FAB 12 is over, and even if you didn’t have the chance to go, you can still listen to the local makers who came back from Shenzhen talk about it. This article is the live broadcast of Fablab Tainan‘s experience in FAB 12. You can click the videos and watch them directly. Let us go through this event from different perspectives:

Going to the conference

The ticket for FAB 12 is US$750, accommodation and traffic not included, so we had to pay for the airfare, hotel and other expenses. Luckily, once you bought the ticket, the entire event was all yours. You could go to all the workshops and factory visits (pick up service included) with no extra charge. The meals would depend on the organizers. Lunches were usually provided, as for dinners, there were always parties every night so they were kind of free too. We also heard that you might sometimes get breads for lunch from the organizer.

The FAB conference was held in the Sheraton Hotel in Shenzhen, so it was very spacious and the toilets were clean.

There was a Fablab world map at the entrance to the conference, but there are too many Fablabs in the world to be included in one map, so people just added them by drawing on the map. (This map will become the cover of an upcoming book about Fablab.)

The Event

The first day was just taking attendance. The event officially started on the second day.

The Workshops

From the second day to the fourth day, it was all releases in the morning and workshops and visits in the afternoon. There were multiple workshops in every session, so it was impossible to go to them all. You had to decide in advance which ones to go.

The workshops were classified into advanced courses, education, Fab city, humanitarianism, technology and business operation. Their contents were all related to the theme of the conference, Fablab 2.0.

Besides handicraft workshops, there were workshops that were purely discussions, which were more difficult because we had to discuss in English with other teammates. (Participants were divided into small groups)

The Visits

Besides workshops, you could also join the Makerspace and visit factories.

When you’re in Shenzhen, you have to go to Huaqiangbei. It’s 10 times the size of Guang Hua Digital Plaza there is just too much to see.

The Chaihuo Makerspace is famous in Shenzhen (because Li Keqiang was there once). It has the same owner as Seeed Studio but isn’t as big. It is used for education and exhibition purposes.

The design park co-created by China and Finland.

Fablab Shenzhen is inside the Sino-Finnish Design Park. They claim to have made the world’s first Fablab 2.0.

The Hardware Accelerator HAX was also in the itinerary.

The Exhibition

There were small-sized Maker Faires within the exhibition, showcasing their works.

For example FBI made a Qixi lantern using laser cutter.

A Fab Academy graduate showing his work.

The Forum

On Friday, the conference had switched into a forum. The entire place was moved to the nearby Civic Center. There were about 4 or 5 people sitting on stage discussing a topic. The audience could choose to sit in the audience chairs or bean bags (which are very easy to fall asleep on).

The core topic of the forum was without a doubt Fablab 2.0, much like Machine that Makes. There were also the Fab City oath ceremony, biotechnology, and introduction to the development of the academies, and they are Fab, Bio and Design.

The Graduation

The other highlight of the conference was a graduation at the dinner party. The Fab Academy and  Bio Academy graduates all received their diplomas from the founder of Fablab, Mr. Neil Gershenfeld.

The Entertainment

There were parties every night during FAB 12. In the morning, we would do “fabcise” (an exercise) led by people from different countries.

FAB 12 Feature Article
Extended reading: FAB12 has begun! Let's march towards FABLAB 2.0