Champion City Part 7: When Winds Nearly Derailed Us.
This is a story about community partnerships. But it begins with a tornado…or something freakishly close to it anyway.
I guess if I were writing this as a movie script, I would begin at the point of peak tension… in our case this:
But let’s start at the beginning. June 14th was an ordinary Thursday. Our Mayors’ Challenge team was scheduled to do a final on-site rehearsal of Sprint 2, in preparation for our public-facing event on June 16th. The original plan for our rehearsal was that we would set up seven 10x10 canopies and folding tables, along with our varied immersive media tech displays for a full simulation to help us pinpoint any final logistical issues.
What actually happened is that gale force winds descended upon our group the moment we set foot at our location and treated our 10x10 canopies like sails. We spent 87.2% (see? we’re collecting data!) of our time clinging desperately to the legs of these contraptions, trying to prevent them, ourselves, and our expensive virtual reality equipment from flying 1.3 miles east into the Long Island Sound. Never mind the physical toil, we were most frustrated by the thought that our one chance to do a thorough Sprint 2 run-through was being ruined by weather, leaving us unprepared for Saturday’s big event. Luckily the New Rochelle Public Library came to our rescue by allowing our tech team to set up inside their community room so that they could continue their proper walk-through of the technology, under the leadership of our core team’s developer Nitzan Bartov.
With the tech team safely tucked away, I ventured back into the elements. It was apparent we needed an alternative set-up if these winds returned during our real sprint on Saturday the 16th. The wind whipped my hair and coated my contacts and teeth with gritty layer of detritus as I paced back and forth across Library Green, wringing my hands and shouting to myself, “Think! Think! THINK!” The stakes were high.
Nothing was coming to me. Sweaty and slouching in defeat, I went to put some of our supplies away in the park’s kiosk at the opposite end of where we had (attempted to) set up our trial. Suddenly, the winds stopped, the clouds parted and operatic singing filled the background. *This* location, right in front of the kiosk, was the best spot for Sprint 2. I had initially overlooked it because the farmers market presents programming in that spot and because the electricity in that kiosk hadn’t worked for a portion of last year.
But…the park’s kiosk would help block wind if it came back on Saturday and we could have several less tents than before because the inside of the kiosk could serve one of our test stations in the experience. (VR sensors react poorly to light, so that was perfect too because the kiosk blocked the sun.). One of our local community activists (and our Spanish translator) Daniel Bonnet ventured back outside and together we plotted the new set-up. An active community member, Daniel also handles events and logistics for several nonprofit organizations in New Rochelle. He was the perfect person with whom to brainstorm. Together we fixed the kiosk’s electric connection, with the assistance of one of the business improvement district’s cleaning crew. And I was able to get permission to move the farmers market supplies from that area for the day. Since I’m also the farmer’s market director, I just said, “Self, is it okay if we move the market things over just for this Saturday?” and then I responded, “Yes, that’s perfectly fine. Good luck with your event!” Daniel averted his eyes while I held this awkward exchange.
Everyone left that afternoon feeling fairly shell-shocked by the unanticipated weather, but I’m thankful we were confronted by that snag during the run-through. It helped us plan for unforeseen physical circumstances in advance of the real Sprint 2 and pushed us to identify a much more efficient and safe physical location at the end.
“I can’t change the wind, but I can change the direction of my sails to always reach the right direction.” — Jimmy Dean
We continue to realize how we couldn’t do this Challenge without the assistance of supportive community partners like the library, Daniel and others who have stepped in to help us with unforeseen Mayors’ Challenge-related, well…challenges along the journey. I advise any city contemplating doing the Mayors’ Challenge process to map stakeholder organizations/individuals like the Library and Daniel who will support and champion you during this process early on. Having a team in your corner beyond City Hall makes all the difference.
Stay tuned for a recap of Sprint 2’s actual event. In a nice resolution to our story, it ended up being a beautiful day and a great learning experience.
