We are based out of the NorthWest Chicago Suburbs. We also have trained Techs in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado. We are open to road trips for the right events. We can also advise you what we have done that works and failures that we have had.

Floor Space

We are flexible, the goal is a squarish shape with the Techs and equipment in the center, and the participants on the outside.

The size and location is dependent on where the aisle are.

• What does the room layout look like (where are the aisles)?
• What size tables do you have available (length and width).
• What is your expected attendance?

We like to do 1.5 to 2 chairs per station. The extra chairs for the parents that are not building kits. Some event go with one chair per station to discourage "helicopter" parents. (parents that micro manage or take over the project)

Our max setup to 100 soldering stations uses a lot of space.

An examples of setup:

• 11 "6-foot" tables, 27 chairs
• 9 "8-foot" tables, 26 chairs

Kit Cost

We do many events, all have different requirements. We are flexible, it is about what you need to deal with any constraints of your organization has and us covering our supply cost. We are a 501(c)3 and we can issue a w2 if needed.

Some of the other options we have done in the past:

1. We handle the charging. We will collect the kit fee. People buy the kits at the events store, registration, trading post, etc... we ante up at the end. (We give kits to the organizer, they return unsold kits and pay for kits consumed.)
2. We are paid an appearance fee that covers up to some number of kits. (popular with libraries, they often have a no-sale policy and need a fixed cost)
3. Organizer pays for the number of kits used at the event.
4. Organizer commissions a custom blinkie. (This requires a minimum of 90 days for engineering and production)
5. Organizer subsidizes some amount of kits, reduced cost.

We carry most of the www.2Dkits.com kit catalog, and would like the ability if possible to sell the more advanced kits if requested.

Participation Forecasting (Blinkie Planning Math)

We have been running events for over 14 years, based off of historical data we can plan out the number of kits per the number of stations and hours of the event. The efficiency is a fudge number for how quickly someone will fill an open seat. It also covers the "slow event start" and "hard stops" where we stop sitting new participants 30 minutes before the end of the event.

Most of the events we have worked with fall into one of these two categories:

1. Participants randomly move from booth to booth, selecting what activities they want to do.
   This is the method used for more Maker Faire and Stem Fair events.
2. Participants are put into groups, the groups more from booth to booth on a fixed schedule.
   When a person starts their build they need the most support, there is an up front load on the Techs. When someone is done what do they do while waiting for the rest of the group to finish. For younger participants this can be an issue.

For "random booth to booth" events, what is your event target attendance? For 1st year planning we normally assume %10 of the people will build-a-blinkie.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - Engineering Open House has over 30,000 people in attendance, we are running our max setup:

• running 100 stations,
• 50 6-foot tables
• 130 chairs.
• 60 NIU student volunteers supplementing our tech crew of 12.

  100 (stations) * 60 (minutes in hours) * 14 (hours of event) / 35 (average build time) * 74% (efficiency) = 1776 kits.

NIU Stemfest has over 8000 people in attendance:

• running 60 stations,
• 36 8-foot tables
• 130 chairs.
• 15 NIU student volunteers supplementing our tech crew of 8.

  60 (stations) * 60 (minutes in hours) * 7 (hours of event) / 35 (average build time) * 70% (efficiency) = 504 kits.

Stem-o-Rama is another large setup:
• running 45 stations,
• 14 8-foot tables (4 irons per table, over-packed)
• 50 chairs.
• 4 Scout Adult volunteers supplementing our tech crew of 9.

  45 (stations) * 60 (minutes in hours) * 8 (hours of event) / 35 (average build time) * 80% (efficiency) = 494 kits.

Chicago Northside Maker Faire (Schurz High School):
• running 22 stations,
• 14 5-foot cafeteria lunch tables
• seats are part of table
• Tech crew of 5.

  20 (stations) * 60 (minutes in hours) * 6 (hours of event) / 35 (average build time) * 75% (efficiency) = 154 kits.

River Forest Public Library's Maker Fest (Eagle Scout Project):
• running 6 stations,
• 3 6-foot tables
• 10 chairs
• Tech crew of 2.

  6 (stations) * 60 (minutes in hours) * 5 (hours of event) / 35 (average build time) * 90% (efficiency) = 46 kits.

Custom Blinkie Kits

We have designed a number of kits for different groups, Most are the simple intro to soldering kits.
Items to think about:
• We like 90 days to make a Prototype. We have done it in 6 weeks for some clients. We are experts at flashing LEDs, Designs with different capibilities take longer.
• What artwork do you want to use for the Blinkie design.
• Do you have a hi-res version of the artwork. We need Artwork in the 1000 pixel per inch to render the circuit board.
• What teams within your orginization need to approve the use of the artwork?
• For the simple design, Where can we add a battery, switch, 2 to 5 LEDs, and a Tie-Tac or Bar-clip to the artwork.
• Standard circuit boards have two colors. Silk and Soldermask.
  • Soldermast is the name of the base color, We can get Green, Yellow, Read, White, Black and red. The Basic 6 colors.
  • Silk normal comes in Black or White. Other colors cost more.
  • Some designs we have used the eletrical layer for another color. It will be silver or for an extra fee can be a goldish color
• Cost
  • For an extra charge, some of the circuit board houses will add a 3rd color (silk2).
  • Will We need to do a prototype
  • How any of the kits are going to be ordered? (The higher the volume the lower the cost of the board)
  • The circuit boards are picing per square inch of the box the artwork fits in.
  • Design Examples
    • stock
    • custome
    • custome