Critique

Emily probably doesn't want to criticize me. Should I step off? [crosstalk] No, I'm going to jump in and say, because what I was going to do was the opposite, is that I feel like I hit the jackpot and I got a master class in engagement from you and master class in strategic planning, real MBA level strategic planning from Nadia. There was so many thing after I went back and listened to the conversation that I was like, "Yup. Yup. Oh boy, we've been trying to do this for the last year." The things that you guys said were so on point. It was just like, I almost can't get over how well the timing worked out. It's been wonderful to have those conversations recorded because there's so much in there. At the time, it was definitely harder because the markets are hectic and we're just so bad at it. We don't do it every week like Charity does. But to have that precious two hours recorded and to have so much in there was amazing. And even, I was taking notes from Charity's conversation about, "Oh yeah, this is something we need to do. This is something we want to do." Its very, very, very valuable for what we're trying to do.

so much of our professional development exists in conference spaces. And sometimes there are moments where that's super, super, super helpful, but I also think that this intimate, you're observing me on my ground, in my space and giving you that feedback, it's a totally different professional development, but I feel it captures something the money spent in a conference space, never could. And I think that's a really, really important piece, especially I think for you Ben, because that's often where you sit and you do so many things, but I feel in just thinking about the balance of funding and attention and time and all that stuff, I think being able to have people support each other on the ground is hugely valuable.

I felt you guys did a really amazing job of really articulating what the strengths were and then really talking about the weaknesses of it as they related really to the systemic things that we were trying to think about. So I really felt as I said at the beginning, it's one of those things where you, especially because it's been so long, because the world's so weird and as Jeannie said, so much of this now feels even more heavy and important. That really I think that having an outside observer and obviously Justin, you were the perfect unicorn person to have to be that person and I don't know how that managed to happen, but it certainly felt you were a unicorn and the way that you brought your perspective, but just really putting language to these things that we were really struggling with. And I think having that outside perspective, lets you have more of the conversation around those sorts of frameworks and systemic issues and ways in which the specifics could try to chip away at those systemic things differently or ... So I felt aside from your just being a special unicorn who could have those observations and Jonathan, you're hugely important to our organization and its history. So there's all that lovely bit of it. But also just having a third-party who's invested felt so special. I just feel so often you're getting your feedback from some random dad or grandpa or somebody's cousin or whatever. And so it was really nice to just have such a thoughtful, careful conversation that really touched on the highs and the lows in ways that felt super respectful and really, really, really helpful. [inaudible]

I think the experience for me I was really ... I listened to the interview in New Haven and in Atlanta I saw similar themes across both, and I didn't expect that. And I think that there was some really good cross-fertilization that could happen between those two conversations. So I just look forward to getting into there with those connections where I'm seeing how we can learn from each other and how those two events, I think can really learn from each other and try out some ways and move forward strategically with do it in community as these events happen.

All of this happened pre-pandemic, and I can't think of another time where this would be even more relevant than it was in that moment in time. I did not expect for that to be the case. Rick and I have chatted several times, even on our own outside of Science in Vivo after this and we touched on a lot of this event really, I thought, helped bring us together around these certain philosophies. I still think about the time I spent in that space as one of the best integrated sciency community engagement events that I've seen in a way that felt super culturally sensitive. And I think was hitting on all of the right points and bringing up all of the gaps that we've always known existed, but being able to articulate those specifically was really powerful and hearing how Dottie and the other women who were part of this community were sharing their views on things and just reflecting on what they had to say and then also thinking about that in our new context that we are experiencing in 2021, was very powerful.

This was important in a lot of ways, but particularly it prompted me to go back to doing collaborative, peer reviewing of events in my local community. Particularly, those that are outside of my comfort zone, or not in cultures that I normally interact with. I have this collaborative event listing thing that I put together with other event organizers every week. These are 12 things coming up, that I think are interesting, and they're not even science related. There just interesting. Because it helps me keep my finger on the pulse of what's happening here. We invite a guest curators, so like one of San Francisco's great drag Queens. Let's find out what's interesting from his perspective. And so I came out of this, I was like, "Yeah. Actually, going to other events, and seeing what other people are doing, the problems they're struggling with, and the creative solutions they have, it's very hard to fold that into all the deadlines that we all face. And yet I feel it's just so necessary to do our work well.

And I feel really fortunate that I was paired with another observer, who's an expert in the field. We were able to play off, we had really different sets of eyes, I think, on it, and learned a lot from each other, both in the moment when we were talking, but also afterwards, when we were typing up our notes together in the followup. I think that part of it, was really a great experience, which I definitely got a lot out of that. And I think, our ability to think through what was going on, was really enhanced by that, that we had really different previous experiences, I guess, in different ways of engaging with the event.

it was very anxiety inducing, to find out, that not only am I participating in a new program at the convention, but we're going to have to two people who I don't, know and have great credentials, fly into to observe what I was doing. Like I said, it was a little anxiety inducing, but ultimately, I found the experience incredibly rewarding. I don't often get to converse with peers in the field, at the level of Paul's, and Bart's experiences, and credentials. and whatnot. I found it incredibly enlightening. Obviously, they brought a completely outside perspective of it.

I think it's hard to create, and then objectively assess. The people who participate in activities, are very much married to them. They're in love with them. It's their baby. Whatever analogy makes sense to you. But, "This is my thing that I've created, that I can't see the blind spots of." The value in having people with very particular kinds of expertise assess this experience, especially if it's expertise you don't have. Of course, I think there's a value there.

I've been documenting the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for over 10 years. And it's a big event with a lot going on. Really distinct communities who participate. And if you're in the blues tent, running the sound booth, you really can't be looking at the crafts, and you don't know what's happening in the kid's area. There're so many distinct activities, and communities, but the energy of the event, is that all these things are happening together. And so, being able to move through these different spaces, I think, and then reflecting back on how your part fits in. I think, it is a challenge for any of us who participate in big events, because you do have to keep an eye on your booth. Not just staffing it, and doing what the booth is doing, but also coordinating, and managing. The loading in, and the loading out. There're just so many logistics, it's a huge amount of work.

For me, I just want to say the experience was awesome. There's a couple of different things that are going on here. One is looking at the con overall and the science content, one looking at the cosplay components specifically, and there's this idea of just being able to go someplace and do peer observations and peer reviews for a day and a half, was such a wonderful luxury. I don't get to do that very often, have just dedicated watching and thinking time so just participating in this was great.

The background mix matters a lot, I think. Pairing people from just different disciplines, I think, is a great idea, because it just expands every... It doesn't have to be two people. But every member of that gets a different perspective all at the same time. It really enriches the conversation.

I've been involved in project evaluations for a lot of different projects, but never anything that was the subtle or nuanced or sophisticated. So there's just a lot there. And even though I wish that I could have time to watch the video, to look at all the imagery, all the archive that was created, I'm sure from that process, there was just so much there. It's very, very rich.