Date/Time
Date(s) - 07/16/2013
6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Location
NYC Economic Development Corporation
Category(ies)
MakeIt NYC has a special treat for June/July – flying robots, going Pro via Kickstarter, a synthesizer project that angered Etsy, and more!
Special Guest Paul Yun is the 21st century version of the man with the better mousetrap. Smartphone cables, simply put, are one of life’s minor annoyances, and retractable cables jam and are ugly – according to Paul, they “have a face only a mother could love”. Paul’s company, Escargot, created a better, retractable charging cable,Spixi, and he successfully launched it on Kickstarter. Spixi starts shipping this month.
Paul talks about how he made that happen, how he jumped through Apple’s licensing hoops and recent connector change, and what it takes to be a New York hardware company.
MakeIt NYC member Robert Clarkepresents ΛBE[S]. Robert describes it as a “modular reconfigurable quadcopter, that is easy to assemble, simple to use and expand; to provide a customizable and seamless user experience.” Um, so, a snap together flying robot? Oh yeah.Robert shows off his creation, and talks about what inspired him, and how he got it off the ground (ouch).
Special Guest Brendan Byrne is a Brooklyn based electronic artist who was hand-assembling synthesizers in really lovely wooden cases, and selling them on Etsy. Things were going swimmingly for five months… and then Etsy decided that Brendan had run afoul of some unwritten, and seemingly arbitrary rules. Without warning,Etsy shut down Brendan’s store, and then demanded documentation of Brendan’s build process – something that Brendan regards as valued Intellectual Property.
Brendan joins us to discuss how online marketplaces are a double-edged Xacto blade for the Maker, and how other seemingly “obvious” online marketplaces just didn’t work for him. He also talks about making the jump to being a Professional Maker, andhow electronics and synths are situated in the arts and crafts and Maker cultures.
And we’re finalizing something very special for the 3D Printing crowd,plus lots of talk, networking and Pizza, too.
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