Make magazine, Maker Faire and the Maker movement are amazingly cool and a great way for people to learn. It also gets us back to creating real physical stuff rather than just feeding into a bogus service economy.
Reshared post from +Alexander Howard
Congratulations to Maker Faire and MAKE Magazine founder +Dale Dougherty, named a "Champion of Change" by the White House today!
"You're sort of the anti-Washington, in that you guys just hang out and do great stuff," said U.S. CTO Aneesh Chopra in introducing him. Their conversation was streamed live online at http://whitehouse.gov/live.
"Tinkering was once a solid middle class skill," said Dougherty. "It was how you make your life better. Making involves a willingness around risk, he emphasized "Ok, you fail. So get up and do it again."
It's also about what people do because of passion and personal interest. "People are building robots because they want to," he said. "It's an expression of who they are and what they want to do."
Now, MakerFaire is bringing many families together around making. In California, we have about 100,000 people coming to Maker Faire, said Dougherty. "We've got a lot of kids who don't want to sit in a seat & read a textbook. They want to DO stuff. How do we unleash that power?"
From the press release: "The recognition will come at the first part of a day of activities the White House is calling “Make it in America,” which will bring together American leaders helping to create high-quality jobs in the United States.
The White House Champions of Change Initiative profiles Americans from all walks of life helping the country rise to the challenges of the 21st century. These Champions of Change are doing extraordinary things in their communities working to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world. For more: http://www.whitehouse.gov/champions
Mr. Dougherty is being recognized for his work as founder and publisher of MAKE, a do-it-yourself magazine that helps readers make the most of their technology at home and away from home. Mr. Dougherty leads the Maker Media division of O'Reilly Media, Inc. He also developed Maker Faire, a fair that showcases DIY approaches in arts, crafts, science and engineering. Maker Faire showcases the innovation and creativity of its participants.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Tech/2011/1101/Maker-Faire-Mad-science-for-the-masses“Innovation happens everywhere;” Mr. Dougherty said, “not just in universities or corporations. The innovators who come to Maker Faire to share their ideas are living proof of that.”
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