December was a blast! TEDx San Jose let me meet amazing people, and listen to their amazing talks. Olympic Gold winner Dana Vollmer showed me her medal, and we became best buds!
Susan Fonseca had a really good talk about losing her father, and how 3D printed organs might help lots of people soon because of work done by Singularity University. Maybe with a little luck we'll get to work together on something amazing too.
Afterward, Megan Keely performed some great music for the audience with her band, and even gave me an acorn necklace once we were done! Check out her music, it really is awesome, her dad helps her make it too.
Adam Steltzner (who works at NASA!) was just an awesome guy, and gave an AMAZING TALK about how he and his team helped land the incredible curiosity rover!! (totally jealous)
Jeannie Kahwajy helped me a whole lot with my speech, giving me tips on ways to speak, how to show big points, and a LOTS more. Jeannie’s talk was really good too, she describes ways some people can try to be helpful but sound mean, and how to recognize and help change that.
At lunch, we did a giveaway to a random selection of people by putting vouchers under seats. Super-huge thanks to Sherry at Makezine for coming through at the last minute and getting us the super-awesome books and kits for the giveaway like the Arduino and Raspberry Pi starter kits from the Maker Shed, and the beautifully illustrated Make: Electronics Book and Encyclopedia of Electronic Components
Fans of the show and kids of all ages came up to talk and get autographs. So many cool people there that I could have talked with them for hours. It's probably the best thing you can do at things like this, to talk to interesting people and share ideas, thoughts and inspiration. I had a really good time. :)
2012 was crazy busy for me and my family. Running all the country, over 15,000(!) miles, and lots of local conferences too. We didn’t end up making any more than 2 episodes this year (except this year's holiday gift guide), but we were still busier than ever. Sorry we couldn’t do a bit more, but it’s just me and my family.
In 2013 we will be going to even more Maker Faires, and we’ll be getting back on track with making the new season of Sylvia’s Super-Awesome maker show!! Our next episode will be on Joey Hudy’s SMT LED matrix board for the Arduino, and the next will come soon after. Also, I want to say to all the awesome people who contributed to my New York trip this last September, I am sorry for the wait on getting perks out on time. I promise that by this February, we will have all of those perks out there and sent! Again, I am really sorry.
We’ve got big plans this next year, and with help, I know we can make them happen. See you out there on the road, and remember to get out there and make something!