Inventor Night

[cjsmith]

Geek party idea: get a bunch of wacky creative people together, hand them a lot of scratch paper, and give them an inventor challenge. Instead of having a games night, you have an Inventor Night. At the end of it you wind up with six or seven designs for Self-Ironing Shirts, or a sturdy Homemade Pogo Stick Shoe, or an Inexpensive One-Use Emergency Insulin Refrigerator.

If you can snag some people with specialized domain knowledge that'd be handy. Otherwise keep a computer with a 'net connection nearby. Just saying "Oh, there would be some electronics to take care of that part" is nowhere near as effective as sketching the circuit or writing pseudo-microcode. Even better if, for the simpler challenges, there are some materials and guests can try some things. (Reality TV rights optional.)

Staying on-topic isn't strictly necessary. It's fun to start out with one challenge, but maybe everyone will get off-topic and you'll wind up with a Solar-Powered Hovercraft and an Automated Dice Roller. Who knows? :-)

Comments

[visgoth.livejournal.com]

That is one of the coolest ideas I have heard in quite some time. I envision it kind of like a cooperative version of Junkyard Wars, but with less junk and more provision for getting hold of what you need.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Junkyard Wars came to mind as I was writing the post. If this were a show, the host's team of helpers might scramble for materials while the inventors focused on how to make the whatsits work right.

[firecat]

That sounds like a blast. If you have one, please invite me! (Except I'm not much of an inventor, so I probably wouldn't be very useful except as an appreciative audience.)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'd be the right one to host this sort of thing -- no idea what materials to have on hand, f'rex -- but if I do, you're on the list!

I think part of the idea I hadn't yet articulated is that a group of people might be an inventor even if no single individual is one. Maybe deyo has the mad science idea, branwynseye knows why putting it together one way wouldn't work but the other way would, simplykimberly remembers to round the edges to make it more kid-safe, lrc knows EXACTLY where to get metal pieces that shape...

[shadopanther.livejournal.com]

Sounds like fun. :)

I remember telling my Dad when I was in high school that I thought it'd be a good idea to recapture energy from a car's turning wheels & put it back into electrical energy. (Sadly my dad thought I was trying to make a perpetual motion machine & told me it wouldn't work.) I now see electric-hybrid cars are doing this very thing to recapture some electrical energy that otherwise would be lost as the car moves.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! Dang, too bad your idea wasn't put into production long ago.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure there's a way to make deyo's ideas kid-safe.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Welllll, there is that. :-)

[perfect-autumn.livejournal.com]

That's a fabulous idea.... I love it.

At my old job we all had to build little house out of toothpicks at a salesmeeting in under an hour - it was a blast.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Now I want somebody with some clue about hosting parties to host this thing! Ideally somewhere near me of course ;-)

Bwahahaaa! I bet that was a fun meeting!

[perfect-autumn.livejournal.com]

If I were closer, I'd be all over it for you.... what an awesome party that would be.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

You're silly! I like that idea. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! This is the kind of thing that happens spontaneously at MIT all the time. Not quite so organized, of course, but... Anyway, I miss that. :-)

[altitudeandwine.livejournal.com]

Great idea. And yes, let's make a TV series of this!
And while we are at it, why not make a follow-up series where people solve some less technical problems in this format. They don't have to start with poverty in Africa, but there are obviously a lot of social-economic problems that need solving.
We could always add the conclave-provision to the series. There's no leaving the building until you've found a solution. And every day you get less food.
*grinning evily*

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Now THAT'S more along the lines of reality TV. Make 'em sit in chairs with gravel glued to the seats, too. Muah ha ha haaaa! Torturing the contestants always drives ratings up!

[shadopanther.livejournal.com]

I don't have the article in front of me -- but I recently read in the San Jose Mercury News that San Jose State University is working on a (currently limited production) reality show where university students work on social-economic problems.

[rampling.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I wanna play! :D

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh, most definitely!

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

That sounds insanely fun!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

We should schedule one of these for the next time you're anywhere near here! (Surely that has to happen SOME time!)

[cheshyre]

Just seen in the preliminary panel ideas for Arisia:

MacGyver-O-Matic!
This event pits teams of improvisational engineers against each other and the clock to build an earth-shattering device out of discarded materials, duct tape and a Swiss Army knife. This year, compete to build an earth-smashing device.
This is an event to make flashy things and explain what they do with lots of verve, not Junkyard Wars where it has to actually do the job. Imagine the Illudium Q-36 Space Modulator from Duck Dodgers.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Most excellent! 8-)