Recap: Maker Faire Bay Area, 2016

While I am slowly easing back into the reality called daily life, my head is still filled with pleasant memories from Maker Faire Bay Area. Already up to its 11th edition I feel proud to say it was my 8th Maker Faire, and the 4th time I had the privilege to visit the Bay Area. Every year appears to be more exciting than the year before, with more creativity, joy and things to do and see.

Okay, that recap video was pretty great. But do you know what's even better? Another recap video... in 360˚! Click and drag to really see what it was like to be at this Maker Faire with us, or open it in the YouTube app to look around by physically moving your phone:

Looks good, right? The experience of having seen more than a couple of shows gives me the perspective and opportunity to make some comparisons. During the first shows I attended in 2012, 3D printing was still fairly new and I almost felt like a magician, controlling these devices of wonder! The next years we ran into more passionate makers who had already heard about Ultimaker before and were at least more familiar with the concept of 3D printing.

And every year the growth in recognition was noticeable, to the point where visitors would come to the Maker Faire specifically to see Ultimaker and talk to us. I remember one guy tapping me on the back while I was on my lunch break, asking "Hey, do you work for Ultimaker?" "Yes I do," I kindly replied. "You guys rock!" was the response I received, followed by a high five. It was one of the better high fives in my life.

But even in comparison to that, this was an amazing and rewarding show. At our booth this year we had some very special projects lined up for our audience. On one end we had the remarkable Z-Unlimited by Joris van Tubergen installed. This flipped Ultimaker printer mounted to a vertically moving carriage can go as far up as you have rails - we could print approximately 8 feet tall columns in just 17 hours!  

On the other side we had 4 gumball machines lined up filled with 3D printed gifts and presents from 4 schools. Whichever school made the most profit from their gumball machine would win an Ultimaker. And not only that, every school would receive the quarters that were put into their machines so everyone is a winner.

The winner of the Ultimaker 2+ was Comstock Public Schools from Kalamazoo, Michigan! Once again, congratulations @Peetersm!

We are already looking forward to next year! Thank you all for visiting!