The morning of the first session of the workshop I was extremely anxious. I was also worried during the weekend leading up to the workshop. My main anxieties centred around having to speak in front of a large group of people and to have to lead them and be responsible for the project. In order to help quell my worries, I printed off the daily plan for myself as well as a script featuring what I had to say. This meant that, although I was nervous, I always knew what I had to say. I think this ended up being very useful as I was able to keep looking to the next thing I had to say and it helped me feel less lost while speaking. From the Eventbrite form, we knew that around 17 people had signed up for the first session. In the moments before the workshop started and everyone had gathered in the room Jess gave me a small pep talk before we decided to officially start the workshop. This helped me feel slightly less worried as I felt less alone in the leading of the workshop as I knew Jess would always be there to step in if I forgot to mention something. I definitely have learnt that I feel more comfortable working as a part of a larger group.
 |
| Myself, while walking around the room asking if anybody needed help with making the Mini-zines. |
I was able to get through the workshop and overcome my anxiety and speak in front of the group. I was also told by Will, who was there to help present the PowerPoint, that I sounded confident while talking to the group. This surprised me but I am glad that how nervous I was didn't show through. This will be useful to keep in mind in the future when I feel nervous again. Most people turned up to the session which was amazing. Also, I noticed that there were quite a lot of people taking part in the workshop who had participated last year. This made me feel slightly more at ease that at least some people would know what to do.
 |
| Introducing the workshop and explaining the safety/wellbeing disclaimers to the group. |
After Will's PowerPoint talk I decided to pass out the pamphlets I had made just in case people wanted to recall some of the information covered. Most people didn't take them home but I did notice others looking at them while working on their mini zines. I wonder if it was worth making the pamphlets at all but it might just be a good resource to have. Moreover, most individuals who participated in making mini zines did a really great job. Most people seemed quite open to sharing and participating. I think it worked well as a sort of ice-breaker task, as it got everyone thinking about how zines work and what can be included in a pressure-free task. I was also able to demonstrate the folding of a mini-zine to one of the participants which I was happy about because the template I made was useful and did end up helping this participant figure out how to fold it correctly. The mini-zine is something that I think is useful enough to continue using in future zine workshops as an introductory task.
 |
| The group working on their mini-zines. |
 |
| One participant's mini-zine front cover. |
Overall, I think the first session was a success. I was able to work through my anxiety and present in front of a group. I think the aspects that made this session a success include making the daily plan including the timings. Although we didn't follow it exactly, it was a useful tool to keep us on track. Additionally, I think having Jess and Will present to reassure me really helped me get through the workshop. I definitely work better in a team environment and just personally prefer helping out from behind the scenes. I am still nervous about tomorrow's workshop however I do feel better after getting the first session out of the way. Plus I think it helps that I now know the faces of the participants so hopefully the atmosphere will feel more relaxed in general.
More images from the workshop can be found on the @zinestaffs Instagram.
Comments
Post a Comment