XCJ at China Maker Carnival 2012

Overview

China Maker Carnival in Beijing from April 21th to May 12th. XinCheJian members will present their projects and make workshops during the Carnival.

• Event website: [1]
• Event schedule: [2]
• Location: 北京市海淀区玉渊潭南路，中华世纪坛
• Nearby Subway: 军事博物馆站
• Map: [3]
• This Test

Participants

We get sponsorship for 12 people (number of submitted projects + workshops).

• Clemence - Arriving on Apr. 20th, back on Apr. 30th
• Paul - Arriving on Apr. 26th, back on Apr. 30th
• Angie - Arriving on Apr. 20th, back on Apr. 30th
• Edward - Arriving on Apr. 26th, back on May. 2nd
• Qichen - Arriving on Apr. 27th, back on Apr. 30th
• Sunny - Arriving on Apr. 26th, back on May. 1st
• Mika - Arriving on Apr. 29th, back on May. 1st
• Shyu - not going
• Ricky - Arriving on Apr. 27th, back on May 4th
• Min Lin - Arriving on Apr. 18th, back on May 4th
• Andrea - Arriving on Apr. 29th, back on May. 1st
• Lio - Arriving on Apr. 29th, back on May. 1st
• Edward Giles - Arriving on Apr. 27th, back on May. 1st
• Kevin Chen
• Joshua Rosen
• David (he gets special sponsorship)

Workshop schedule

• Apr. 29th
  • 12:20-14:50：Squishy Circuits (60rmb/person)
  • 15:20-17:50：ArduBlock (40rmb/person, Arduino starter kit optional 300rmb)

• Apr. 30th
  • 12:20-14:50：Heart Shaped LED (120rmb/person)
  • 12:20-14:50：Simple line follower (80rmb/person)
  • 15:20-17:50：Insect Bot (250rmb/person)

• May 1st
  • 12:20-14:50：Useless machine (150rmb/person)

Submitted Projects

Projects will need to stay for exhibition (May 1st to 12th), organizers will send them back to us. Will need to provide "How to maintain your project guide".

• Mini interactive world (Paul and Clemence)
• Chopstick junior (Lutz cannot go, we'll bring the robot and present it)
• EEG脑波传感和Arduino aka Brainwave&heart (Qichen)
• Monster bin (Angie)
• Rat Motel 2000 (Paul)
• Lophilo (Ricky and Shyu)
• Arduino car hacks (Stanley) - got rejected because organizers cannot find a car... :-(

Submitted Workshops

For all workshops that require materials, please prepare and bring at least enough for 20~30 people?? Soldering irons and some small tolls will be provided by the organizers.

• Ardublock (Qichen)
  • Rockets said DFRobot may help at this workshop
  • Bring Arduino starter kits for demo and sell
• Squishy Circuits (Sunny)
  • Make doughs in advance
• Insectbot (Min Lin and Ricky? Andrea?)
  • Order materials and make kits (servos, batteries, chargers, Arduino UNO, ultrasound sensors)
• Heart shaped LED (Mika)
  • Order more ATTiny85
  • Buy LEDs
  • Make kits
• Analog line follower (Edward and Lio?)
  • Order components and make kits
  • Collect some drink caps
  • Bring line follower racetrack
• Useless machine (Edward)
  • Order and bring pre-manufactured boxes
  • Pre-made round shape aluminum joint

Other things to bring

• XCJ posters
• XCJ flyers
• XCJ stickers
• Name cards
• Arduino starter kits
• Other kits to sell
• Hackers passport
• XCJ stamp

Plan

• Art Hack Weekend, Apr. 21-22nd: Clemence and Angie
• We all need to arrive the latest on Apr. 27th
• Carnival opening ceremony: Apr. 28th
• Workshops: Apr. 29th, May 1st
• Exhibition: May 1st to May 12th (projects will need to stay for exhibition, organizers will send them back to us)

Sponsorship

• The Maker Carnival organizers will give 731rmb per person (1000rmb - 269rmb of 2 nights hotel on Apr. 28th and 29th) who present a project or make a workshop.
• For those who make a workshop during the carnival, will get the workshop revenue (minus material cost) to cover their expenses.
• Everyone is encouraged to find sponsorship to cover extra expenses.

Transportation

• Can only be booked 24 days in advance on Tieyou.com [4]

• High speed train from Shanghai to Beijing cost around 560rmb and takes about 5 hours. Train departures are about one every 20 minutes. The latest high speed train departure is 17:55.

• Overnight train from Shanghai to Beijing cost around 315rmb (seat), 620rmb (sleeper upper bed) and 700rmb (sleeper lower bed). Takes about 12 hours. Latest train departure is at 20:00.

Accommodation

• The organizers have arranged a deal at 北京格林豪泰酒店（雍和宫店）
  • Address: 方家胡同46号 (No. 46, Fangjia Hutong)
  • Phone: 010-6403-2288
  • Map: [5]
  • Hotel review: [6]
  • Notes
    • Maker Carnival organizers have reserved and paid 2 nights (28th and 29th) for every project and workshop participants. The cost is 269rmb per person for the 2 nights (which will be deducted from the sponsorship amount), 2 people have to share a room.
    • For those who take the free flight ticket, you'll get 2 nights hotel stay as mentioned above, nothing else.
    • For those who take trains, you'll get 2 nights hotel stay as mentioned above and 731rmb cash (1000rmb - 269rmb).
    • You're responsible to pay any extra hotel nights and expenses to the hotel directly

• Feel free to book your own stay in advance since hotels are running out of room during May 1st vacation

• Mitch Altman and crew will be staying at City Walls Courtyard House (北京城墙旅舍) from Apr. 18th to May 3rd [7]

• Sunny will be staying at 北京王家客栈 [8] from Apr. 26 to 30th and at 北京161酒店 [9] from Apr. 30th to May 1st.

• Another option: Hangting hotel (汉庭快捷北京王府井二店) nearby Dengshikou subway, very close to the Imperial Palace [10]

Lessons learned

here are a few of my notes and how i saw things breaking down, there are more and hopefully to add more here, if we are going to do this, we need to get real, this year would not work/last minute would not work, we need 1 year, also proposed to work with techyizu if they were interested as their organizational skills and man power is fantastic. what we should ask is: what do we hope to achieve? why are we doing it and what do we have to gain? i'm sorry but there has to be some vision in doing it and not "just because we can!" what will we bring to shanghai? what do we want to say? who are we addressing? is there a statement? can we do it without government involvement and how much are we in for?

• should not be one big person in charge, should have dedicated groups that communicate, morning meetings with tasks that should be assigned
• guests - these are people invited to present
  • they should stay near by the event
  • either cash so they can arrange themselves such as hotels or a fixed schedule
  • a "what's expected" contract to be presented before making an offer
    • setup is days 1-2
    • be at the event 30 minutes before opening
    • lunch is from x-x
    • leave by x (if not 48 hours)
    • if lunch or dinner is included
    • time slots for workshops booked in units
    • schedule posted somewhere easily visible
    • water, tea, coffee provided!!!
    • showcase piece maintenance
    • packaging should be prepared if needed to be shipped back
    • breakdown schedule of event on last day
  • motivation to guests
  • no *before opening* party drinks!
  • closing party!
• needs a real curator or team of curators
• a theme
• Barcamp style event postings for the day (visitors don't care about other days)
• 3 workshops at once, in separated environments, expecting a small group of 12 participants booked in blocks of 30 minutes (i need.. 5x30minute blocks..)
• event should be friendly to people to just come and hack, not show and tell
• a site that has all workshops listed with pre-registration/money collection before due to no-shows and caps! also text vs images so people can translate it, deals with hotels, event map, times, schedules, feedback forms, bi-lingual.
• interactive projects vs demonstration 90%-10% ratio would be ideal
• real sponsorships
• bi-lingual or interns/helpers, we're international after all
• evening events (optional)
• 2 days show, 2 days setup, no private invitation VIP parties! perhaps even 48 hours
• need forums/presentations to watch, scheduled with breaks
• dedicated media group
• No morning events! hackers and makers are nocturnal people ;-)
• Videos explaining each project instead of having people to repeat it over and over!
• Charge entry fee? Just like Chaos Communication Camp/Congress in Germany
  • Or maybe just a little extra in each workshop?
• Use Wiki and online documents/files sharing
• Someone to get constant feedback from participants

We can also learn from local (shanghainese) fairs and exhibitions:

• JUE festival http://www.juefestival.com/ - It can be very powerful to let other local organizations to affiliate with custom made initiatives, let's hack the whole city!
• DAFF - Design Art Fashion Fair - http://tictcreative.com/2012/02/02/d-a-f-f-design-art-fashion-fair/ - It's a nice idea to have a market where people can shop, the resellers pay the rent (they sell stuff to people to pay the rent, people is happy to buy stuff...) with the money of the "market area" we can set up the "exhibition area"
• Eco Design Fair - http://www.ecodesignfair.cn/ - Shanghai is full of new development areas. The real estate people thrive to have events that bring people to their neighborhood so the local business have traffic and exposure and they can keep the rent high. Lets find a place like the "Cool Docks" or "Wharf 1864" that is cool, easy to reach and with smart real estate guys that understand the value of this kind of events...
• MESH - Music Exchange Social Hub -http://ilove2mesh.com/- Shanghai do not have a lot rockbands, but do have a lot of djs, and some do pretty good video performance too. Is also good to remember that throw a couple of concerts, generate cash flow + media exposure.
• JZ Festival - http://www.jzfestival.com/en/ - do it good the first year, and the second time you can ask for the EXPO area! that would be cool!