IPP Puzzle Exchange and Beyond!

These are my last three photos to share from the exchange. To help you imagine what the exchange looks and feels like, here is a photo of what the set up looks like. Every puzzler has their name on a table and the tables are in long rows across the ballroom. The room is split down the middle and there are about three rows of tables on each side. The puzzles are set up on the tables. There are about 100 puzzlers doing the exchange and they are each allowed one assistant. The security is very tight and only the puzzlers and their assistants are allowed entry into this room. Anyone can apply to be a part of the exchange, however, you cannot participate your first year at IPP. The expectations for the puzzles are that they should not yet be on the market and the quality must be very good.Every puzzler involved in the exchange must bring 100 of the same puzzle that they have made or have had made. Then after the exchange they will take home 100 different puzzles. At the start of the exchange, someone signals its start, and then puzzlers either walk around exchanging puzzles and checking them off their master list, or some puzzlers sit at their tables and wait for others to come to them. And some do both! Here is the table at the front of the room where all the exchange puzzles are displayed.Below is Jerry's exchange puzzle. Its a tricky "Can you fit all four pieces into the frame?" puzzle. The next day after the IPP Exchange, (you are not allowed to buy puzzles at the Exchange, only exchange puzzles) there is an event called the IPP Puzzle Party where you may buy puzzles. People have booths (anyone, not just exchangers, and any puzzles, not just puzzles from the exchange) and everybody goes around and buys puzzles. The nice thing about being an assistant, is that I could see all the exchange puzzles and know the next day which ones I wanted to go around first to buy before they sold out. After the IPP Exchange, I bought this puzzle of Jerry's. The nice thing about getting puzzles at IPP is that I had Jerry sign this puzzle. It was Jerry's exchange puzzle, designed by Stewart Coffin.
This puzzle has an interesting story for me. When I had been talking to Martin (Gardner) before the summer, he was telling me about a puzzle Jerry had sent him. Martin said it was very difficult and he had spent way too much time trying to figure out the puzzle, and that it was designed by Stewart Coffin. And this was the puzzle Martin had been talking about!
I love Stewart Coffin puzzles, I have one in my collection that I bought from Stewart himself at IPP Boston last year. Stewart was actually selling off some of his puzzles from his collection (they did it lottery style) and so I had the opportunity to buy one from his collection. It is a beautiful wooden burr.
I should later include some photos from Boston. Unfortunately they are not digital, lost my digital camera right before IPP (long story), but I should digitize them and share.

So the next day, after the Puzzle Party, there was an Awards Banquet that evening. After dinner, there were some fun games. Here is one below. Brian Young (Mr. Puzzle) is on the left holding the Tangram that is to be made, he's an organizer. Chris Morgan (middle) and Jerry Slocum (right) plus one more contestant not in this photo are trying to make the Tangram. They had to wear the funny beach shirts and enormous sunglasses. This puzzle proved to be very difficult (even with Wei-Hwa shouting hints from the crowd, they didn't let Wei-Hwa participate because he always blows everyone away, he definitely did last year in Boston with a Soma competition). They couldn't figure it out, so Wei-Hwa got up and did it. It turned out, you weren't to make the hexagonal white shape, but the black background on the outside.So Wei-Hwa went on to the finals. And the other competitor in the finals is on the right, Laurie Brokenshire in the red floral shirt. Sue Young, in the hat, is also in the photo, she was an organizer.

So Laurie won! He was very fast. I should point out that Wei-Hwa was blindfolded and I think they stole one of his Tangram pieces! You should see Wei-Hwa solve puzzles. He is amazing, very smart, lightening fast and probably one of the reasons why he now works for Google!
I will add here that Laurie was very good to me at IPP. One of my favourite people that I met this year. I did a lecture on "Puzzles In Education" and he was very supportive and kind. He and his wife are wonderful people!

One of the Awards given at IPP is the Nob Yoshigahara Award for "Lifetime Achievements in Design, Craftsmanship and Popularizing Mechanical Puzzles". Last year in Boston was the first Nob Award and it was given to Stewart Coffin. This year Akio Kamei took home the honours. Jerry gave a wonderful presentation about all his life's work thus far that Mr. Kamei has done.

I love this award. Whenever the award is given, a new design is always to be made each year in resemblance to Rush Hour (the ThinkFun game that Nob designed.) Last year it was a car, and this year it was a bus! Lee Krasnow crafted this beautiful award. It actually has a full working, miniature puzzle workshop in the back of the bus, complete with miniature tools and everything! The puzzle is to take it apart (and put it back together!) I wonder if Mr. Kamei took it home and pulled it apart? :)
Frans de Vreugd was the main host for this year's IPP Down Under. He was given a gift at the Awards of a miniature Wendy! Below is Wendy life-size. We had her in our Kids Puzzle Room. She is an actual puzzle that comes apart!

So these are my main IPP photos! I have some excursion photos I will share next. At IPP there are excursions each day for interested people including for family members of IPPers. It a great chance to see some of the sights when you attend IPP. IPP travels around the world. It rotates from Asia, to Europe and then the United States. So its a great conference to go and see other parts of the world!