We’re a US-centric site, but aside from events in New York or California, we don’t see many hacker, maker, or 3D printer events aimed at the parts of the country filled with corn and WalMarts. The 1st annual Midwest RepRap Festival aims to change that with enough events, speakers, and activities to make Elkhart, Indiana look like the hoppingist place around.
Officially, the festival started yesterday but the schedule of events really ramps up today. [Josef Prusa] will be taking the stage talking about the state of the RepRap, and a ton of 3d printing vendors will be there showing off their wares and selling some really cool stuff. There’s also tons of experienced RepRappers available to help you tune your machine to perfection; just as well, because the festival is going for the world record for the greatest number of 3D printers printing simultaneously.
If you’re around northern Indiana, you might want to check out the festival and send us a few pics or videos.
I wish there were events like this in EUrope as well… the only one is the 3DPrintShow in the UK but that’s all… It’s a shame that all the technical inventions come delayed overseas…
PI was designed in the UK.
…so was RepRap :)
Can’t PLA technically be manufactured using corn as the main product?
Also, missing this kind of events in the rest of the world.
I thought it was…
And one of the biggest manufacturers of PLA, NatureWorks, is based in Minnesota and has a factory in Nebraska.
Wish we had events like this here (Phoenix Metro) as well. A few weeks ago Intel sponsored a science and technology fair that was only about 4 hours long. I really wanted to go but had to work that day. My girlfriend took her son and said there really wasn’t much there (people or exhibits), however, it was her first time seeing a 3d printer (Makerbot) in action (I had just finished assembling my Printrbot+ and she had no idea what I was doing). I guess people just aren’t drawn to these kinds of events, but the classic car show around the same time, same venue drew thousands and lasted well into the night!
“country filled with corn and WalMarts.”
Fuck you hackaday, FUCK YOU.
What? You mad they forgot to include gap-toothed rednecks (or the toothless variety?)
You are just jelly of those sweet corn (geddit) cannons that are illegal on the coasts.
Yup. Most of the events listed are for the east or west coast. I’m guessing Brian Benchoff would describe it as “the fringe of the US filled with smug intellectuals and homeless people”.
Way to insult your audience. Keep it classy hack-a-day, keep it classy.
So you’re saying his statement is false?
I’ll say it. HaD shit the bed on that one.
just, Lol
I was just there. Very cool. Bigger event than I expected. Got a lot of good info from the friendly people.
While the corn reference is inaccurate for northern Indy, the wal-mart comment holds true. Calm down guys, it really isn’t that deep.
(native Hoosier)
Last time I sent Michigan-based content, it was ignored, so I haven’t bothered sending more. I’ll start trying again! There’s plenty happening out here in “flyover country”, especially in places that’ve historically done manufacturing and design. We’re just more modest than the coasts, and don’t talk much about it.
There’s no Walmarts or Corn here in Detroit, and yes we still bend metal here. The assumed superiority of New Yorkers and Californians is humerus considering their inability to produce speech that isn’t riddled with meaningless intellectual pot holes such as using the word ‘Awesome’ as a synonym for ‘cool’ or ‘groovy’. We may grow corn (as if that’s a bad thing) or talk too much about the weather here in the great lakes, but at least we didn’t infect Northern American English with childish, low self-esteem, nevus ticks that interject the word ‘like’ between every other word. At least our culture doesn’t come from TV.
> At least our culture doesn’t come from TV.
Nope, from Gaaaaaaahd!, like it should.