MIAMI – (Oct. 24, 2013) – On Nov. 16 the Miami Mini Maker Faire will bring together makers, technologists, artists, entrepreneurs and other do-it-yourself enthusiasts in the city’s Wynwood district to connect and share ideas. The event is a partnership between MIAMade, an organization dedicated to supporting the local maker community, and Maker Media, Inc., founders of the Maker Faire, with support provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
“Miami has a lot of untapped tech talent and new entrepreneurs focused on areas like hardware, robotics and 3-D printing. But to have a positive social impact they need more opportunities to showcase ideas and build relationships,” said Matt Haggman, Knight Foundation program director in Miami. “The Miami Mini Maker Faire is one part of a plan to build a sense of community among these local makers and connect them with a larger global movement.”
“The Miami Mini Maker Faire provides makers specializing in do-it-yourself technology, arts and crafts with a unique opportunity to show what they have made and to share what they have learned with the community at large,” adds MIAMade co-founder Ric Herrero. “It will serve as a bellwether for how far we’ve come as a creative community, and how far we have yet to go.”
About 1,000 participants are expected to attend the Mini Maker Faire, which will include talks, presentations, panel discussions and short film screenings at three main locations in Wynwood: The LAB Miami, The Lightbox at Goldman Warehouse and O Cinema. The larger South Florida community is also invited to learn more about the maker movement through information and educational sessions and meetups; these will be designed for people of all ages and knowledge levels.
Additionally, the event will help create a database of local makers that will eventually be used to invite participants to other networking gatherings throughout the year. In this way, MIAMade will develop ways for Miami’s makers to collaborate and engage, and work to better understand their needs.
Support for the Miami Mini Maker Faire forms one part of Knight Foundation’s efforts to inform citizens and create new opportunities by strengthening Miami’s entrepreneurial and creative community. In the past month alone, Knight hosted its second Miami event with NewME, a startup accelerator; helped launched the Miami outpost of TechCocktail, a media and startup networking company; and funded the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship to bring technology and entrepreneurial skills to Miami-Dade students. Knight also recently supported the opening of the Miami office of Endeavor, an international mentorship network designed to scale entrepreneurial businesses.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.