Wow!! The first City Series event has wrapped up and we couldn’t be more impressed than we were with the Wichita community and the team at GoCreate.
A big thank you to Kim, Ken and Ty - the leaders at GoCreate. Bringing an event to the community wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and dedication of their team.
Amy Johnson was a major part of the team from Koch Industries. She believed in the importance of having the competition held at Wichita State University and having the support of Koch. She took a hands-on approach to the operations of the planning stages, including the discussions of the Challenge, itself.
Water sustainability was the teams’ challenge to take on. Doing more with less. Teams quickly brainstormed the first few hours and they had many heads to bounce ideas off. Mentors from Koch supplied the teams with their wealth of knowledge, and our Tool Techs and volunteers were in attendance to help them build their prototypes and get them on task.
For the City Series of Make48 we’re bringing influencers from the making world. Izzy Swan, Jess Crow and Wes Lewis were all first time Tool Techs. Izzy had previously worked with Make48 last fall in the first episode of the Maker Series and was excited to see a full Make48 in action. Jess flew from Alaska with her TotalBoat epoxy expertise and Wes is a local woodworking master. Stan Fernald, a seasoned Make48 Tool Tech led the crew of techs to help teams build their ideas.
Throughout the 48 hours we had a patent attorney on hand, Ryan Hinderliter and Chris DeBacker (virtually) and a focus group trio of experienced marketers and entrepreneurs including David Farmer (AdGiants), Lance Minor (WSU) and Mariem Berrada (WSU).
There was a lot of hard work, and a few tears, but in 48 hours teams completed their prototypes and one team came out on top. The top 2 teams will be going on to Nationals in 2022.
Judging ended on a high note with 48 (3-month) memberships handed out to the team members and local community generously gifted from the Kansas Department of Commerce, Textron Aviation, Dondlinger Construction and Izzy Swan. Chris Burns, our ShopBot expert, created a lifelike bust of our emcee Sean Murphy who did an excellent job of keeping the pace of the teams and VIP's alike.
As a thank you to Koch Industries, Jess Crow presented Bill Morris (Koch Industries-Flint Hills Resources) an extraordinary one-of-a-kind piece she created at GoCreate during the event. The piece was made using MakerEpoxy and a mold she had never used before. It was a great learning experience watching her.
We can't tell you the winners quite yet, but let me tell you that tears fell not only from the winning team, but the guests in attendance. The trophy was presented to them which was an amazing piece of workmanship and collaboration from 5 of the Tool Techs. Stan, Mike, Izzy, Wes and Chris created a beautiful piece the team will certainly treasure.
GoCreate we can’t thank you and your team enough for making us feel like part of the family. If you’re interested in developing some new skills go check them out! You won’t regret it.
Now I can’t list everyone but I’m going to try. Anthony, David, Judy, Carol, Debbie, Cassidy, Kensy, Tanner, MJ, Larry, Mike, Gene, Dennis, Max, Bill, Shea, Sid, Ryan, Dalton, DJ, Thelma, Lorra, Dmitrii, and Mary Kay thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We can't wait for a return visit!
And to our phenomenal Tool Techs. I think I can safely say that everyone was impressed by your technical expertise, knowledge and concern for their prototypes and ideas. Izzy, Jess and Wes - there is so much appreciation for what you did for all of us. And leader Stan, who always had a tool for any kind of job.
And finally thank you to the entire state of Kansas! Amazing food operators from these kind, local Wichita operators (*see below) who saw to it that the teams were fed! The hospitality we felt was astounding.
In our following newsletter we will share the 3 minute sizzle, created by Stellar Image Studios, and a more in-depth look at the players behind the scenes.
In the meantime.... Wichita, Kansas, we hope to see you again next year!!
