I just unpacked the car from exhibiting at
Vancouver Mini Maker Faire this weekend. I thought I'd record what I learned as an assistance to others who choose to exhibit before procrastination and general scatterbrained-ness evaporates the details.
Pat Ducey came to help out at the first VMMF and loaned me his knot table last year (a
big hit both times), so I knew I wanted to make my own teaching knot table this year. In fact, I had a plan for two, since last year someone complained that children and wheelchair bound attendees were being left out. Discussing matters with my wood-working minion, we decided for the kids' table to buy an
Ikea Lack table. Roaming the Home Depot, I was worried we'd have to buy a wall sized plank of wood and then cut it down with much waste until we found a section with pre-cut pieces and found a nice 2x2' MDF that would require no finishing at all. 2 8' 1x1's would make the legs. I asked for the table to be counter-height and apparently that's 36".
The cord I planned to use was white, and the Lack was black, so contrast was not a problem there. The MDF was, of course, pale wood coloured so I needed to either paint or cover it with something. Being lazy I chose "cover," which I did with an old t-shirt and a staple gun.
Screw eyes went into the sides of the board to hold the learning cord. That left the hitching "post." As luck would have it (packrats FTW!) we had an old towel rack removed from the wall years ago that fit the table and purpose perfectly. So, I was set equipment-wise. That just left the knots.
Pat's table has the same set of knots repeated 4 times, once for each side. Since I can never leave well enough alone, I was thinking I would try something a little different. 4 sets of knots: climbing, marine, camping and craft. Or maybe rescue, or... Substantially the same knots but with a great deal of overlap and a few knots unique to each purpose. I'd still probably consider that for v2 of my table, but this time when hammer met wood I ended up with 2 sets of the same knots on each side bisected by the hitch bar: reef, surgeon's, carrick bend, bowline, double fisherman's bend, slip knot, cleat hitch (cheap rope cleats at the hardware store!), and figure 8. I was going to add the sheepshank and sheet bend plus the taut line hitch but forgot due to absentmindedness. I can probably squeeze them in before I use the table the next time. On the hitch bar, I had a girth hitch, clove hitch, constrictor knot, and timber hitch.
For the kids' table, I was going to do shoelace knots and then a set of the others. I chose 3 shoelace knots:
standard bow,
Ian's fast, and
Ian's secure and did step-by-step in shoelaces with heat shrink tubing to make aglets on the cut ends where necessary.
Next to the standard bow shoelace, I added a bow tied in a ribbon with the note that a sash can be tied with the same method as a shoelace. The other side of the example set I nailed loose shoelaces for hands-on learning.
A small cardboard box wrapped with paper was also decorated with a bow and labeled "gift bow." Another was wrapped in a furoshiki and a printout of the Japanese Ministry of the Environment's
furoshiki info sheet. A test box and cloth were provided for learners. The boxes ended up taking up all the extra space on the kids' table, so in the end no extra knots were needed there.
The main table was taken up by my usual assortment of decorative knots (plus a few new ones in wire), but to add to the fun, I decided to tie some neckties. Since the spouse only had 2 suitable ties, I went with
the Eldredge and
the Trinity. Had he had more ties, I would have tied
the Cape and
the Truelove tie knot. People enjoyed them with much nudging at tie-wearers. A friend who frequents the goodwill type shops has been instructed to scoop me up some cheap ties if possible, so next year...
I'll post pictures to my blog or G+ later.
That's just the setup though. What happened at the show?
I did my load-in on the Friday and as I was unpacking, one of the volunteers stopped by to say that he was
so glad the guild was participating (his emphasis). He used to do dock-work with float planes and he appreciates a good knot. After running around like a chicken with my head cut off for most of the day getting ready and being almost an hour late for my check in due to an accident on the highway, that comment made my day.
The next day I discovered that I was next to the Knitting Guild and across the way from the Quilting Guild. I was in good company. The only way to make it more perfect would have been some miniature shipbuilders but on the other side I did get a bubble-wand maker with a bubble machine, so that was still good.
Relatively few children checked out the shoelace display considering it's purpose, but plenty of adults did... I could add an actual shoe or picture of a shoe...
An addition to my teaching table, I also put a deck of knot cards from one of my
Knot so Fast games. I was constantly asked about the cards and the games. The store where I bought them no longer carries the game and I thought it was out of print, but looking at the manufacturer's website, maybe that's not the case. I recommended
Des' Boy Scouts of America deck if people wanted cards. Sadly, people liked the the cards so much, about a fourth of them vanished by the end of the weekend.
To be fair, I was asked by a couple of people if the cards were free take-aways. I guess some thought that they were but didn't ask. At least I have my other complete game and the hope to buy more if I feel I need to.
My husband suggested for next time I could drill a hole in the deck and put a binder ring through them if I wanted my card sets to remain complete. Probably not...
Business, as it were, was brisk at the knot tables. Whenever kids showed a certain amount of interest, I would offer them a length of string from my roll of rainbow variegated. When adults showed real devotion, they got string as well.
I must have given away at least 30M of cord. I printed out 100 "cards" with links to IGKT and KHWW as well as a few more resources. All were gone by mid-afternoon the second day.
Many sailors or relatives of sailors dropped by. A ton of former scouts/guides explained to their children which knots they knew. A smattering of people were familiar with the Asian knots from the decorative side. Many people were fascinated by the wire knots.
The biggest hits:
- the bowline (everyone loves the bowline, I got a demo from a man who remembered how to tie a bowline around himself with one hand after you fall overboard and get thrown a rescue line and my husband got another while I was away from the table)
- crown sinnet tied in ribbon (it's spongy and stretchy, how people know that they must touch it in the first place I could not tell you, but they never did stop)
- monkey's fist (I had a 3d printed plastic one and had intended to tie a string one this year but forgot. Note to self for next year...)
- survival bracelet (why is it called a survival bracelet? well, let me tell you....)
Contacts:
- at least 4 people asked about meetings. If I had any wits at all I would have collected their email addresses.
- The local Renfaire asked me to demo
- A local anime cosplay con asked me to demo
- a reporter who worked with CNN last year and BBC this year interviewed me... twice. The microphone was not plugged in the first time. I think I did better the first time, but no one will be seeing that, so....let me know if you see it!
What else I would add for display:
- more macrame: I only had a survival bracelet and a necklace. While I would not go so far as to make a plant hanger, maybe an owl?
Actually no, but a micromacrame project would not go amiss. A fancy friendship bracelet, a shamballa bracelet... something else...
- some boondoggle projects done in actual plastic lacing for a more powerful nostalgia hit for the former scout/guides
- more paracord: again, I only had the survival bracelet. I should make a few things to leverage JD's popularity with the young men.
- mizuhiki (plus some distinctly Japanese and Korean projects, maybe a shifuku)
- some netting
- some tatting
What I would bring to sell if I were the selling type:
- the previously mentioned game
-
net knot cards- Des' Boy Scouts cards
- Don's knot tools and books.
If I had another guild-mate to watch the table, next time I would reserve another table and teach workshops.
If I had another guild-mate to watch the table and a spare, I would reserve 2 more tables and teach workshops.
Other highlights:
- a little girl whose head was about level with the knot table tying knots in the dangling cords even when her parents lost interest (my phone ran out of battery so I have no picture.
- a man whose offspring had to drag him away (who nevertheless came back and had to be dragged away a second time).
- a man who said my necktie knots were warping his world view.
Guys, anyone in range of a Maker Faire should consider exhibiting. If the Guild has a priority on attending maritime/boat shows, maker faires should be considered, although admittedly it is not just a question of being invited and given display space (as I assume is the case in boat shows). PAB should really, really think about attending the Bay Area Maker Faire.
