Emoti-Con is NYC's largest showcase for young designers, makers, technologists, and tinkerers who believe in digital innovation as a tool for positive change in the world around them. More than 300 young New Yorkers attended the 8th Annual Emoti-Con to present their ideas and inventions as well as to mingle and be inspired by their peers. Around 35 original projects were part of this year’s collection.
We had middle and high school students from informal youth learning programs across NYC and from members of the Hive NYC Learning Network, including Allstar Code, Girls Write Now, Global Kids, Independent High School Startup, Innovation Labs, Lower Eastside Girls Club, Mouse, Parsons Pre-College Program, Pearl Hacks, ScriptEd, The Knowledge House and City Pathways, andUrban Arts Partnership.
Because this was my first year, I was pretty amazed by all the events planned. In the morning, we had Networking Hour, which was time for us kids to talk with professionals about the real world. There were seven tables assigned to seven subjects:
- Game Design
- What It’s Like to Be an Engineer
- Using Tech to Change the World
- Code is Everywhere
- Is Your Idea a Business?
- Art & Tech
- What’s UX and UI?
Many students were quite interested in Art & Tech, a table where we discussed the ways art and technology can come together—for instance, cartoon animation.
Next, Kaho Abe from NYU Game Innovation Lab and Ramsey Nasser, a game designer, talked to us about game design. I thought that this was the best lecture. They threw tubes, pool noodles, and beach balls into the audience . . . and let’s just say we had a lot of fun with the chaos. The overall point of their presentation was that designing a game requires playing with what you’ve got and seeing what works and what’s fun.
After that we had a traditional Emoti-Con team challenge called “No Hands-Berg!” I was surprised to discover that there was a bag of supplies hidden underneath our table. This paper bag of mysteries had a foam ball with pink star stickers (at least the one at my table did), paper clips, popsicle sticks, small binder clips, and rubber bands. The point of the game was to pass the ball around the table without it touching our hands or the table. I played this game with three adults, and one of them was a fifth grade teacher who said that she was going to play it in her class. Needless to say, it’s entertaining for all ages!