This year we've got a fresh batch of Legos and a new twist: if you'd like a little competition, tag your photos to submit your entry into one of our 10 categories. Once the conference is over we'll choose winners based on community feedback. OMG, FREE T-SHIRTS.
Can anyone think of other categories we should include this year? We want to get people building and collaborating.
]]>Last year's Lego creations included a SXSW logo, a tall tower of red, those dastardly snakes on a plane, the giant 8-bit looking monster and the ever-popular million spider-man march. In part, our creativity was driven by the limitations of the bricks provided (what else can you do with a million spider men?) so we'll see what the new batches of bricks bring us.
Any ideas how we can make things even more interesting? Casual, asynchronous competition? A white board where people can leave notes and suggest construction challenges? A few board games? Let's see what we can come up with.
]]>All sorts of cool projects and structures are lining the windowsills around the playpen area, and a lot fo them have been very well documented, so don't be afraid to take some apart and start building anew. Keep those photos coming!
]]>The plan is to drop off the toys late afternoon or early evening on Tuesday, March 14th or early morning on Wednesday, March 15th. If you would like to help us transport the toys to their new home, please let us know.
]]>So in order to make the booth as fun as possible, we encourage you to bring your favorite toys to share with other people. I'm trying to track down some Construx, a plastic modular building kit I played with as a kid. Any other suggestions?
If you don't have anything to bring, why not give us a small donation? We're not organized or financed by SXSW, but we want to make sure we have enough fun to go around. Thanks for your help!
]]>A small room full of Legos and other toys should be fun in itself, but I bet we can make it more interesting. Should we add challenges to build specific objects or structures? Contests for the best creations? We'll be adding a Flickr feed here to share all photos tagged with interactive playpen or iaplaypen. Perhaps the SXSW community at large could judge photos of creations uploaded there?
If you have ideas to share or would like to suggest your favorite modular toy, leave us a comment!
]]>It's in this vein that we announce the Interactive Playpen. We're quarantining off a small area on the first floor of the Austin Convention center and filling it with Legos and other kinds of modular toys. When panels are too crowded or you're just looking to get creative and make new friends, swing by the Playpen. Build something no one else would think of.
We'll post more information here as things develop.
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