From Ellie, Teen Librarian~
"Over the past few years, Comic Cons such as the original in San Diego have been growing in popularity. Libraries are beginning to get in on this trend by offering their own comic conventions, appealing to the "nerd" subculture with which many patrons already identify.
"Maker Faires are a more recent trend. The first was held just last year, though the first official Makerspace was created in 2012. These events offer vendors the opportunity to demonstrate new technology and for people who tinker as a hobby to meet with like-minded people and talk about their interests.
"On August 1, Rawlings Library will be combining these two ideas in an event called IDEA Con. We envision this event to serve not only to conclude our summer reading programs but also to offer an opportunity for our patrons to attend the sort of events that typically are held in large cities. So far, we have a wide variety of artists, technology gurus and other enthusiasts who have agreed to present at our event. We will have a few things going on throughout the day (11:00am-5:00pm), and other demonstrations will take place at scheduled times. We invite you to encourage anyone you think might be interested in sharing their work or hobby with us to contact Ellie O'Keefe or David Hartkop. Any questions regarding the event may also be directed to them."
Additional staffing might be needed to get through the day (to help with these events and/or regular customer service) so keep that in mind.
Good job Ellie and David - we appreciate all that you are doing to bring this IDEA to life!
"Over the past few years, Comic Cons such as the original in San Diego have been growing in popularity. Libraries are beginning to get in on this trend by offering their own comic conventions, appealing to the "nerd" subculture with which many patrons already identify.
"Maker Faires are a more recent trend. The first was held just last year, though the first official Makerspace was created in 2012. These events offer vendors the opportunity to demonstrate new technology and for people who tinker as a hobby to meet with like-minded people and talk about their interests.
"On August 1, Rawlings Library will be combining these two ideas in an event called IDEA Con. We envision this event to serve not only to conclude our summer reading programs but also to offer an opportunity for our patrons to attend the sort of events that typically are held in large cities. So far, we have a wide variety of artists, technology gurus and other enthusiasts who have agreed to present at our event. We will have a few things going on throughout the day (11:00am-5:00pm), and other demonstrations will take place at scheduled times. We invite you to encourage anyone you think might be interested in sharing their work or hobby with us to contact Ellie O'Keefe or David Hartkop. Any questions regarding the event may also be directed to them."
Additional staffing might be needed to get through the day (to help with these events and/or regular customer service) so keep that in mind.
Good job Ellie and David - we appreciate all that you are doing to bring this IDEA to life!