USA Science & Engineering Festival

This was a fun and interesting time, and I look forward to its return! The huge number of booths and exhibit areas covered a vast range of topics, nearly all with hosts excited to talk about their subject/​project/​company/​school/​etc. It was fascinating to see the number of high schools — and even one elementary school! — dedicated to science. (Or specifically, «science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).») The stages held events from concerts to lectures to demonstrations. I think my favorite demonstration was the concert played by preprogrammed, flying robots! SpaceX having a Merlin engine on display was fascinating also! {It was either an actual one or a mockup. I couldn’t find a staffer to ask — as they were focused on taking pictures of visitors in front of a green screen — and the printed information available was unclear. This leads somewhat to my one gripe…}
I thought the festival was excellent for adults as well as for kids (of all ages), but I felt like it was definitely focused primarily on the younger folk. I think most of the corporations had a missed opportunity in not having recruiters present or having more information available on the details of their companies and employment or business-​partnership opportunities with them. I felt like the focus was also so heavily on ‘flash’ and entertainment that the broader focus of what these companies are trying to do got lost in many cases. I did enjoy the festival, but I’m greedy and wanted the booths to be exactly what they were as well as more like what you would find in the business area of a major conference. [The festival had a Career area, but it was tiny, and the actual number of booths within the area that were focused on recruiting/​advertising for businesses — vice for university programs — was only a small part of the space.]