I am not really sure what I should or can say about last week’s project.

Wow.

Week 06 turned out to be something much more than I had ever expected and I was so overwhelmed and happy with the reaction and reception from the community.

During the beginning of the week I wasn’t sure exactly how things were going to come together and if the project was going to be a success or an utter failure, but as the week moved on I felt myself getting more energy and momentum regarding the project.

I was so happy once I started to get responses from all members of the community and I think this more than anything made me want to complete the project and for it to be a success.

Once I had all of the posters printed and was able to see all of the great ideas amongst one another I had so much energy and adrenaline (weird, eh?) that I wanted to go out and post them right away.

Once I did get out on Friday to post 200 posters in the Downtown Core I had this feeling within me that is very hard to describe. It was like I had a purpose and mission and knew even before I finished the possibilities behind what I was doing.

Although no one approached me while I was posting the flyers on Friday, once the post was up online about the project the feedback that I received was great.  People were saying that the posters made them want to stop and read all of them and that some of their very own ideas were made visual and public. Comments such as these made the project more than worth it.

In reality I must admit that this project was in fact 90% the community and only 10% me as all I did was print and post the ideas, the community brainstormed the ideas.

There are two things I would like to mention though.

First, I had 100 posters that were intended for the East London Village but never made it. Next time if I attempt a similar project I will make sure to begin in the East London Village.

The second thing I would like to mention (which is the reason I didn’t finish posting the remaining 100 posters) is that next time I will find another method/tool for hanging the posters. Using a standard staple gun for 200 posters (x 3 staples each = 600 pulls of the staple gun) hurt my hand and it took a few days for it to recover. On recommendation, next time I will rent, buy or borrow a hammer style staple gun.

With all of that said, it is going to be hard for upcoming project to have the same impact on the community, but that is ok. I have a few projects in mind for later in the year that will involve the community, and some people have actually approached me regarding specific projects, so it seems there will be plenty of opportunities in the future to make an impact.

For now I will focus on this week and perhaps something a little smaller in scale and possibly more personal.