For context, OMGTech ran a tech activation stand at a maori language week event with Robotics (Arduino), Game design(Scratch), and cybersecurity activity areas. The event ran from 9am-3pm and observations are noted as below:

Pre-Event

We arrived 8am to help with pack-in and to set up the robots, and laptops for the kids to play with

• Registration at desk was seamless
• Pack-in went smoothly
• Waited for a long period of time before the event started - enough time to get coffee lol
• Training and on-boarding for new volunteers went seamlessly - most of the new recruits picked up the robot coding and game design easily

During Event

...

Students arrived in ad-hoc waves, some in classes, others as individuals

• Most of the stations were overwhelmed by students after the first hour
• High variability with student numbers - we'd have no students for 20min then get swamped by 50 in the next min
• Many students would deviate from the activity and play games if left unattended
• Some were too young to know how to read but wanted to code arduino - this was very challenging
• Difficult to separate some of the students from the robots who were engrossed - good for tech learning but difficult to ensure everyone has some time with the tech experience

• Inconsistent training and pre-briefing between students that did the robot exercise

• We didn't have enough volunteers for each station

Post-Event

• Pack in and clean up off the equipment and tape for the event.
• Everyone was overwhelmed