The Maker Extravaganza is a one time event for the Wayne County area. It was prompted by the annual convention of the A.C. Gilbert Heritage Society, a nonprofit organization that maintains the spirit of the A.C. Gilbert Company, manufacturer of Erector Sets and many other educational products. More can be seen on this at www.acghs.org. The society holds an annual convention. The 2024 convention was being planned to be at the event center at the Wayne County Fairgrounds. In the organizing process, it was determined that the space was about twice as large as needed. Contact was made with Romich Foundation and it was quickly determined that the event could be expanded to make use of the entire event center.
Romich Foundation operates a makerspace and collaborates with other makerspaces in the area. These include:
Thinkbox
(The innovation center at Case Western Reserve University)
The 3D Printing Lab at Wayne College
Schantz MakerSpace
Apple Creek Maker Space
and others.
Further, these makerspaces are connected with STEAM committees, robotics programs, and other related programs at various schools in the Wayne County area. Many are expected to be in attendance.
Finally, contact was made with Wayne College to explore moving Maker Faire to this venue and date for 2024 and the notion was met with a warm reception. The Maker Faire and the A.C. Gilbert Heritage Society Convention have quite similar structures, making sharing the venue a practical thing. Wayne College staff who have successfully organized Maker Faire in recent years have offered to help as needed, although the venue change precludes direct organization by Wayne College. The 2024 Wayne County Maker Faire organizer of record will be A.C. Gilbert Heritage Society, although the above makerspaces and other parties are working together on this undertaking.
The 2024 Maker Extravaganza will be a unique event and is expected to draw many hundreds of people from a broad population base.
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