When I was a child, every time I received a toy, I start to disassemble and see how it works inside. I always like to understand how things work and from there, it stimulates my thinking and also gains me the interests on making stuffs. And now, I still continuing using my spare time to make something that is in my mind, try out some weird idea and see if it works. Until this year, only I heard of Makerfaire, mainly from one of the organiser, Vincent Kok. This excite me because I was never knew there is such an event in Malaysia, I could see the new idea from the makers everywhere.
So I decided to submit one of my project to be exhibit in Penang Makerfest. The event is on 14th and 15th Nov 2015. Joining Makerfest as a maker for the first time, there is a mixed feeling of excited and also nervous. Wondering how is the environment in Makerfest as I never join Makerfaire in Malaysia before. For this Makerfest, I am presenting a DIY Hovercraft which mainly use the part from recycle stuffs. My aim is to show what you can do with your waste and recycle material and encourage the people to use it instead of buying a new one.
What I learned from exhibiting at makerfest.
Exhibiting my project for the first time, I learned how to present and delivery my idea to the people of all ages, kids, students and adults. This is challenging and fun at the same time when explaining the idea to people from all ages group, kids, students, adults, some are knowledgeable in electronic, some are not but they have much interest on that.
What the most important thing I learned is “Don’t be intimidated”. In the Makerfest, there are famous makers from established company, some showing their advance technology products. I was somewhat nervous about mine little student’s booth. But the Makerfest’s environment wasn’t like that at all. People are enthusiastic, curious, and very very nice. Some of them are even amazed when seeing your little project and interested to make their own.
Besides that, another thing I learned is that, “enjoy the free feedback”. The best feeling when showing the project to the people is, watching people’s eyes light up. Watching the reaction when they are thinking in their minds like, “wow this is a little cool stuff!”. From that, I get an instant feedback on how people respond to my project. I also receive some advice and suggestion from the people. This is the part where I will learn and improve!
After all, this is an awesome event, learned a lot, seen a lot, and a lot of fun!
These are some awesome project from other makers!
