Micro Regatta

Conwegians! Summer is upon us and we must celebrate.  To kick things off right, The Locals invites you to join us for our first ever Micro Regatta.  Join us for our pop-ups in May and June to prepare.  You’ll get the opportunity to prepare as a pirate, create an entry in the races, and geek out with Nomadic Geek.  It will all culminate in a series of races, a few pirate attacks, and tech creations with the Raspberry Pi.

Thanks to the support of Acxiom, the Nomadic Geek will offer a fun and free tech workshops. To make it even better, The Locals crew will let you join the fun and play on the course created by Nomadic Geek participants. We ask that you pitch-in $1 if you become a ship builder, or a pirate. It’s not much, but that’s all we need to keep buying random supplies to fuel community fun at these events. Of course we’d love it if you grabbed a coffee or supported our local producers when you visit our pop-ups, but that is entirely up to you.

Here’s How It Works:

 Watch for our pop-ups in May and June. We post on our Facebook page, Twitter, and our website about where we will be and what we’ll be working on.

 The Micro Regatta will take place on June 20th at 2:30 pm in Rogers Plaza (Downtown, near the Conway Chamber of Commerce).  In the lead-up you can come make something and join the fun!

 If you are looking for a way to unwind and tinker on your coffee break, the Regatta is exactly what you need.  If you want to learn about “internet of things” and micro-computers like the Raspberry Pi - dig in pre-race (1pm) with Nomadic Geek where we will be creating the race timers, and more! 

 Be A Pirate!

We owe all the credit for this one to SonicDad.com.  Come to one of our pop-up events to grab your mini-crossbow kit, make a micro-crossbow, then bring it to the races to give our sailors an extra challenge. Who will survive the onslaught and emerge victorious?! 

Be a Sailor!

All boats must be powered by your breath, or another creative use of air. That means no motors below the water. Each racer can pick up a standard issue kit and sign-up for the races at our pop-up events.  Next, go wild. Hang out with us, or take it home and go Macguyver all over your kit.  The goal--make a micro-boat that you can power with your own wind (blowing on it) across our majestic lake (that’s code for trough, approximately 4 feet long).

Nomadic Geek: Regatta Computing

We wouldn't dare have a do-it-together series without adding our latest Nomadic Geek box to the mix.  Space is limited, and all are welcome. A free workshop will be hosted in the lead-up to the Regatta (1pm). Participants will get their hands on our Raspberry Pi setups for the first time. Together we will create a race timer that will allow us to keep track of the fastest times, and even let the world know what’s going down on the track.  This workshop is designed for a wide range of skills - it will be fun for the Pi enthusiast, and for those who have never seen one before.

 As we wrap up the RPi creations racers and pirates will converge upon our creation and the Regatta will begin!

 RSVP is required at thelocals.be, but the event is completely free.  Of course, you’ll take only knowledge home with you. Nomadic Geek participants are welcome and encouraged to create pirate and/or racer gear as well!

Nomadics will begin their geeking at _______ on the day of the Regatta. You don’t have to stay for the races, but we can’t imagine you’ll want to leave.

Raise your sails, put on your eye patches, get your hacking fingers ready - The Locals is about to get crazy on the (micro) open seas.