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In the latest MsBehaviour Files, Helen Baxter tells the behind the scenes story of Makertorium, a showcase of Kiwi ingenuity held at Te Papa in April.

"I hope that Makertorium inspired more young Kiwis to become makers and inventors, and it showed maker culture is not just about printing guns."

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New Zealand is seen worldwide as a creative and innovative country, having a long history of pioneers and inventors with a Number 8 wire attitude. What happens when creative Kiwis start use new materials and devices like 3D printers? This is what we set out to find by putting on Makertorium, a showcase of Kiwi ingenuity.

It started off with an email invitation to join a small group of enthusiasts and supporters of the maker movement in New Zealand. Enter stage left The Wellington Maker Space, Makers.org.nz, Mohawk Media, PixelBrid, Diatom Studio and Marmalade Monkey. We were the main instigators and organisers for an idea that took seven months to plan, and brought over fifty exhibitors across eight zones to Te Papa for one amazing day.

Inspired by the 'Maker Faires' that happen worldwide, the team wanted to celebrate the making, designing, crafting and 3D printing happening in studios, garages and sheds across the country. Thanks to support from Wellington City Council we realised our wildest dream, to put on the event at Te Papa Tongarewa the national museum of New Zealand.

An open call for exhibitors led to over seventy applications which were whittled down to fifty, and a lot more than we were originally anticipating. Thanks to the Te Papa team for hosting us on Anzac weekend, one of the busiest of the year, and for accommodating even the strangest of requests. Such as hand-casting hot pewter inside, placing a Wikihouse in the foyer or a Makercrate, a makerspace in a shipping crate outdoors.

Makertorium was a collaborative effort all round with zone managers, volunteers and sponsors donating their time, materials and skills. The Makertorium logo and t-shirts were designed by Ian Loveridge at Designgel, and you can buy your own at the Makertorium Store. The team are extremely grateful to the MakerBee volunteers who came to the Wellington Makerspace to paint a wall of boxes teal green. To the exhibitors who travelled to Wellington from around New Zealand to showcase their work. We even had our own smartphone event app thanks to Showgizmo.

When the doors opened there was a small herd of excited children stampeding up the stairs and it stayed busy all day with workshops, spectacles and fun for all ages. The range of exhibits was truly mind-blowing and I wish I had more time to see them all. There was a 3D Petting Zoo showing a myriad of designs made by 3D printers, education exhibits including 3D Printed Brainwaves, Bristlebots which captivated smaller visitors, as did the Tweet Me Interactive Forest. The youngest exhibitor was Max Truell (aged 12) demonstrating his chainmail, armour and homemade wood lathe, and the Anzac Periscope Challenge also proved popular.

Hollywood artist and digital sculptor M. Scott Spencer demonstrated ZBrush live, and there were workshops in the Craft Zone on LED lanterns, Minecraft Craft and Pretty Ugly Sock Aliens. At two o’clock the Wellington Mayor kicked off The Eggs Prize, a competition for schools and groups designed by the Wellington Maker Space while Blunt Force Trauma Robots battled for supremacy and humans were miniaturised into 3D models.

My role was to interview people for Makertorium TV made by Mohawk Media live in the giant Makerbooth using a webcam and green-screen. We streamed some of the highlights on the day and you can watch interviews with the Wellington Mayor Celia Wade- Brown, and Greg Broadmore from WETA inventor of the wonderful world of Dr Grordbort's. More interviews with exhibitors and organisers will be published over the next few weeks, so keep an eye on the Makertorium TV channel on You Tube, follow Makertorium on Facebook, Twitter or sign up to the mailing list.

There are two hundred pictures on the Makertorium Flickr photostream, and Te Papa estimate that more than 7000 people visited on the day. For behind the scenes snapshots from the crew, check out the Makertorium storify stream with tweets, pics and video clips from exhibitors and visitors. If you would like to support maker culture in New Zealand, then you can donate to our Give a Little campaign, to help cover costs from this year and put on a Makertorium in 2014.

I hope that Makertorium inspired more young Kiwis to become makers and inventors, and it showed maker culture is not just about printing guns.  To learn about these cutting edge technologies then why not start by visiting your nearest NZ Makerspace. Many of them such as the Wellington Maker Space run workshops and provide access to equipment such as laser-cutters, CNC Routers and 3D printers.