The annual Maker Faire has been drawing inventors, craft-makers and engineers for more than a decade, but next week’s event could be the Bay Area’s last.

Financial difficulties have made the future of the event uncertain, according to Maker Media CEO Dale Dougherty. The company laid off at least eight employees in late March.

The uncertainty over Maker Faire’s future shows that while the maker movement the event spawned has had an impact on culture and education, it has not brought the commercial success its backers hoped for.

“We’re doing it this year. We tightened everything down so we could do it,” Dougherty said of the event. “But I’m not sure what the future holds for Maker Faire. I think it’s needed more than ever, and it’s valuable more than ever. But ... we’ve had to reconsider what we do and reconsider the things that we provide.”

The Bay Area Maker Faire, which began in 2006 and attracted more than 20,000 people, will be held next Friday through Sunday at the San Mateo County Event Center. There are 200 Maker Faires a year in 44 countries around the world, but only the events in the Bay Area and New York are put on by Maker Media, which is based in San Francisco. The other events are licensed, according to Dougherty.

Back to Gallery Next week’s Maker Faire in San Mateo could be Bay... 10 1 of 10 Photo: Michael Short / Special To The Chronicle 2015 2 of 10 Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2018 3 of 10 Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle 2015 4 of 10 Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2018 5 of 10 Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 6 of 10 Photo: Amy Osborne / Special To The Chronicle 2016 7 of 10 Photo: Amy Osborne / Special to The Chronicle 2016 8 of 10 Photo: Brant Ward / The Chronicle 2010 9 of 10 Photo: Amy Osborne / Special To The Chronicle 2016 10 of 10 Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle



















The events, which the company describes as “part science fair, part county fair and part something entirely new,” bring together hobbyists, tinkerers, engineers and others who enjoy do-it-yourself creation. The Bay Area Maker Faire, which saw its peak attendance and sponsor revenue in 2014 and 2015, has sometimes drawn more than 100,000 people.

The layoffs, which cut employees in web development, editorial and administration, will not affect next week’s event, according to Dougherty, but it is “quite possible” that the event could be the Bay Area’s last Maker Faire.

“We are struggling a bit to keep it all going,” Dougherty said. “On one hand, (the event’s) impacts on education are really clear and they’re still going. ... But ... it’s harder to do this media and events business than it has been, and I’m just trying to figure my way through it.”

The maker movement — which Maker Media defines as a “tech-influenced (do it yourself) community” and is known for popularizing programmable chips and sensors, 3D printing and other new technology — is becoming more popular in education, according to Sue Cusack, director of Lesley University’s Steam Learning Lab.

“I do see that more schools are adopting some form of making,” Cusack said. “Whether it’s through a maker space, whether it’s through (science and technology) initiatives.”

But other efforts have foundered. TechShop, operator of a national chain of maker spaces filled with tools and equipment, shut most of its locations in 2017 and filed for bankruptcy in 2018. RadioShack, which teamed with Maker Media in 2013 to fill its stores with do-it-yourself tech kits, filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and shut down completely a couple of years later.

Maker Media has faced another challenge: In the Bay Area, the Maker Faire became increasingly expensive to produce, the company said, and corporate sponsorship has been lagging. Google, a longtime supporter of the event, Digi-Key and Seed River are listed among this year’s major sponsors, but companies that previously sponsored the event, including Autodesk, Intel and Microsoft, are no longer on board.

If this year’s fair is the last in the Bay Area, it will be an economic and experiential loss to the area, San Mateo Mayor Diane Papan said. Papan has attended with her daughter and her daughter’s friends, and recalled coming upon people who had traveled from cities like Sacramento and Davis for the event.

“People do plan to attend it, there is a draw, make no mistake about that,” Papan said. “And people come from out of the area.”

But the loss to San Mateo wouldn’t just be of the money that out-of-town visitors bring to hotels and restaurants.

“Aside from the economics of it .... it definitely broadens your horizons and your perspectives, so it would be a loss of experience to our area,” Papan said. “It’s really quite treasured.”

Sophia Kunthara is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sophia.kunthara@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SophiaKunthara