Tucson Pumpkin Toss 2016

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the 6th Annual Tucson Pumpkin Toss on the UA Mall. Although we were introduced to it in our class, I found their Facebook page and their personal site especially helpful and collaborative. With 252 people having liked their Facebook page, the local organizers of the event allow collaboration by having a Contact tab with their information, as well as Suggest Edits, and Share tabs. Throughout the past few years, locals have been posting their pictures, articles on catapults and related events, comical memes, questions and more on the event's profile. That way, other people that hold special interest in the Pumpkin Toss competition can elaborate, contribute, and/or answer any questions.

At the arrival of the event, I was a bit confused about the rules and regulations of the events. I decided to ask a few of the attendants about how the competition works.

In short, every pumpkin toss is measured for distance and accuracy, and then combined for their score. Since this event is of very open access, the age range and experience levels variate a lot. With that said, the organizers work towards making the standards fair by having each group state the distance of the target they are aiming for.



Although this is annual event celebrates the commencement of the season, the tradition is highly educational and collaborative. The event is split into categories, those being middle schools, high schools, and open class. People are able to work in their groups to explore the arts of trebuchets, onagers, and the physics that are incorporated with it. These groups came to be in different ways. There were some families, clubs, schools, and other organizations. For the most part, these were secondary groups that are more goal-focused and less intimate (with the exception of the family groups, among others). They are also self-organizing, founded groups in that their creators most likely remain in the group to contribute and align their activities with the other members in a cooperative system of interdependence. Lastly, I would say they're task groups, because they're very goal-focused in this non-employment environment; they are interested in succeeding as a group and it is not a conjunction of strict regulations.

Orlando from the Bit Buckets 4183 Team

At the event, I had the opportunity to speak with Orlando from the Bit Buckets team. I inquired about the time and preparation for the event. He said they used materials from last years competition and that for the last three weeks, the group members have been actively gathering at a warehouse to make corrections. I was also curious as to how their group came to form. Orlando explained that Bit Buckets members are interested in Robotics and attend events in that general area. Since the Pumpkin Toss involves science and physics, it is also an event they enjoy coming together for. Additionally, he explained that the group gatherings are mostly limited to their goals and work, but that there are a couple of members that are there through their personal family members, such as one of their very involved mentors, Mr. Forbes. One last thing about this particular group is that they not only used collaboration in the way they worked interactively to create the best mechanical system possible, but they also attracted the collaboration of external sources by fundraising in order to financially achieve their goal.

Overall, going to this event and watching the competition through the lens of what we focus in our Collaborating in Online Communities class had me think about aspects that I would not have otherwise. For instance, one of the groups was a family of home-schooled children. As I watched them during the preparation stage, it was interesting to see the small kids tweaking and collaborating together. They would work with their parents and even take notes. It is easy to infer that although they may not know the physics aspect of the project, they are still able to collaborate by using their manual labor and the adults' knowledge.

Here is a video of a particularly successful throw: 

 

Overall, I am very glad to have gotten the opportunity to attend this event and look forward to attending next year. It is truly amazing to see Tucson locals come together in such a collaborative, festive and educational manner. Besides the competitors themselves, the event would not have been as successful and as coordinated if it was not for the organizers, commentators reporting the scores and instructions, and for the audience providing their excitement and support. One can see the genuine interest of the participants through their contribution which is also extended to the online aspect of the event.