On 22 Apr 2017 at 7:25pm LewesSTEMFest wrote:
So... did people who made it today enjoy it?
On 23 Apr 2017 at 7:03am Earl wrote:
Sadly we missed it, as my son wasn't well. I hope it was a success, as last year's was very good. I hope enough people knew about it - I only realised it was happening when someone mentioned it here.
On 23 Apr 2017 at 7:15am LewesSTEMFest wrote:
We had 770 people in the end (compared to 600 last year) so in that sense it was a success.
Obviously we can always improve the marketing.
On 23 Apr 2017 at 7:45am Earl wrote:
If you do it in term time next year, you can get the schools to promote it the week before.
On 23 Apr 2017 at 7:56am A Dad wrote:
Great to see it again and free. Loved the atomic spectra put on by very enthusiastic students from (Sussex?) Uni, also the electronics stand put on by the two children. Some stands a bit commercial. Would have been great to see more stands but in all well done for a excellent and important contribution to our future!
On 23 Apr 2017 at 9:00am LewesSTEMFest wrote:
@Earl We did inform all the schools (as well as provide posters) in Lewes District through ESCC, however many of them simply didn't communicate it on. Even my own son's school didn't send a message this year! Part of this may have been the proximity to Easter though.
@A dad Yes, the physics activities were from Sussex Uni (Brighton Uni also provided some activities though). It's always a bit of struggle recruiting activities as we can't pay them and as such most people are volunteering their time. But yes, hopefully next time we'll get a few more stands (we did have a bit of space left).
Ultimately it all depends on funding though, particularly from LTC who covered the cost of the hire of the hall.
I'd also like to publicly thank the staff at the Town Hall for their help!
On 23 Apr 2017 at 9:28am Earl wrote:
Frustrating that some schools didn't respond, but even if they had, would people have remembered all through the Easter holidays when so much else was going on? Also, from my experience running a shop, April and May were always bad months, as people went on days out as soon as spring arrived. By June, the novelty of the good weather had worn off and they started coming back again. Still, I'm really glad that the numbers were up on last year.
On 23 Apr 2017 at 9:33am LewesSTEMFest wrote:
@Earl We're thinking about changing the date in the future, though not sure when is best. Science week in March might be good but then all the activities are really busy and we might not be able to get that much. My preference is to leave ~4 weeks after the Easter holidays.
On 23 Apr 2017 at 9:59am Earl wrote:
What about the Feb half term weekend - a really dead time of the year, when parents could be desperate to find activities for their kids?
On 23 Apr 2017 at 1:11pm Another Dad wrote:
We went and really enjoyed it. Many thanks who all who gave their time and effort. Please do it again if poss. Next year we'll be looking out for it rather than just coming on the spur of the moment.
On 23 Apr 2017 at 2:34pm Sjep76 wrote:
We really enjoyed it, many thanks to all organisers and volunteers. My daughter goes to Wallands and her school didn't advertise it although I did post the details on her class fb page.
On 23 Apr 2017 at 4:00pm LewesSTEMFest wrote:
It's a shame about the schools not publicising things. That being said, any more people and I think it would have been too busy (as with last year, I didn't manage to get a break the entire time).
On that note, if anyone wants to help next year or with one of the other events that we're trying to organise please drop an email to: lewesbsa@gmail.com. Even help with just logistics would be welcome.