We have spilt into the aspect of our project that requires much more individual work and therefore have each written individual reflections about our own experiences with interviewing.
Keona’s reflection: This week I went to the East Palo Alto Community Farmers' Market at the Ravenswood Family Health Center with all of The Tech's gear in the hopes of interviewing the farmers and shoppers there, as I did at the Downtown Palo Alto Farmers' Market. Upon arriving, however, I realized that this farmers' market was very different from the Downtown Palo Alto market, as there were only a few tents, the farmers did not have much produce left for sale an hour to closing (indicative of the extent to which community members make use of this critical resource), and the primary language was Spanish. After walking around for about ten minutes and then sitting at a bench on the outskirts of the market to reflect and do more research on the market, it reflected on my initial feeling that interviewing shoppers and farmers would be inappropriate given the language barrier, and, more importantly, that doing so would disrupt a limited and critical community resource. Fresh Approach, the organization who organizes the market, aims to make healthy, local produce an unattainable luxury for everyone in the Bay Area. The East Palo Alto market, according to the Fresh Approach site, "is a crucial resource for ensuring affordable, healthy food access for the East Palo Alto community, while supporting local family farms." I became immediately aware that inserting myself at this critical event that only occurs for a few hours weekly and only for select months out of the year to extract stories and leave would be inappropriate without having first established a presence and service in this community and possessing an ability to communicate with the residents. I then decided to visit the Fresh Approach tent at which organizers of the market stood. I introduced myself and asked if they could give me more information about Fresh Approach and whether or not there are opportunities to table at Fresh Approach markets. They seemed interested in the Community Voices exhibit, and said we could potentially table next week. However, they said that Spanish translations of material are required to table, and that a member fluent in Spanish must be present at the table. They also implied that establishing a presence in the community and giving back to the community before expecting anything from it would be most commendable and ethical. They said they would be open to working with The Tech in the future, but with the implication that The Tech meet these requirements before proceeding. I shared that the Community Voices project is relatively long term, and that I would share these reflections with The Tech and provide Fresh Approach as a potential lead for future teams working on the exhibit if these arrangements on The Tech’s end can be made. I learned a lot from this experience, notably that taking the time to reflect before taking action and potentially acting on impulse is critical. After speaking with the Fresh Approach representatives, I was glad that I trusted my initial instinct to take a step back and reflect to revise the plan I had coming into the market. Had I not done so, I would have risked being unethical or intrusive on a community with which I am not equipped to communicate given my lack of proficiency in Spanish. Unlike the Downtown Palo Alto market, it seemed that gaining permission from the organizers of the event to interview would be necessary given the critical and fragile nature of the resource. Moving forward, I will maintain my focus on refining the stories from farmers at the Downtown Palo Alto market given these circumstances, and I will add Fresh Approach to the list of leads in The Tech’s Google Drive with these conditions noted for future purposes. Priya’s reflection: This week I reached out to two individuals to interview and they both responded positively. Noah, a photographer who captures wildfire imagery in California, was receptive to being interviewed. The challenge lies in scheduling this interview in person, as he said his schedule is very erratic. I anticipate this meeting will be difficult to schedule, but I will be persistent as Danny seemed enthusiastic about this interview. Secondly, I reached out to John who works on Sol Lux Alpha, a carbon-neutral luxury condo. John was very eager to speak in person, and offered that we come to visit the roof of Sol Lux Alpha if the owners allow it. I am waiting to hear if the owners will allow it. Danny seems less excited about this interview for fear that it would not appeal to the everyday person, but would rather be too privileged. I think it is still worth pursuing, if time allows, and then seeing how the interview goes. We have not yet received an audio editing subscription, so in the meantime we will use a different free trial software. Our meeting on Monday with Danny was productive because we were able to compile packets to provide to the interviewees. This should ensure that we follow best practices with those involved in this exhibit. It is important that they know they have points of contact at the Tech Interactive should they have any questions. Having free passes and $25 gift cards should provide an added benefit so that the interviewees receive something in return for their story. We discussed this dilemma at length, and I feel good about our resolution. Now we have a good process for conducting our final interviews. Scheduling with my two prospects will be a bit challenging. However, I am excited to speak with these compelling individuals and wrap up our project successfully! Natalie’s reflection: Last week I was able to attend one of the speakers of the environmental justice speaker series that has been hosted throughout this quarter. I attended the talk put on the by Halah, the cofounder of the nonprofit organization, Planting Justice. Planting Justice is based in Oakland and works to build community support and uplift those who have been impacted by the horrible system of mass incarceration. Halah was very interested in our project and excited about the idea of participating in an interview. We have scheduled an interview time for Thursday of next week during which I’m going to travel to their community farm in Oakland and talk with her. I’m really excited about this opportunity and hopefully will be able to talk with some of the other employees at the farm (and maybe even interview them) to get a well-rounded view of their organization. As both Priya and Keona mentioned, we spent a lot of this last week discussing the different forms of compensation we could offer to our interviewees. I also am ultimately satisfied with the method that we decided upon (a compensation packet including a gift card and free museum tickets). Overall I’m really excited and optimistic about the outcome of our project! Alisha and Ayoade plan to include their contributions to this reflection in the comment section of this discussion post. Comments are closed.
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