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I make toys for kids who don't want to grow up. I'm on the lookout for new projects. If you're interested in commissioning me to build something ridiculous, shoot me an email.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Showing Off for the Bay Area Young Makers

Not too long ago I was asked to be a featured maker at the April monthly meeting of Young Makers. This is a program that matches young people aged 12-17 with adult mentors who coach and inspire them to become innovators and craft a variety of projects to exhibit at the Bay Area Maker Faire (which is coming up fast).

The group meets once a month to discuss their progress and exchange ideas.  At the tail end of their monthly meetings, they invite folks like myself who make a variety of art and tech projects come and give a brief presentation to spark potential ideas for projects the kids can take on.

The task: give a 20-minute talk about my various projects and hobbies.

The challenge: talk about myself and all of my toys and limit it to only 20 minutes.

It was tricky, but I managed to pull it off.

Keeping people's attention is never really all that hard for me.  In this case, I started with a simple Powerpoint presentation showing pictures of various projects I've finished over the years:
Young Makers Presentation (28)

I talked a lot:
Talking
But no matter how fascinating I can make a slideshow, it pales by comparison to having costumed characters actually walk in and interact with the audience:
Predatore Enters Young Makers Presentation

That was the Predator costume I made for Halloween back in 2005.  Here's a close-up shot:
Predator Talking

It's looking a bit worse for wear, so this might be the last time that guy goes out in public.  Here's a detail pic from behind while he was waiting to enter the auditorium:
Predator Back

I also brought along one of my HALO Spartans:
Blue Spartan at Young Makers Presentation

And the Dead Space 2 Isaac Clarke costume I made a couple of years ago:
Isaac Clarke at Young Makers Presentation

Which looks good from any angle:
Isaac Clarke at Young Makers Presentation 2

Still, the real showstopper was my latest Warhammer 40K Space Marine build:
Space Marine Sergeant at Young Makers Presentation
The suit looks a little stocky when I wear it, but with my 6' 4" friend Eric wearing it, it's almost lanky:
Shawn Thorsson and Space Marine Sergeant

Because I was in a mad rush all day, I neglected to have all four characters pose for a photo.  The best I got was three of them:
Group shot 2

They also spent some quality time taking photos of themselves:
iPhone Self-Portrait

The Dead Space costume was worn by Dani Yuan who, despite wearing the bulk of the suit, managed to shoot a short video showing Eric being built into the Space Marine suit:


Everybody had a pretty good time, but the fun part was answering questions and interacting with the youth:
Shawn and one of the Young Makers

I was hoping to get a shot of some of the characters with the kids, but they were swarmed enough that I couldn't fit down the hall with a camera:
a group shot

Good times.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for taking the time to do stuff like this with kids. People like you are really inspiring and it really makes a difference in their lives. I was lucky enough to have some great Scout leaders who taught me how do do things for myself. Lessons like that never leave you. I am sure that everyone at the meeting had a great time.

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  2. Dammit. You, without fail, always make me regret leaving the Bay Area.

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