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Greetings, fellow scions of science. Another annual conference is in the books. Attendance was big. Percentage of ASTC institutions attending was big. The host museum was... you get the idea. So I pause to take a look back at the spectacle that was:

 

ASTC 2012: WAITING FOR COLUMBUS

 

THE BIG PROPS TO THE FOLKS FROM THE BIG BUILDING: Mucho thanks to all of the employees of COSI, and all the conference volunteers. They were all super friendly, super helpful, and did a super huge amount of work. Kudos to y'all. Also, the main hallway in their center is ¼ mile long. I tried to think of a demo I do that could launch something that far, and I couldn't.

 

BIG FOOD: Is it just me, or was there a ton of food this year? From COSI, to the Drury hotel, to North Market, to the convention center, there was eats aplenty. And noticeably cheaper than on the east coast.

 

WHY I LOVE ASTC, PART 1: The Maker event on Friday night was pretty cool; loved all the people using hot metal and molten glass. I got my own Aha moment in the darkroom of a guy who still uses film in his camera. The darkroom light washed out color, leaving us all looking like characters in a black and white movie. But that stuff we tell kids about pigment colors and light colors being different turns out to be true; one woman came in with a pin that had LED lights flashing in red, green and blue. Pleasantville-like, that part stayed in full color.

 

BIG MERCHANDISE OPPORTUNITY: I liked the Kentucky Science Center's t-shirts that read "Do Science". You know what I'd pay good money for? One that read: 

"Try not science. Do science."

 

BIG HAND: Nice giant robotic hand in the exhibitor hall. Even nicer was their crane. The geckos were also cool, but judging by my personal experience, they might be bite-y.

 

BIG BORE: Again, is it just me, or was the keynote speech rather lame? At least the evolutionary rapper was fun.

 

BIG GASP: At NEON, the outreach team from COSI had us participate in one of their distance learning programs that included video of a real autopsy.

 

WHY I LOVE ASTC, PART 2: An hour before our session on sound demos, a gentleman from Ann Arbor came up to me to ask if I had seen a certain propless demo. I had not, it was terrific, and I immediately signed him up to present it at the session. He floored everyone with it.

 

BIG TREASURE HUNT: The Indiana Jones-esque exhibit "Adventure" at COSI has to be seen to be believed. It takes a long time, it's hard, and conference attendees kept swapping tales of how far along they'd gotten in it. That room with the Eyes of Skorn is downright dirty pool!

 

BIG SHOCK: When I returned to work, I was treated to an extended listserv thread about bedbugs. Yikes!

 

BIGGER SHOCK: At Outreach Live, one kindergartner told the presenter "You shouldn't drink coffee because it's bad for you!"

 

WHY I LOVE ASTC, PART 3: during one demonstration, the presenter broke something and was in need of duct tape. Someone in the audience had gaffer's tape wrapped around their water bottle for just such an emergency.

 

BIG DEMOS: Holly from Science Fusion Theater, doing a hilarious take on polymers and cross-linking? Loved it. Jenny and Kristin from Science Central showing all three laws of motion with a hoverboard? Loved it. Christina from COSI making thermite? Loved it. Anika from the Baaken zapping members of NEON with electricity? Loved it. 

 

BIG CRAZY: And as though that weren't enough demo for you, Steve from COSI and Dante from Great Lakes gave some... I guess you could call it safety demos. (?) Know how you're not supposed to keep LN2 or dry ice in sealed containers? Good advice, as these two titans of science centers let us hear just how loud an explosion results. Bonus props to Dante for stuffing his CO2 bombs in things like a fruit cake and a giant zucchini.

 

Feel free to share your impressions, fellow attendees.

 

It is always great to see so many friends and meet new ones at the conference, and my cohorts never fail to inspire me.

 

New Mexico, you're up!

Jonah Cohen

Outreach & Public Programs Manager

The Children's Museum

 

"Why?!? Because it's science, that's why!"

      -Dr. Clayton Forrester

 


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