[THE DC]

That concludes the walk around the the first display room of the IMPC. There are two more rooms to cover, to continue this effort to share with those unable to attend, what was available and presented that October day. I am hoping the thread description will encourage those many, who have never attended, the inspiration to calendar this event.

Before heading into the other two rooms, I may wait a few days. Its not my goal to dominate this thread. There may be some things that I got wrong, that demonstrators may wish to correct, or things that I missed that they may wish to add. There was a great deal of talent and skill illustrated in this room. Any exhibitors form the main room may wish to share build tips and techniques, or even pics of the kits that i have described, to better illustrate the exhibitions. Before moving to the other two rooms, I want to give those presenters a chance to share more of their talent and knowledge.

The IPMC is a great place for modelers of considerable talent to share their skills and accomplishments. It is also an important event, with the potential to inform the public of this craft, and mentor lesser experienced builders in the skills and techniques that are slowly dying out. I want this thread to be a place to promote the sharing and learning that is such an essential part of promoting and preserving this craft.

In the digital age of virtual experience, learning to construct, bend, fold, cut, glue, and mold is becoming a far less frequent experience for the youthful members of our society that it was when many of use were starting out. In my profession, visiting and exploring the educational experience of young people has demonstrated to me how much computers have replaced observation, keyboards replacing pencils, and messaging displacing conversations. In some classrooms that I visit, there are no spoken words for an hour or more, as the youth tune into their screens, their faces bathed in blue light, and a teacher wrangling them like some technical supervisor. There are definite benefits of the digital age, but their are also losses.

The emphasis is upon digital images in many educational and social experiences for youth; not upon the development or physical building of real things. Many times, after completing a project, a youth has shared with me that they had never built anything with their hands before; nothing. The computer age had given the paper modeling craft a boost in the use of the computer to design kits and the home printer to produce what had formerly required a visit to a bookstore or purchase from over seas. We may be in the golden age of this craft. But the youth currently growing up in our cities do not get much exposure to the joy of building. Its not part of the zeitgeist of our age.

To preserve the value of building things, we'll haver to make what we know accessible to people with less experience-driven confidence to try these techniques of manual craft. If we do, maybe the 2121 IPMC will have a exhibit of how long, and how valued, this community and craft have been, over the next hundred years.

Feel free to add you thoughts and mentoring at tis time, if motivated.

I'll come back with other rooms soon. Thanks the exhibitors who have been sending PMs to me to make this walk-thru better. I hope my descriptions have adequately representing your displays that day.