Marguerite d'Ervau

Weekend of Science

How to produce the Weekend of Science

The Weekend of Science (or 'Weekend van de Wetenschap') is a free festival for both the young and old, that invites everyone to see for themselves what science can do during the first weekend of October. Their slogan, ‘Come and see what science can do’, aligns really well with Mediamatic's interests.

Collaborating with Ernst Haeckel and Adolf Glitsch - Sadhbh O'Donnell

With: Ernst Haeckel, Adolf Giltsch

Planning the event

Registering with the organization

A few months before the Weekend of Science, go on the website and register Mediamatic for the event. The log in information is on the password page.

You will need to provide the program of the weekend to the organization a few weeks before the weekend. You will receive an email about the exact date.

Programming the Weekend of Science at Mediamatic

First things first, put the event on Stager (you can find more about how to navigate Stager here)

If you are organizing the event as a team, plan weekly check-ins.

Then, you can:

Have a look on the website and previous editions to have some inspiration.
Think about the things that are already part of Mediamatic that can be adapted to children/teenagers. For example, in 2021, we incorporated the Haeckel Hunt (it was quite popular), plant drawing (inspired by the Observational Plant Drawing workshop), Twijfel Zaaien and a tour.
When you know what you would like to plan, make a schedule for each day.

Once you have a program, you need to:

Make a list of material for each activity. What do you need? Do you need to buy anything before the event?
Ask for assistance on the weekend: in 2021, we were 3 Mediamatic staff per day.

Note: in 2021, the biggest success was the coloring pages of Haeckel designs. You can learn how to make those here. We also made badges with Haeckel designs for guests to grab: learn how to make badges here.

Promotion

The organization Weekend van de Wetenschap will send you a promotion kit.

Plan meetings with the communication team to set a social media strategy: prepare social media posts and a mailing (you will find an example of mailing at the bottom of this page).

Create a Facebook event. Learn how to do so here.

Create an event page on the website.

Timeline

On the week before the event

Check if you have everything you need and gather your material in one space.

On the day before the event

Set up the spaces.

On the event

Arrive an hour before the event starts.
Prepare some water and glasses for the guests.
Finish setting up the spaces.

Have fun too!