Barnes & Noble, along with 18 tech and toy vendors, held an inaugural Mini Maker Faire event earlier this month to help promote home-grown tech inventiveness among young people.
The educational expo, produced in partnership with Make: Magazine, featured three days of hands-on workshops, demos and panels addressing drones, robots, coding, 3D printing, programming and other DIY tech innovations.
Events were held in every Barnes & Noble bookstore nationwide Nov. 6-8 in a celebration of the 125-millionstrong Maker Movement. Participating brands included Ozobot, Sphero, Lego and XYZprinting, who’s CEO Simon Shen participated in an interactive panel discussion at the retailer’s flagship Manhattan store.
Separately, XYZ is launching its own educational initiative with the start of the XYZ Steam program, an online exchange platform that will provide educational curriculums; discounted 3D printers for classrooms, educators and instructors; as well as “tools to engage students in practical, real-life applications of 3D printing,” the company said.
