One year ago, Maxime convinced me to join him for our first global Fab event in... Thimphu, Bhutan.
I didn't exactly know what Fab events were about, but I was so intrigued by the destination that I accepted: he applied for a fab challenge to improve local garment low-tech manufacturing, and I applied to give a conference on the role of local manufacturing communities in social and economic resilience.
Both our applications got accepted, and we embarked on this fascinating journey, meeting makers from all around the world in this very special place.
Twelve months later, I cannot emphasize enough how fruitful the global network we've met has been:
- Weirdly enough, the first people I met in Thimphu were from Leuven (Marc, Thomas). Together with Jason, they're pushing for a new Belgian fablab network to emerge.
- I also quickly met Jan, Tomas, and their team. We ended up together in Brussels a few months later, discussing how we could partner up for FAB25 in Prague and Brno.
- After meeting Constance and Matthieu, we started building ties with Alexandre and the RFFLabs to end up signing the first public-private partnerships between Mekanika with the French fablab network.
- Maxime won the Fab Challenge with Surzhana, and we started 9 months later working together on a Hollander beater.
- We had great discussions with Andrew and convinced him to join our board of directors.
- We embarked with Leyla on developing digital manufacturing training programs through Europe and new partnerships through Germany.
For me, this has put everything in perspective as I usually always focus on clear and short term returns when putting this much time in something, but the power of taking the time to know others is real. Thanks to all of you for your precious input in our journey. Looking forward to what we'll continue to build together in the future!
