Quick reflections on an afternoon at the fifth annual Maker Faire in NYC (at which Mouse is a proud participant):

How perfectly fitting that the New York Hall of Science hosts this event, on the site of the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs, with their belief in technological progress and a better tomorrow. The Faire unfolds under the gaze of Atlas rockets on the Hall grounds-- tacit encouragement for us to marshal our energies for new moon shots, whether literally or figuratively.

We (rightly) worry about an innovation deficit in the U.S.A. , so the can-do spirit of Maker Faire heartens. Recognizing the challenges facing us but refusing to become fatalistic or dependent on others to find responses, the participants at the Faire brim with optimism and an infectious drive to create.

Nothing inspires more than the faces of the children. The Faire is a family jamboree, one huge play-date, with an abundance of laughing, excited children, assembling and breaking apart all sorts of things, guessing and exploring. Our children will likely see the advent of the next century -- what delights them today will arm them for the future, a future they must create and not merely inherit.

The Faire represents the broadest possible face of invention and application. Huge multinational corporations disport in huge pavilions, next to earnest individual entrepreneurs in tiny booths, beside universities and non-profits and governmental agencies of all sorts. Big lab science meets experiments over the kitchen sink, circuitry and soldering irons combine with software apps and coding... the Faire represents the hybrid, multi-disciplinary teamwork that we will need to overcome the innovation deficit.

The Faire attracts exhibitors and participants from around the world. For instance, this year Italy had its own tent-- everyone speaks the language of making, after all.

Daniel Rabuzzi is Executive Director at Mouse .

View photos of Mouse at Maker Faire on flickr.