This is the second in a series of three posts featuring stories shared by the parents of 12 year-old Quin, aka Qtechknow, about his experiences as a young maker, meeting with and contributing to the Making community. The first post can be found here. We would love to invite more stories from parents or guardians about young makers. Please feel free to Contact us at Steve@MakerEd.org to share your experiences.
December 6, 2012, by Qtechknow’s parents
The Top 15 List
One night, while saying goodnight, we found a handwritten little scrap of paper on his dresser with a list of ten names on it. He said that it was a list of all the people that he wanted to meet at Bay Area Maker Faire 2012. It included authors, CEOs of companies that sold his favorite products, and other interesting, helpful, and smart people he had heard of online (OK, and himself?). Due to some of his projects, he had sent emails to some on the list, but had never met any in person. We thought, “why not?” To practice for this, his dad would walk through the door at the end of the work day, head straight for Quin, and introduce himself as one of the people that he wanted to meet. Quin learned that it would be important to have good eye contact, speak clearly and loudly enough, have a good handshake, and to be prepared to ask them a question about themselves. At the time, he often felt that this was a bit silly and would get the giggles, but in action at Maker Faire, he was a pro.
We would always stand back, and support him from several steps away. We learned from a prior robotics demonstration that if we walked up to a booth as a family, people at the booth would start talking to us adults.
At Maker Faire, he introduced himself, and showed each of them a few of his small projects and get their input.
At first they would have a somewhat bemused look on their faces, but as Quin talked, they would pay even more attention and would give him positive feedback and encouragement. He was able to meet more than two-thirds of those on his list!
Stay tuned for the next installment, which we will publish early next week.
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