Students Get to Preview NextFest
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 9/24/2007
A public exhibition recently gave school children in the Los Angeles area a sneak peak at the latest cool gadgets.
WIRED NextFest, a festival of inventions and technology held Sept. 13–16 at the Los Angeles Convention Center this year, featured Education Day, which is actually two days — Thursday and Friday, said Alex Constantinople, executive director of communications at WIRED Media.
"It's really our preview," she added.
Organizers invited schools to send children in fourth grade and up on field trips to NextFest for no admission cost. A few of the inventions they could see at the festival were robots, Mars suits, a virtual climbing wall and other prototypes.
"A lot of the exhibits are very interactive," Constantinople said. "It's just an inspirational day."
This was the first time NextFest took place in the Los Angeles. Last year's festival, in New York City, attracted about 47,000 people, and Constantinople said the same number was expected in Los Angeles, including about 14,000 children on school trips.
