Last week at the Garden, my group, consisting of Kasey, Evitt, Troy, and myself aligned with another group who also wants to implement a QR code into the Garden. This group consists of Sophia, Kyra, Jay, and Jaidyn. We had an informal conversation with Ashley to ask all of the questions that we had to make progress on the implementation of our self-guided tour.
The conversation started with Ashley asking us questions that she was given to keep the conversation flowing. Some of these questions included, “How do you see your idea in the Garden, what exactly is going through your head when you envision this?”, “How do you feel about where you are right now within your group?”, “What/who do you need from the Garden to help you succeed?” All of these questions flowed perfectly, and we all gave fitting and honest answers about our dreams and current place within this implementation plan.
I told Ashley that my grand plan in my head was that there is something on display when you first walk into the visitors center to get the peoples’ attention. You would then proceed to pick which tour to go on, this is something that needs to be figured out since we are not sure how to capture the attention in the visitor center. There was a thought of placing our pamphlet inside of the welcome desk on the right side before you walk out into the Garden. Another thought is that there could be something at the desk where you pay at, if there was a list of the tours listed, to where you can visually see all of the options, both that are virtual (self-guided) and also docent led. Our group noted to Ashley that we feel very confident in where we are as of right now.
Ashley then led us through the front left side of the garden to give us an idea of what the tours COULD look like (I tried to find the name of the Garden we walked through but could not find it). She noted how in our tours, we don’t have to focus on just the plants, but instead we can focus on telling a story. I totally agree with what Ashley stated about the fact that we don’t have to focus on just the plants, but instead we can tell the stories of those lost voices when colonialism occurred.
Since the beginning of this process, I feel like everything has been moving smoothly. My group works really well together. We all seem to balance each other out to turn out amazing progress to the Garden partners.
One problem I didn’t forsee, is the implementation of making our tour accessible for those who do not have phones. It will be a task to make the pamphlet that has the same feel that the virtual self guided tour will. Last week, we had brought this topic up, and we said to have a sticker booklet in the back as the “reward” for completing the tour. I don’t know what the probability is of this being able to happen. There needs to be a backup plan in case the sticker book does not work, but I have no clue what exactly that would be.
In a perfect world, I do truly wish and hope we can implement ALL of our ideas into the Garden, but I wish there was a way that we could have aligned the groups earlier so that we could’ve heard all the ideas from the beginning. I am only saying this because there are some groups whose ideas make more sense and in my opinion have more of a sense of urgency than the others, but like I said, that is personal opinion. I also feel that this semester doesn’t have as much structure as the previous semesters. I feel we’re kind of just running around scrambling, which I’m sure is not a good look.
Ultimately, I am happy with where it appears we are heading, and I am so lucky for the team I am in just because of how well we work together. Moving forward in the Garden, we will be able to begin to implement those ideas next semester.