I think last week's community meeting went very well. It was great to meet some of the community members like Sonia and Curtis that we have been hearing so much about over the past few weeks. I was also glad to hear from some of the younger community members at the meeting, It was clear that while some of them were somewhat uncomfortable with all of the unfamiliar people around, they were still interested in working with us on this project. Just showing up to the meeting took some guts and I respect all of them for that. Personally I could have never done something like this when I was their age. I did some community projects while I was in the scouts, but that was just a small role in a much larger group.
We got some great feedback from the community and I think we should try to include as much of it into the project as possible. One thing that stuck out to me was the fact that they hope these projects will serve to make residents of Poppleton proud of their neighborhood. I think it was Sonia who talked about how there is a disconnect between neighbors in modern society. She fondly remembered how things used to be in Poppleton, everyone knew everyone and they all looked out for each other. While we certainly cannot directly combat this sociological issue. I think that this kind of project can certainly contribute toward renewing that pride in a community and love for your neighborhood.
Their was also quite a bit of discussion about reinvestment in the rec center and its role in the community. Many of the community members stressed how places like the rec center and churches serve as hubs in the city where communities can come together. I think that's a powerful concept in modern society, providing a place for people to meet their neighbors face to face would ideally strengthen a community. I think that we should definitely try to include questions about the rec center in our interviews. Ideally we would document the older community members memories about it before it was closed. (Past) What they thought about it? Did they go there often? What types of things did they do there? What did it mean to them? We could also try to ask both the older and younger narrators about the closing of the center (Present) and what they hope it will become. (Future) How did you feel when it closed? What do you think was lost when it closed? What do you think it can bring to the community? How do you feel about the reinvestment project? Do you think that money should have been spent elsewhere?
Another takeaway from the meeting was the question, "what is Poppleton?" Several people spoke about the artificial boundaries created by the city that determine who gets what and how much they get. As we have seen these boundaries are constantly changing and evolving over time. I hope that our idea to create a map documenting this change is possible. One thing I think that we should take a serious look at this week is the logistics behind this idea and determine if this is possible.
I met with Dean earlier this week and began to discuss the historic home research portion of the project. He had some great insight into how to begin this process and the types of things to keep in mind while conducting research. Much like the profiles we both agreed that any kind of narrative or historical context would reveal itself through the research. So at the moment I am unsure where the project will lead and how it will fit into the themes we plan to address in our publication. This week I hope to get some feedback from the class and see what they hope we can get out of this portion of the project. Also I wonder if any of them are interested in participating in this research, I haven't had the chance to discuss it with them and certainly wouldn't want to exclude them.
When it comes to selecting roles on the project, I am naturally drawn to the research positions. Though I am still open to assisting with the interviews whether that be on the recording side of things or supporting the interviewers with whatever they might need. With production I think my history background would be best used in the editing process. However I would love to learn some of the skills required for the Tech/Designers position. I'm always interested in developing digital skills that I can use on future projects.
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