How to get the most from your Wondergy Show
Tips to ensure the Best Wondergy Show Possible
These tips have been gathered from experience and are meant to make your event run as smoothly as possible and give everyone the best experience they can get from our show.
Inform us of any time constraints on your event: Remember, we can fit our show into a time slot as short as 25 minutes or take as long as 2 hours with inquisitive audiences. Let us know about the rest of your schedule and how much time we'll have before and after other events going on that day. We'll prepare to fit into your day as best we can.
The Sun: When doing outdoor shows, we suggest not seating your guests in direct sunlight without water; being hot and sweaty makes it hard to concentrate on or enjoy the show. If the only program area available is in the sun, consider providing cool drinks to your guests.
Climate Control: Much like being in the sun, warm conditions can make it hard to enjoy the show. You may want to consider a fan, opening a door, or providing water. This might be little difficult if you are having a Wondergy laser show, where opening a door will let light in or having a fan will blow our haze away. In that case, we may have to get creative or grin and bear it.
We love interaction: While we're setting up, there's nothing wrong with coming over to ask "what's that for?" Science has no secrets (or at least it shouldn't). During the program, we encourage questions, ideas, and reactions. We realize that those reactions are often a bit noisy, which is why we use amplification: to allow people to act like people, without preventing anyone else from hearing or seeing what's happening. Teachers: please consider this, and decide if your students' "noise" is really a reaction to a part of the show. It's okay! We don't want silence.
Adults and Auditory Separation: Feel free to invite adults to join us for some science. We're not just for kids! However, if party parents want adult conversation time or teachers want to conference or make a phone call, we suggest they step just outside of the event space. To help everyone be a part of the action, please suggest a separate space for unrelated conversations, perhaps your kitchen or the school hallway.
Younger Audiences: We assume things happen for a reason; kids ages 3 and below may not. We do fantastic stuff that young children love to see, but much of the science is driven by asking "why" things happen. We have found it actually helps to mix these younger children in with older kids. The older kids provide questions while the younger kids ooh and ahh. Meanwhile, the younger kids see the "causal talk" modeled for them.
What we need from you
Parking: We bring a lot of cool stuff. As a traveling science company, we need to bring a car or van loaded with our gear and we need to be assured it will be safely parked before, during, and after our program. In most places, parking is free; if we need to pay for a space, please reimburse the cost.
Easy Access: Some of our equipment is quite heavy, so we need a place with easy access for loading and unloading of our equipment, preferably with no stairs to be climbed. If there are stairs that will be climbed, please warn us so that we can plan accordingly.
Electrical outlet: We almost always use amplification so the entire audience can hear. Let us know how far the closest outlet is from the program space so that we can plan accordingly. A regular wall outlet (120V, 15A) is usually all we need.
Adult-height Table: We need a 4-8 foot long table on which place all of our materials for the program. Card tables, utility tables, and cafeteria tables are great. They should not be glass (might break), child-height (too short for visibility), round (awkward), or with benches attached (awkward).
Sufficient Space: We want everyone to be able to move around comfortably and safely. We recommend the space be able to hold twice the number of people you expect, but we can usually fit into awkward spaces.
Cleaning Sink: We need to be able to clean out our food-preparation items after each program. We ask for access to a sink and soap with which we can clean our stuff. The sink does not need to be in the same room as your Wondergy event, except in special situations.
Information on Special Accommodations: Every group is different and we'll make accommodations for whatever we're told about. These may include, but are not limited to: latex allergies, dietary restrictions, sensitivity to loud noises, phobias, etc. We have experience working with many special-needs groups, including deaf and autistic. Let us know if something awesome has happened in your community; we can highlight reading and academic accomplishments, the science of sports team victories, and other special features of your event. You know your community best!
Wondergy needs for Specific Programs
CoolScienceCarpeting: A carpeted room is best (but not necessary). Please let us know whether the space for the program is carpeted or not. This way we will know whether or not we need to bring our own carpet.
Food Allergies: All of our ingredients are nut-free. Please check for allergies among your guests; we can accommodate most food allergies, (dairy, gluten, etc.) as well as most dietary restrictions (vegan, kosher, pareve, Cholov Yisrael, etc.), upon request. Please note that our mixing bowls have travelled among many venues; we're happy to use a mixing bowl from your kitchen.
FallingUpAccess to Water: Prior to the program, we will need to fill up a 30 liter tank of water for demonstrations on why things float. Most set-ups will work, but garden hoses or large kitchen sinks work best. We will also need a way to empty the tank after the program; please have access to an exit door or utility sink on the level of the event.
Food Allergies: All of our ingredients are nut-free. Please check for allergies among your guests; we can accommodate most food allergies, (dairy, gluten, etc.) as well as most dietary restrictions (vegan, kosher, pareve, Cholov Yisrael, etc.), upon request. Please note that our mixing bowls have travelled among many venues; we're happy to use a mixing bowl from your kitchen.
SoundScienceWall Space: We will be bringing a laser oscilloscope, a machine that takes sound waves and makes them visible by projecting them onto a wall using lasers. We need a space where those sound wave pictures can be seen.
Project Space: Making speakers is easy; we just need space to set the materials up for the kids. Tables and chairs are great, but not mandatory.
Project Assistance: For children under the age of 8, we encourage parents/teachers to help the young scientists in making their speakers at the end of the program. For groups larger than 15, we ask for at least one volunteer to help with the set-up. Speakers are not recommended for children under age 5.
SkateScienceSkating Space: We need a large flat space where the skater will be able to set up his ramps. The amount of total space needed is equivalent to half the width and the full length of a basketball court.
Rolling Desk Chair: One of our demonstrations requires a rolling chair, which we cannot fit into our car. Please find the smoothest rolling chair around and get permission to use it.
Projection Screen: Part of our program involves looking at slow-motion video of skaters in action. Please let us know whether or not you have a projection screen we can use or if we should bring our own.
LaserScienceDark Room: We will need a large room that can be made extremely dark so that everyone can enjoy the laser show to the fullest. The more light there is present in a room (from windows, dimmed lights, etc.), the less spectacular the lasers are.
Space Concerns: Light has inertia, meaning it will keep going until it hits something. This also means we will need a surface to project the laser show on, such as the ceiling or high walls. This surface does not have to be a perfect screen, but it should not have shiny surfaces, such as windows, exposed metal, etc. Regulations specify that we must aim our laser away from peoples' heads so that it would be difficult to look directly into the laser, so we must have room for set up as well. If your ceilings are shorter than 14 feet, choose a room where we can keep the front half of the room empty for projection on the wall, and please indicate a barrier so younger children don't enter that area.
Ability to Turn Off Fire Alarms: During our show, we'll use something called a hazer. This machine makes a very fine mist using a water-based, hypoallergenic solution which allows the crowd to see the laser beams in the air. However, even though it's water-based, it can set off particle-based fire alarms and nothing disrupts a show like a fire drill. Note: If your fire alarms only detect heat (not smoke), our hazer won't cause a problem.
Ventilation: Large air handlers or exhaust fans can draw our haze out of the room, rendering the beams invisible again. Please be prepared to turn off your fans or HVAC systems for portion of the program.
TakeApartDoomed Items and Disposal: We bring the tools and the science; we ask you to provide the doomed items to be taken apart as well as the ethical disposal of these items following the show. Wondergy can handle either one or both of these services for an additional charge, if we are given sufficient notice.
Tables for Participants: All participants in this program will need to be able to sit down at a table while taking apart the doomed items. So that there is sufficient room, please plan for each table to be filled to no more than ½ to ¾ capacity. Do not dress the tables with tablecloths; raw tables are better. You should plan to wipe these tables down before using them with food.
CentrifugalCircus5 Volunteers: This program consists of 5 simultaneous stations set up around the event area. We will have our presenter there to explain the science of these activities and help the volunteers monitor them. Having someone at each station is vital to help bring the science out.
Space: Provide extra room for kids to spin around and to easily reach and gather around each station.
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Wondergy is a division of Whatergy, Inc., developer and producer.
Unless otherwise noted, all photos by Jacques-Jean Tiziou.
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