The Rise of the Makers: Patrick Reed at TEDxAmericanU

Patrick Reed is an undergraduate student at American University majoring in international relations and minoring in computer science. Interested in engineering and craftsmanship from a young age, Patrick and his friends became involved in the "maker movement" in California's Bay Area and recognized how the subculture reflected a growing social trend towards individual creation. After years of working on numerous technical and non-technical projects, the DIY ethos of the maker movement has fueled Patrick's desire to understand, engineer, and produce.

The Rise of the Makers
Filmed by Ford Fischer and Justin Parker
Edited by Ford Fischer

A common refrain about modern economics is that we don't produce anything of value anymore. Employment trends have shown us rejecting well-established service industries for riskier ventures that prioritize creativity and "doing it yourself". As the rapidly-growing "maker movement" reveals, the economic and cultural norms of the future will value our ability to create novel objects and applications (both useful and useless) far more than our ability to manage people and provide services. Echoing the Middle Age's emphasis on honed artistry and creative problem solving, the ability to "make" will fundamentally shape how we understand economics, popular culture, and human value in our globalized future.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)