Powerful Voices Day 1

What could be better than getting together with people who also enjoy using social media for change? I don't know either! Hence why I got involved with Powerful Voices. Our first session was on Saturday & it was a long but good day.

I first heard about the opportunity through my tutors at school. Berta & I trekked down the interview a few weeks back & breathed a sigh of relief when we made the cut. We're both art students & we're hoping to incorporate social media into our work. I come from a mostly art background, so I'm hoping to bring my creative side to the project.

On a blustery Saturday morning we gathered in SoHo. I didn't know what to expect & the morning started off with an activity I wouldn't have thought I'd be doing - speed dating! Well, not actually. More like speed get-to-know-you. It was a long morning of talking, even if it was only spending 5 minutes with each person! It was really interesting to learn what people are passionate about, & their backgrounds. I think we have a good mix of people on the team of 14.

At the end, we picked a name out of a hat & had to do a short 'news feature' on the person. My broadcast journalist dreams had finally come true, even if it was only in front of one camera. But I did get a good audience reaction!

After a quick lunch break it was back to work.

The afternoon session was about picking an issue that we're passionate about & how to go about it. Why this issue? How will we tackle it? How will we research it? What can we do about it? I think what's interesting is how everyone comes from a different background so we're all passionate about different things. As the Canadian on the team I feel a bit out of touch with issues in the United Kingdom but I can give an interesting perspective. We broke off into groups to brainstorm our interests. My group discussed bringing arts to families, helping students who are unemployed, the closing of libraries, & waste management just to name a few things. 

This week is all research, research, research before we pitch our project next week. There's lots of work to be done but I think I speak for the team when I say we're all excited!

Carly