Maker Faire replaced with DIY Day – is making the same as DIY?

It appears that MAAS has lost the rights to run the Sydney Mini Maker Faire – careless of them, wouldn’t you say? Instead they are going to be putting on a MAAS DIY Day at the Powerhouse Museum on Saturday 19 August during Sydney Science Festival.

At one level a Maker Faire by any other name still smells the same; so this doesn’t really matter. It is a shame though that Sydney doesn’t have a Maker Faire with the all that that name imports. A DIY Day simply doesn’t ring the same bells and sounds a lot more like it’s pitched at viewers of The Block. I’m sure a great deal of marketing work-shopping went into finding an alternative name that someone else didn’t own; but there’s no getting past the fact that, while there’s some overlap, ‘DIY‘ is a different beast to ‘making‘.

That said, if you look at the description of the DIY Day, which I’m reproducing below, it both sounds fine and is pretty much indistinguishable from a maker faire.

All the making and doing details are on the website here.

DIY Day description

Sydney’s makers will take over the Museum to showcase their latest innovations in digital fabrication, technology, food design and craft. Discover how Sydney’s makers are using new technologies and revitalising traditional woodworking and craft techniques.

Take part in hands-on activities, workshops, tours and talks, and learn what’s next in the exciting maker movement.

Join us for a smorgasbord of hands on activities and:

• Repair Café with The Bower. Bring along your broken electronics and learn how to revive them! Suggested items: kettles, headphones, coffee machines, toaster, radios, irons and other small electronics. The Repair Café runs from 11.00 am – 3.00 pm.
• Skill share – bring your skills to share and learn new ones including weaving, spinning, leatherworking, ceramics and more!
• Young Creators Conference – See some of our favourite projects from the Young Creators Conference, a showcase of the projects and passions of the next generation of local innovators
• Bring your tiny tinkerer and enjoy hands-on family activities
• Discover the unique creations of our many DIY Day partners! Our talented DIY Day community includes: Australian electric vehicle association, Art Cycle, Makerspace &company, Mathworks Australia, Microsoft, Mobile Makerspace, Sydney Modern Quilt Guild, Sydney Origami and the UNSW CubeSat Team.