Shannon grew up on a farm in northern Alberta where he learned to build things with his hands and gained an appreciation for the world around him. His career shifted towards technology and he has worked about 20 years in IT, most recently at WestJet Airlines. In 2010 Shannon and his wife Maria Elena opened Endeavor Arts gallery with the idea of showcasing the convergence of art and technology – at that point he began his quest to seek out innovation in arts and discovered the Maker community. He joined Calgary’s local Hackerspace, Protospace in 2011 and in 2012 brought the Maker Faire festival to Calgary for the first time. Since then he has focused on showcasing and developing Maker Culture by hosting workshops, meetup groups, working with schools and libraries and hosting special events like the Make Fashion wearable technology fashion show.
Current role