Transform the Team

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.

I remember feeling it was just such an opportunity to think so differently about the way we construct those projects. And I remember feeling really uncomfortable and unsettling to us to try just being able to set it up that way. And I think that's one of these complicated things about the STEM piece of it, right? The STEM itself is supposed to be so data-driven and clear. And so then trying to put a bunch of people who have been trained to think in this very, data-driven way into a context that is itself so amorphous, I think the tension's really uncomfortable.

something like what you've been working on would have actually the greatest impact on those who are involved in sorting out how to engage with the community that they live in, that they found themselves living in as a as a graduate student. I mean, I think that takes a certain level of humility to understand that, that the learning and outreach isn't for the audience, it's for those that are conducting the outreach.

we constantly just feel like we're always asking people, we want to highlight the science of these organizations. We want the community to know that this is what's happening in their backyard. But what that means is that we asked them to come do stuff. And it always feels... And while what we're trying to do is call attention to the work they do, but that requires them to come out on a Sunday and set up a booth. And we offered to pay for people's materials. Like we tried to make it as easy as possible, but you still have to find people who are willing to stand in 98 degrees on the street, in the middle of the afternoon, on their Sunday. And it just is always this hard thing of, how do you make that sell? How do you get people excited to do that? And to not just constantly... I just feel like sometimes we constantly come up against this thing of feeling like we're always asking people to do things, even though what we're asking them to do is get before 50,000 people so that people can know that this is happening. But it is that tenuous balance always of feeling like we're asking something of them and we know that people are just so, so busy.

It sparks an excitement, I think, in our staff. Many of our staff actually, who are working the event, and work the entire day, they dress up themselves. They're excited to be in that space. They're excited to be talking to this different audience.

And it also got me thinking, that a lot of the value might be actually people participating in these communities, as the communicators, and how this benefits them, and sharpens their skills at outreach, in ways that they wouldn't otherwise get. There's a lot of value in that. Specifically, I had friend of mine who was in the Peace Corps, and he said, "Here's the dirty secret. The primary beneficiary of the Peace Corps, isn't the host nations, it's the peace Corps volunteers." And I was thinking of that, in SciComm, and these environments. Us connecting with communities, particularly communities we don't get to work with normally, has a lot of value in, and of itself.

The actual cosplay contest itself is like the tip of the spear. There's this huge pipeline of stuff that leads up to this moment and the judging itself was interesting because these people queue up, they get in front of the judges, they explain their costume, again, as Paul mentioned they're really focused on the craft. The baseline things that I associate with cosplay which is identity and enthusiasm and community, all that stuff they take for granted. By the time you get in front of a judge, they assume all of that. All they really want to care about is their craft and how it affects their community. And that really spoke to me about how we need to think about integrating with that program. We need to look at that complete pipeline between when people start building their costume a year before the show and the hundreds of hours and hundreds of dollars that go into it and what it takes for them to make that commitment, and then what are the incentives for them to participate, and then what are they actually getting judged on and understand all that and then fold in a science component appropriately.

So for me this was an entirely new experience. I had never actually been to a Comic-Con before and I'm nerd culture-adjacent, this was a little bit out of my wheelhouse so I was really excited and I got there first thing on Saturday and stood in line and there was a line of people outside the door and lots of jostling, and that was fun just to absorb the energy of the people who were there, especially that first wave has got to be pretty hardcore.

my connection to the parade previously had been me being stationary, the parade moving past me and seeing how everybody interacts with it. But now it's seeing that the entire length of the parade is completely involved and the audience is very into it all the way through from start to finish. Talking with some of the volunteers afterwards, it was an overwhelmingly positive experience, I think a little more so than everybody expected, and a lot of that was due to the fact that the crowd was very receptive to it.

... There's no way he could have done that if he hadn't been there last year. And so similarly, in parades, people comment on last year's parade or they comment on the other groups that are parading or they comment on other things that are going on in the community, or it could comment on things that are going on in Atlanta, or they could comment on, obviously, Waconda, or what's been happening with Spider-Man. And I'm not going to use the right language, but the multi-verse or the universe or whatever it is that's happening with Spider-Man. That's really exciting and it's got a lot of people interested in comics, who haven't been interested in them before. So there's a way that parades speak to what's happening right now, that is part of what makes people excited about them, so there's an opportunity there as well. I realize, you might not want to do political commentary about what's happening with science, but it could be a way to connect more to the popular culture of the present possibly. Yeah. And then interacting with other marching groups, I think is a big thing that people do in parades, and that Gemima and I observed. When the planets were dancing together, that was fun for the planets and it really engaged the audience too, that there was a physical interaction among the paraders. That doesn't have to be choreographed, but it's helpful when it happens.

learned a lot from other paraders, and from looking at one year's parades and I have a chance to think about, "Oh, this is what I want to do next year. Next year, it's going to be so much better." But also being coached by veteran paraders, and certainly in the parades that I, to some extent how I observed groups marching with the DragonCon parade, is that they use their body as part of the parade, as well as using symbols and of course words as symbols to convey meaning. And so the way the body is dressed, wigs, hats, things like that, are a big part of the messaging, they said they set the tone. And a lot of paraders do use words, but they don't rely on words as their first way of communicating meaning. And so things that people can see at a distance, regardless of the font size you're using, things that stick up into the air, flags or other things that people can see coming are helpful. And then obviously things that are just a few feet off the ground or at the level of the body, people will see those right when you're upon them, they don't see them coming. Those are just some thoughts I have on people who have used parading as a distinct technology first for communicating and for sharing information.

Please- But that's all for now. Oh no. [inaudible], you want me to say more? Yeah, I think so. One of the things here, just to give you context, is that we don't ... I don't know, Jordan, is this the first time you've been in a parade since you were in school? Yes. This is my first time being in a parade. Yeah. Great. So this is not business as usual for many of us,

I think part of what was encouraging for the kids was that they felt really special, we spent a lot of time leading up to this. We visited them while they were building the robot. We were very interested in what they were doing. We wanted to hear their stories, get some time with them. So, they were comfortable with us. They were feeling pretty good about themselves and they're feeling pretty special. And they came out and they're wearing their crazy combination of socks and T-shirts and other things that identified who they were, and they were really proud to be who they were. So, I think it was a real, a big growth experience, because they had all this attention and reinforcement and encouragement, but it does take time. It's an investment of time and genuine interest and that's what they felt. And we made it safe for them. We explained how things were going to happen, what was going to be expected of them and encouraged them all the way. That cultivating is really important when you're dealing especially with kids, but I think that's true of any volunteers. A lot of people are happy to help, they just don't know what they have to offer and they don't know where they're supposed to be and what they're expected to do. That was really important it turns out for these kids because we didn't even give a thought of that these kids may not have ever performed before or maybe they've never been in a parade before. Maybe they're really shy and they just joined this club because they thought it was cool. We don't really know what we're dealing with. So, getting to know what you have to work with and making everybody feel comfortable and having a plan and making them feel valued and respected and proud of who they are and what they've done, I can only see it when the actual parade happens. And then when these kids are glowing and these kids went all day showing demonstrations and walking and talking. And this would have been a big day for an athlete and these kids went all day and their enthusiasm stayed the whole time and their interest and their personalities and their patience with other people and other kids. They just kept going and they were amazing.

I can tell you just from years of experience and from being in different settings and situations. The classroom experience can be great. A special performance can be great, but something where the stage has been set, the atmosphere, the excitement, if you put yourself in a parade setting, you're hearing bands, you're seeing horses, you're watching young people dance, you have people dressed up and ready to go. I mean, everybody's wearing crazy red, white and blue everything, and funny things in their hair and hats and eyes. And people are there to celebrate. So, yes, there is that element of enthusiasm and excitement and celebration that is already there for you and to be able to have that and add to it and feel it, you pull from that as part of a parade as a performer. You pull from that energy and it only gives you more. It builds up your own energy to throw it out back out at the crowd. So, it all feeds on each other. And yes, it's something that you don't maybe necessarily think about as you're building a parade for a float. You're very focused on the result itself, product, the people and place. Just making sure you've got tape and poles and banners and all those things that go into it, so you're very detail oriented. But you kind of forget about the energy that's already there, that you didn't bring, but you're adding to it, you're taking from it and you're giving as much as you can back out. And that in itself is a wonderful element to showcase something that a lot of people might think science is stuffy, not full of highs and lows, not celebratory and yet, here we are. And people are cheering and we're all excited and we can't wait to share when people can't wait to hear and see and be fascinated and be part of it, and to, especially for the kids, cheer them on, which I am sure can only be a boost in what they've done and what they continue to do as their students. So, yeah, there is that element that may not exist in other places where you bring science, too. To have that there and to be part of it and to use that is really magical.

It's always scary. It's like the first performance of anything, I would imagine. You learn a lot. You put yourself out there. You are, in some cases, putting a lot of faith into what you believe will transpire and convincing other people that yes, that's what's going to happen and this is going to be good for these reasons. Then, see it come together and it seems like when it does come together, it's even better than you had described.

The exuberance and excitement of the volunteers was also something really good to see. I talked with several members of the volunteer crew, and all of them were enthused to the point of vibrating about what they were doing. And that does not have to be the case; you can be conscripted into an event you don't care about, but they weren't. And so I think that that sense of, again, conviviality within the float itself, the clearly positive interactions the walkers were having with audience members, people exclaiming with delight when they put on glasses, it brought much more happiness than I would ever have anticipated for a float.

I will say that we had a couple of volunteers, my son included, teenager, and one of his friends, who came and wanted to contribute to building the float but we're uncomfortable. They're teenagers, so they were uncomfortable with the idea that anybody was looking at them. And so they had the opportunity to come and contribute, and saw PVC pipes, and cut chicken wire, and use a drill, and get a little bit of mentoring from our young science professionals who were leading the float building. And then they finished up their task and then went on their way. So there was even people who are very introverted and don't like the idea of being on stage, that performativeness that comes with walking through a large crowd or whatever, they contributed as well.

So we have our chair of our volunteer committee, co-chair of the volunteer committee organized the volunteers for this particular event. And her daughter, who is on the spectrum, accompanied her and assisted her in checking in volunteers, et cetera. My understanding is that the parents are very protective of their kids and rightfully so, but this is probably the closest that Mary Margaret could get to ... She's a high school student, by the way. Could get to what a club scene might look and feel like. And Mary Margaret [inaudible] she was on the float, and she danced as if no one was watching for the entire parade. And when I mean dance, she danced. Again, creating space for her to be whatever she wanted to be that night, which I thought was ... We're proud of that as well.

One of the things that I have read in multiple different ways or in multiple different books, is just about how the ability for people to come together in common cause can help inspire innovation and creativity. And it's along these lines of what our common goal of making science positive relationships with a broad community and that kind of thing. The potential is cool.

what was different from the parade event versus other outreach activities that we've been involved in, as it relates to situated engagement is that there's an energy there that I haven't experienced in any other event in our community and I go to a lot of events, festivals, other parades, but this particular parade in the center of our city with tens of thousands of people. And when I recall two videos that I've watched of people from the top end of our flow looking down to the masses, that was such a... It just brought chills to me just thinking about those people. And us shooting t-shirts out with t-shirt guns and handing out the refraction glasses and them wanting more and more and more and all I could think of was playing a song for the DJ. And I don't know, it was just an amazing experience. That energy there is one thing that makes it different.

I know that the teenagers that we had in there must have felt like rockstars and these are people that are normally introverted, quiet, stay with their circle of friends and they must have been on a high all I configure for the rest of the weekend.

you get impact on both ends. And I think that that's something that doesn't get looked at very often. What happens when you as a science professional volunteer, whatever, go out and do these things? It's always outward looking. What happens to the audience? What do we do to the people that attend? But I mean, truly, what do we do to the people that do it? That is a very important part of it.