Interesting conference – may have to attend

While I ignore most of the bulk email in my inbox, I do always find some time to read through the notes I get from the Institute for the Future.  A recent newsletter caught my eye and I may have to find a way to attend this workshop:

Spring Exchange: Future of Making–May 4-5, 2008 (San Mateo, CA)
The Technology Horizons program’s first research task for the year will focus on the Future of Making, led by David Pescovitz. In the realm of design and manufacturing, two intersecting trends–one mostly social, one mostly technological–will soon converge to transform how things will be “made” in the near future. An emerging do-it-yourself culture of lead users are boldly voiding warranties to tweak, hack and customize the products they buy. And what they can’t purchase, they build from scratch. Meanwhile flexible manufacturing technologies are on the horizon that will shift fabrication from massive and centralized to lightweight and ad hoc. Taken together, these trends in innovation and fabrication point toward a major transformation in how we’ll design, prototype, and produce goods over the next decade.
Marina Gorbis and David Pescovitz will host an expert workshop at IFTF with some of these DIY mavericks–the makers themselves. The project will culminate in a fun spring exchange that begins on Sunday, May 4 at Make: magazine’s wanted divx movie online

Maker Faire at the San Mateo Fairgrounds and ends with a full day of unpacking our research and discussing experiences at the Maker Faire. IFTF will work with Maker Faire organizers and member sponsors to establish a future-forward pavilion at this year’s Faire.