I’m affiliated with several all-day STEM-related competitions for middle/HS students. I’ve always wondered whether it would be worth it to throw an “after-party”. The site/location has potential assets, some of which could be used inexpensively, including:
Other small sciencey displays (the competitions are held in a small science museum)
Excellent WiFi and a room with tables (think LAN party with your best frenemies)
Access to catering of inexpensive ethnic foods (Mexican, Chinese, maybe Indian)
I think a ticket of $25 would cover an all-you-can eat meal (designed for a teen-age, predominantly male population), planetarium show, SOS show, museum access, and access to a room for gaming (BYO equipment).
After competing all day, ending around 5:00 pm, would an after-party like the above be appealing to you? What would you add? What would you leave out?
There’s also an outdoor area, so things like laser tag or outdoor inflatables (e.g. human foosball) could be brought in, but would greatly increase the cost.
Personally, if I’ve been competing all day I prefer to go straight home (especially if I lost, sore loser much. like at worlds i tried to give away my kentucky kingdom ticket). I’ve been known not to celebrate with teammates after big wins either, just not my thing, but that doesn’t mean others won’t.
Physical outside stuff might not be the best idea because I know after competing that I’m exhausted. All of the other stuff seems pretty cool, however chilling with teammates seems more important then like shows and stuff. Being a teenager myself I don’t think real catering would be necessary unless it’s cheaper then pizza.
In all honesty though, it sounds rad. Good luck entertaining your students, i know our type is a tough crowd.
(when i first saw the thread i thought it said Greek party and that sounded pretty cool, maybe make it a G( r )eek party and theme it with everyone dressing in Chiton cloths and such since ancient greeks did so much for science )
Bowling with 9791C has always been one of the highlights of Worlds with @lacsap. Every year, the 8025 team(s), 9791 team(s), 9605A, and 8118P go bowling together. Most years there have been countless comments of “when are we going bowling?” or “I can’t wait to go bowling.” I would definitely recommend it.
PS. At Worlds next year, we should get as many teams as possible to go bowling with us.
Thanks! We did take a look at doing it for MS regionals have a team bowling outing the Friday before matches… but… $$$ getting organized, it ended up not happening…
Thanks, all, for your input. It sounds like this isn’t practical, as it’s a lot of work to expend for only marginal enjoyment by the participants. I realize that I have a different paradigm than the competitors, which is, “What is the optimal thing I want to do after a competition?” My paradigm is, “Here’s a natural (science-based) audience 200 feet away from a variety of random science experiences that would normally require them to drive 2 hours and pay $20+” But opportunity cost doesn’t matter much when you don’t have the energy to enjoy it.
I also have a rather egotistical reason – I’ve always thought it would be fun to do an imitation of Rajesh Koothrapalli’s star show, complete with annoying pregnant pauses.
We have been considering doing a video game competition in conjunction with a pizza party after our state championship this coming year. Appropriate video games, of course.
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