After an exciting week with international guests in residence, the time had come again on June 15 and 16, 2024: The Makers United opened its doors! We were there again and report on our experiences in this article.
As soon as it's 10:00, the first guests start streaming into the Stadthalle. There is something to see, make and hear everywhere. A giant robot stomps through the aisles and greets the visitors. A few 3D printers are in use, generating small souvenirs. Meanwhile, small plastic bottles are being planted with fresh cacti at another stand.
And with us? We were already busy setting up, decorating and planning from 8:00 am. Everything went like clockwork - until shortly before the start of the event it became clear that one of our exhibits next to the 3D printer was a few centimetres too long to fit on the table: Sloping roof too low, printed TV tower too big. Thanks to the clever design, this was also quickly solved, because fortunately the tower can be taken apart piece by piece. The antenna of the TV tower was a little too short for an accurate replica, but at least we were able to show it off nicely. The model could be seen right next to our amusing LED race track. By quickly and repeatedly pressing a button, an electric race was run against a self-selected rival - and, of course, won in the best case scenario! We also offered a short vacation to the beach. All visitors had to do was put on our VR glasses and then experience first-hand what it feels like to stand on the beach with a festival soundscape. In keeping with the theme of relaxation, visitors could also sit down with us, start a few nice conversations with us and turn old sweaters into new balls of wool or make their own key rings out of polymer clay.
As every year, the festival was an absolute enrichment for us! Not only were we able to make new contacts with other creative minds, but we were also able to exchange ideas with markers from previous years. Of course, we were particularly pleased about every guest who was not only interested in our stand, but also asked questions. Who we are? What we do? How does it work? Whether you can join us? You could find out all this and much more at our stand.
After an exhilarating day of delicious sandwiches and no rest, it was time to meet up with all the other makers one last time on the lawn in front of the Stadthalle. There were not only good topics of conversation, but also tasty food and home-made music. Even without visitors, we couldn't resist getting creative. This resulted in the temporary work of art "The Community Bread Spit".
Without much respite, we continued straight away the next day. What a wonderful feeling when you enter the Stadthalle early in the morning, see the stand already set up and can't wait for the first guests to arrive! Our stand offer was also expanded today with digital painting on tablets with our long-time companion Sebastian Nikolitsch from KaffeeSatz e.V..
As Sunday was a little quieter than Saturday, the exhibitors were able to have a look around themselves. As a result, the stand owner of a 3D printing table was able to sit down with the owner of an art table at our stand to exchange some tips on painting 3D printed figures while creating a key ring. Here's what we remembered: When painting, you should never just use pure black paint! You always need to mix in a bit of the basic, most commonly used "colorful" paint to make the overall look more "coherent". Very interesting!
Unfortunately, all exciting and fun days have to come to an end. After another successful day with many guests and conversations, the festival ended at 18:00. The result? Hundreds of races, lots of visits to the beach, a few new balls of yarn made from old sweaters and over 100 polymer clay figures and key rings. So two days in a row passed like the briefest of moments.
We would like to thank not only the organizers, but also all the helpers at the trade fair for the great days. We will be talking about this year's Makers United for a long time to come and are already looking forward to what awaits us next year.
You can find more pictures of Makers United on our Instagram channel. You can also leave us a comment there telling us whether you attended Makers United this year. What did you like best?
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