Bay Area Maker Faire 2017: On site report from MakForge

Love the bank, but love the board more.

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Is that the Creative Commons license board, the one from the video, or another?

I remember talking to you two! Thanks for coming to see me! Glad you enjoyed my products. :slight_smile:

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I still hang some things out on a line. Always wanted to engrave some with sayings like “Just hanging out”, "Uggg I’m all wet ", “Am I dry yet?” or things like that…

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Chuckle! Like the “Just Hangin’ Out”.

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Here is what @jacobturner is talking about.

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Pretty! And very “glowie”. :relaxed:

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I want to give a big shoutout to @macphee and his wonderful daughter with whom I shared a booth. I was apprehensive about this whole enterprise but meeting up with them just disengaged the anxiety gear and shifted into high happiness. I apologize if my clutter and spread out inconvenienced them in any way. Looking at all of their projects on display, I realized how influential he has been on me and the forum. The beta folks can’t quite interact on the formal in a normal way, so it was hard to get to a personality behind those designs. They both are wonderful people and did a great job representing Glowforge and the community. @macphee talked himself hoarse in his interactions with all the visitors. I admire that he could take the time out of his work schedule and do this gig in San Mateo. His booth assistant couldn’t have been more helpful and friendly. She really gets this laser stuff. And though there were a lot of cool stuff on the table to point to, when I mentioned that she did the Japanese fortress herself, people were awestruck. Quite a few teachers took not of that and mentioned that they couldn’t wait to get the Glowforges their schools ordered for the students to work with.

I sure wish the connection problems hadn’t hobbled their production over the weekend. That was the one downer. Seeing a Glowforge in action is the kicker and even thought hey look cool just sitting there, when the fire up and start the burninating, it’s mesmerizing. Thanks again for the wonderful weekend!

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That is one sharp-looking booth! I’m glad Glowforge made the investment; it signals that they’re going to be going to more shows!

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I never saw the front of the booth–it was always lined up with people! :grinning: That’s a cool design.

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I didn’t notice at all. When @jacobturner pointed it out above, I went back to my pictures to see if I got a shot of it and saw it. Very classy!

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Yeah, they did that up didn’t they?
Nothing like a professional sparkle in the details. Just like the machine. Whatever they spent on it was justified.
Not always aware of it, but you begin formulating an opinion immediately on sight. “No second chances for a first impression”.

Thanks for all your work and posting @marmak3261, on behalf of all of us who couldn’t attend. Good job!

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I’ll second that! Excellent reporting job! :relaxed:

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aw, that’s awesome. sounds like you had a wonderful time.

this does point out the major flaw with the cloud mandate; hopefully the OS firmware will eventually let us get around that when the need arises.

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Also, I would like to share with you that I managed to go four full days at BAMF without once saying the words “3D laser printer”. It was all laser cutter and engraver. I learned my lessons not to poke a bear. The lack of an ethernet plugin did get quite heated as a topic.

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Well, and besides just the aesthetic difference…the different feeling in that booth because of the Glowforge employees!

Overall message from other vendor: “We want to sell you a laser right now before we run out–what’s it going to take to get you to take one of these bad boys home?”

The feeling at the Glowforge booth: “Welcome–we want you to share this cool experience with us!”

Perhaps the highest compliment to all of you exhibiting at BAMF? On the way home my sister says, “You know, I think I need a Glowforge too.” :grin:

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my hero!

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Ha! Heard a Glowforge employee say that @ Seattle Maker Faire last fall and it annoyed the crap out of me. Have to admit that it amused me to see her try to backpedal her way out of that one:

Viewer: “What is this machine?”
GF Rep: “It’s a new 3D printer!”
Viewer: “Ohhh, so how does it print in such a wide variety of media???”
GF Rep: “Well, uh… sputter, sputter, sputter”

Sorry if I sound harsh, but the 3D printer misnomer is horribly off-putting and frankly, it’s a wee bit deceptive. Glowforge is a fabulous new maker tool with some innovative and exciting features, at a size and price point that makes it accessible to a wider variety of makers than most traditional laser cutters. That’s beautiful and true - no need to conflate or gild the lily.

But I digress - well done @marmak3261!

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One of the things I should have printed more of were the Escher fish that I used from @m_raynsford. They gradually disappeared from my display. I printed more and they disappeared too.

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Considering 3D printing entered history as an additive process I agree that the perception doesn’t match the experience, but the more I thought about it, I guess I modified my perception of making images appear.
A big influence on my ability to bend my definition enough to accept it was where I got my handle. Years ago I saw a drop down menu on a computer that listed all the installed printers to choose from. The last option was; Print to Laser.
I remember thinking ‘Oh man, how cool is that?’

So I guess it’s a matter of perception, but I still wouldn’t have marked it as such just because it falls far enough outside the public perception. :grin: (What do you expect from the village idio… Cheerleader?)

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