On February 21 and 22 hundreds of families of elementary and high school students filled the Great Hall in the Ponitz Conference Center of Sinclair Community College. The event was TechFest 2004, presented by the Affiliate Societies Council (ASC) of Dayton. The Southwestern Ohio Chapter of STC (SWO STC), a member of ASC, was one of 65 organizations presenting information on careers in science, technology, and related fields in 58 exhibits. The exhibitors included professional societies, corporations, educational institutions, and other organizations related to science and technology. TechFest 2004 was the successor to TechFest 2003, which was the successor to the ASC’s traditional career day.

Jean Fudge and Harold Fox co-chaired the SWO STC participation in TechFest 2004. Other volunteers from the Chapter joined them in staffing the exhibit for the two days of the festival. Those volunteers were Doug Boatman, Mike Haap, Karen O’Keefe, David Michel, Karen Stille, Louise Tincher, and Rex Tincher.

ASC regards TechFest 2004 as a rousing success. Exhibits were generally considered to be even better than those of TechFest 2003, and the number of exhibitors was larger than last year. Registered students for the event totaled 2067, up from 940 from last year. Comments collected were overwhelmingly positive, from both students and their parents. Planning for next year’s event is already underway.

Harold Fox