Do it yourself – at Make Munich on January 16th and 17th at the Zenith, over 90 makers and around 7,500 visitors came together to enthusiastically embrace the 2016 motto “Just MAKE it”. The exhibitors included electronics tinkerers, circuit board builders, programmers, radio operators, designers, 3D printer manufacturers – many creative inventors and makers all in one.
The diverse mix of visitors were able to actively become makers themselves and try out many different areas in workshops on topics such as Raspberry Pi, programming and building robots, and upcycling.
The Robo-Cup at Make Munich attracted the crowds
A diverse program of lectures on topics such as "Internet of Everything," "Crowdfunding for Makers," and "The Quantified Self" rounded out the Make Munich program. The absolute highlight for visitors were the robot soccer matches—real RoboCup world champion teams were competing! However, things didn't always go exactly as the programmers had envisioned...
You can see a small excerpt in our video:
Munich Startup at Make Munich
The Munich Startup team was also there with a booth. Together with the Munich start-up office and the Cultural and creative industries The city of Munich provided information about the Munich startup scene for all those interested in founding a company and startups.
The fair was a profitable experience for both exhibitors and makers. Here's one of the many positive comments we heard:
Make Munich was the ideal platform for us to interact with potential customers, interested makers, and professional networkers. The trade fair provided us with unexpected insights into both required content and potential USPs. We were even able to establish an initial willingness to pay and clearly evaluate our customer benefits.
The positive response motivates us to continue working on the prototype. In a relaxed atmosphere and with a diverse audience, Make Munich offered us a coherent overall concept for our first public appearance – we'd be happy to do it again.
Richard Haymerle, Team Leader of OPEN.UP
And Martin Laarmann, the organizer, is also more than happy and satisfied: with the positive response from visitors and exhibitors, and above all with the community's tremendous willingness to help. There were over 100 volunteers who volunteered their time and effort to make the trade fair a success. “This is a real community – that’s how it feels, and it fills me with joy and pride that, despite the increasing professionalization of Make Munich, we have remained a real community event.” says Martin.
And what does the future hold for makers and Make Munich?
We asked Martin Laarmann about the future development of the Munich maker scene:
Munich is a top maker location because it's not only the heart of one of Europe's most important technology regions, but also one of Europe's most important design hotspots. The innovative maker spirit emerges from the two disciplines—technology and design—and especially from their combination. We, my colleagues, especially my co-owner Jenny Ludwig, are pursuing the goal of making Munich the maker capital of Germany.
Our very personal conclusion: In 2016, the Make Munich as a hands-on trade fair for trends and innovations from the areas of high-tech do-it-yourself (DIY) and 3D printing, wearables and technology culture and much more from the German maker scene.
And we trust the organizer Martin Laarmann, who assures us: "Make Munich 2017 is coming. Now it's time to take a breather for a week and then finalize the date and venue." We look forward to the sequel!
And here is another picture gallery:
