Maker Faire Bay Area’s call for makers is open until March 15. Early bird tickets are on sale now, too. Prices go up March 15. Are you thinking of applying for a booth, maybe for the first time? Or maybe you’re planning on attending your first Maker Faire? I’m here to help.

Karen at Maker Faire Bay Area in 2012.

I’m writing a series of posts aimed at folks looking forward to their first experience at the upcoming Maker Faire Bay Area (May 18-19 in San Mateo, Calif.). I’d like to help out by answering your questions directly, documenting some of my own experiences as an exhibitor at Maker Faire, and interviewing folks at MAKE for advice on enjoying the fair.

Why me?
I’ve been a maker at several fairs now, exhibiting work as Tanenbaum Fabrications, a small design/tech/maker studio I run with my husband. We make steampunk props and costumes, experiment with Arduino, and like to tell stories. We also study and write about technology academically (I just finished my PhD in Interactive Arts & Technology). Our first booth was at the Mini Maker Faire in Vancouver, BC in June 2011. We did the Bay Area Maker Faire last year and most recently we were at the Portland Mini Maker Faire this past September. Each time, we did something a little different–an interactive storytelling system, a steampunk prop making workshop, and a jewelry making activity.

Assorted Steampunkery from Tanenbaum Fabrications

We’re definitely not pros at this. We do it because we make fun stuff and like to share it with people and to see what kind of fun stuff they can make as well. We enjoy talking to like-minded makers, or even un-like-minded makers because it inspires us and teaches new things. So I hope that by sharing my experiences, I can encourage others to come out and join us.

What next?
That depends partly on you, the MAKE community. Email me (karen.tanenbaum@gmail.com) or leave me a comment here if there’s something specific you’d like to know about and I’ll try and address it. At first, I’ll be focusing on the process of applying to be an exhibitor at Maker Faire since that deadline is coming up. Then I’ll discuss preparing a booth for the fair and what to expect as a participant or an exhibitor. I hope other experienced Maker Faire attendees and exhibitors will join in the conversation, too. I certainly don’t know everything and there are lots of different ways to approach the fair. The most important thing, though, is just to have fun and celebrate the joys of making stuff!