Hackaday runs a contest sponsored by Digi-Key under the moniker: Hackaday Odd Inputs and Peculiar Peripherals Contest.
The organizers would like to encourage you to build your strangest, fanciest, flashiest custom computer peripherals. "Wired or wireless, weird or wonderful, we want to see it."
The deadline to submit your entries is July 4, 2022.
Just as the Jedi youngling would have to build their light saber, so is it a rite of passage for a true geek to build their own computer interfaces. And nothing makes a personal computer more personal than a custom keyboard, a bespoke mouse, an omnipotent macropad, a snazzy jog wheel, or a fancy flight yoke.
As you can see, this contest is not only about mechanical keyboards but all kinds of input devices.
However, there are at least two categories for keyboard builders: "Strange Topographies" (which means keyboards I guess) and "Press the Any Key" (macropads?).
In case you think finishing your monstrosity until the indicated deadline is unfeasible, no worries, there's another upcoming contest waiting for announcement – by a big manufacturer with similar prizes. Stay tuned.
Some thoughts about the tradition of MK advent calendars in the Japanese DIY keyboard community. As the 0th day post of the first KBD.NEWS Advent Calendar.
Cobertt, MK Vendor Trust and Safety Admin, sheds light on the events leading to the new initiative and what it means for the future of promotion on official platforms.