
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Jake Spurlock on January 29th, 2013 at 12:39 pm said:

Nick Offerman, and Jimmy DiResta.

Do I really need to explain this?

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Tommy Phillips on January 29th, 2013 at 12:46 pm said:

How about Vince Gingery? I’d love to hear some war stories about his dad, and about running Lindsay Books through a period that included the beginnings of the modern Maker movement.

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- Michael Colombo on January 29th, 2013 at 12:48 pm said:
  
  +1 on Gingery. Those books are too often unheralded – rich resources for the Maker movement today. I still treasure my copy of “Secrets of Lead Acid Batteries.”
  
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Kent K Barnes on January 29th, 2013 at 1:00 pm said:

I really enjoyed Mike Rowe at the 2011 Maker Faire. Bring him back for more!

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Andy Barratt on January 29th, 2013 at 1:38 pm said:

Please bring Adam Savage to the UK. I’d love to see him speak. Quite happy to pay more – the guy is such an inspirational speaker and only seems to do TAM in the US.

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- John Honniball on January 30th, 2013 at 7:18 am said:
  
  +1 for Adam Savage! And may I suggest Tim Hunkin, maker of The Secret Life of Machines and the amusement arcade machines at Southwold Pier. We heard him speak at Derby maker Faire last year; maybe he’d be able to come to other Faires?
  
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  Gregory Hayes on January 30th, 2013 at 11:25 am said:
  
  Great call! I saw him present at the Open Make event at San Francisco’s Exploratorium, and would love to catch him live again.
  
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Ben Bradley on January 29th, 2013 at 1:55 pm said:

I’d love to hear Ray “How To Make A Mind” Kurzweil.

Okay, maybe he’s too busy with his new job at Google and all. How about David L. Jones of EEVlog fame? That would be a long and expensive plane flight, but worth it.

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dthorpe95005 on January 29th, 2013 at 2:35 pm said:

James Dyson, inventor.

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Bridget Hylák on January 29th, 2013 at 4:26 pm said:

Steve Wozniak… true renaissance man… and such an inspiration/hero to my family/children in particular

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- Michael Colombo on January 29th, 2013 at 4:29 pm said:
  
  Oh that would be great. I’d love to snatch one of his steel business cards he uses on flights to cut his steak just to spite the flight attendants.
  
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chuck on January 29th, 2013 at 5:05 pm said:

I’m going to be speaking and hosting a workshop at the Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire on noise circuits and basic synthesis. We’re going to make some noise!
As for who I’d like to see speak (aside from myself!)- Forrest Mims, William Gibson and Mark Pauline of SRL spring to mind. I can’t get enough of Adam Savage!
What I’d really like to see is a ’3D Printing Reality Check’ panel discussion with some of the luminaries of the 3D printing scene as well as an engineer, an economist, a designer and other experts to clear up some of the confusion as to what we can and can’t do with the technology and where it’s likely to be heading. The recent printed guns hysteria is a good example of confusing what we may be able to do in the future vs. what we can do right now.

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Matt on January 29th, 2013 at 5:33 pm said:

A tech combo of Ben Heck and David Pogue (What I can make myself and what I can buy for myself)

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Sjon Pelletier on January 29th, 2013 at 8:06 pm said:

Richard James aka Aphex Twin

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Jerry Isdale on January 29th, 2013 at 11:22 pm said:

David Lang – openROV, zero to Maker, etc

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