[Linux-aus] BuzzConf report

[Ben Dechrai]

Dear Linux Australia,

Many thanks, again, for supporting aspects of BuzzConf through the
grants program.

As outlined in the original request, we sought support to cover the cost
of open hardware and components for projects that children at the event
would build and take home, as well as increased costs in infrastructure
to host the sessions. We had great feedback from the session leaders for
the "Nightmare Lights" and "Coder Dojo" workshops that provided these
resources to the children.

Coder Dojo ran four workshops throughout the weekend, and almost all
children went along to at least one of them. Kids had great fun with all
the activities, and took part in a test to see how many people it would
take to break a Makey Makey electric circuit. They created a chain of
children, and got to 27 bodies while still maintaining connectivity :)

The Nightmare Light workshop saw kids work in groups to create over a
dozen lights, crafted from broken toys, op-shop bargains, arduinos,
LEDs, and more. Some of the digital art that came out was fantastic, and
all the children involved had so much fun creating the most nightmare
inducing objects they could imagine.

Despite severe weather warnings for Victoria that weekend, the venue in
Ballan was both well equipped for any bad weather, and also avoided the
worst of the weather-front. Despite some participants choosing not to
attend, we were happy to discover almost all families attended, with 48
of the 50 registered children checking in to the festival.

The additional funding, beyond the hard costs for the workshops, allowed
us to secure a more suitable marquee for the children's track, which
kept them lovely and dry even during spells of moderate rain on the
Saturday.

I'd like to personally thank the committee, and the members, for
approving the funding request, and also to pass on sincere appreciation
from the whole BuzzConf team, and the children's track session leaders.

Regards,
Ben Dechrai

P.S. Apologies to council who received this twice, due to me sending the
email from the wrong account and it entering moderation on the Linux-Aus
list.