Maker Faire Checklist

Between taking most of “Maker Faire” week off work and getting ready1 for MakerCon and Maker Faire, May was a hectic month. I remembered pretty much everything I needed for a successful2 – except “maker cards” and a metric ruler.  With a few additional tweaks, I’m sure it can be even better next year.

In case you’ve never set up a booth at Maker Faire, you get an area with several folding chairs, a few long folding tables, and a chain link fence on at least one side of you.34 To have an interesting booth, you’ll want something to put over your table and on the chain link fence.

Since my entire booth was basically a wooden box that unpacked into a robot that made decorations for my booth, set up was rather easy.

• Attending the Fair
  • Cash5
  • A MakerBingo card
  • A list of things and people you want to see6
  • Backpack7
  • Food or snacks8
  • Phone charger9
  • Warm weather clothes – shorts, t-shirt
  • Warmer clothes, stowed in backpack, for when it gets dark and cooler10
  • Laptop, power cable11
• Booth Setup
  • One large table covering per table12
  • One large display board to explain your project ((Like the kind for science fairs))
  • One booklet of information13
  • Caution tape14
  • Zip ties
  • Hot glue, glue sticks
  • Some kind of swag15
  • Some way to make your project interactive16
• Booth Interior
  • Cooler, water, ice17
  • Paper bags or swag bags18
• Feedback
  • Suggestion box, 3×5 index cards, pens19
  • Notepad for email list signup
  • LOTS of maker/business cards
  • Update the website before Maker Faire!20
• Robot
  • Hardware21
  • 3mm hex wrench22
  • Metric ruler23
  • Paper ((One $5 roll is good enough to run a PlotterBot around the clock all entire weekend))
  • Pens and markers24
  • Blue painter’s tape and masking tape
  • Extra fishing line25

1. Photo courtesy of Daniel Kulinski [↩]
2. Editor’s choice blue ribbon! [↩]
3. I heard an amusing anecdote from someone at Make who said they put a lot of time and energy into figuring out a good spot for all the makers.  Apparently they were a little concerned about having three drawing / art style robots next to one another!  I had a great time hanging out near PicassoBot and PancakeBot! [↩]
4. My daughter later pointed out there were three robots, in a row, all with a “P” in the start of their name [↩]
5. As a Maker, I could eat at the Maker Lounge, but the credit card machine was intermittent [↩]
6. This could be a whole topic in itself.  Two days is not enough to catch all the talks from just one stage.  With multiple stages, multiple demonstrations, mini-concerts all happening at the same time  [↩]
7. Or not.  There were several booths giving away these stringy sack kind of backpacks [↩]
8. Maker Faire is big and there’s a lot to see.  Although there are a lot of food options, you don’t necessarily want to drop what you’re doing just to go find food [↩]
9. Ideally, a portable one [↩]
10. Just a hoodie should be enough [↩]
11. These were necessary for my particular robot, but may not be for you and definitely not if you’re just attending [↩]
12. $15 each at KMart [↩]
13. Printed with clear plastic cover, spiral bound, about $7 [↩]
14. About $3 for a huge roll – perfect for keeping kids from rushing into your booth [↩]
15. Business cards, stickers, t-shirts, to any other kinds of trinkets out there [↩]
16. These are really the most fun kinds of exhibits/booths/projects at Maker Faire [↩]
17. It gets super hot and stuffy if you’re indoors, so water is key [↩]
18. To stow extra clothing and supplies [↩]
19. Pens can be donated from the hotel [↩]
20. Ideally, with a link to the mailing list and/or squeeze page [↩]
21. Bolts, washers, wingnuts [↩]
22. The entire robot can be assembled or disassembled with a single 3mm hex wrench [↩]
23. 1 meter stick or yard stick with metric markings [↩]
24. A whole new pack [↩]
25. This has never broken or tangled on me, but it’s not a bad idea to bring extra [↩]