It was also exhausting, particularly the first day.  You see, on friday what I expected to be a 2.5 hour drive turned into a 5 hour drive mostly stuck in traffic.  Then, woke up saturday at 5am only to find that the shower didn't work right in our hotel room.  I proceeded to spend about 12 hours outdoors in about 90 degree weather talking to literally hundreds of people in what seemed like a dirt dust storm.  You have to understand, 2 of my least favorite things are hot weather and talking to strangers (or talking at all), so I was totally out of my element and seriously stressed out.  I wished I would have had more time to talk with the other 3D printer operators (particularly the guys at MakerBot), however my brain was turning to mush.

But no matter how sweaty, dirty, and tired Amy and I were, another kid (and often adult) would walk up to my table with this kind of wide eyed wonder at my creation as it slowly built up another object.  Then I'd realize - here was another person who was staring into the beginnings of a technology that they often had no idea even existed before walking into our tent.  Maybe that kid would be inspired like Carl Segan was when he was a child and visited the first World's Faire in 1939 that was also on these same grounds.  So I'd explain for the 1000'th time what a MakerBot and a RepRap is, how it works, that ABS is the same plastic as LEGOs, and what are the implications of personal fabrication and machines that can make almost anything including other machines, will have on the future world that they will grow up into.

In the end I had a great time and won a blue ribbon!  Now I need to unpack and clean off a few layers of dirt and grime out of my poor little robot so I can get back to helping make the future awesome!

Filed under  //   makerbot   makerfaire   reprap