The Future of Making and Making the Future
Be our guest at Make: magazine's Maker Faire!

The introduction of cheap 3D printers, the growth of the Do It Yourself (DIY) movement, and the popularity of collaborative communities around ideas, designs, and R&D are all signs that the way things are made is going to be reinvented in the next decade. From home production to new flexible and ad hoc manufacturing facilities, a whole array of models for “making things” are likely to emerge. The impact will be felt and it won't just be companies involved in manufacturing that feel it—individuals, households, communities, and regions will feel it too. What will the new models look like? Who will be the new makers? How will they impact your organization and your customers? What can you do to prepare for the future?

The first day of the Exchange will be an immersive experience held at the third annual Bay Area Maker Faire where IFTF will have a special pavilion. The Faire itself is a massive celebration of DIY culture taking place at the San Mateo Expo Center on May 3 and 4 and is an experience like no other. We chose the Faire as the venue for the first day of the exchange because we think it is an ideal place to pick up "weak signals" that will give us glimpses of the future of making.

After our day at the Maker Faire, we will gather at the Marriott Hotel, a short distance from the Faire, to make sense of what we learned at the event. A handful of thoughtful, passionate makers and experts will join us to unveil our Future of Making Map and scenarios. We will close with a working dinner where we can exchange insights and potential action steps. Because the exchange coincides with the 40th Anniversary of the founding of Institute for the Future we will be celebrating our 40 years of forecasting. A draft agenda and registration packet is coming soon so save-the-date now and we look forward to seeing you in May for this special anniversary Technology Horizons exchange!

We will share more details in the coming weeks. For now, please mark your calendars for what should prove to be a very stimulating and insightful event!

About the Maker Faire
The Maker Faire is sponsored by MAKE: Magazine, a quarterly print magazine and Web site that has become the hub of this DIY technology resurgence. Newsweek described MAKE: as "Martha Stewart meets Wired." For more information, please visit: www.makezine.com and www.makerfaire.com.