dan griner 

In late 2017 I was named the Executive Director of Making Progress, a 501c3 dedicated to driving for change and bringing the maker community together. This non-profit had brought Maker Faires to Denver in 2014 and hosted several other community events like the Rocky Mountain Maker Summit, Sparks and Spirits, and Colorado Inventor showcase. In my first year as Director we set out to build a new board, establish a new direction for the Faire and bring together a broader community.

 

We started an education day that took over 200 elementary students through a design, test, iterate and finalize process. We partnered with the Colorado Center for the blind in creating a sightless puzzle room called Nocterra. We incorporated the Colorado Inventor Showcase into the Faire. Which consisted of 40 inventors showing their products over two days to a team of 20 professionals who gave feedback and voted for the best inventions. We were able to give away over 2500 dollars in cash prizes to the winners. 

Overall the Maker Faire Denver had over 200 exhibitors and 5000 visitors over two days. This was a growth of 20% over the previous year. Below are some links to articles covering the event.