Method Initiative (Round 4) – Exercise 7: Create a Visual Model
If you’ve been following my Initiative exercises this time around, you might be wondering where my Exercise 6 reflection is. The answer is: I’m still working on exercise 6, since getting 10 people who can give me advice on my project takes some time. Because finishing exercise 6 wasn’t really hindering starting exercise 7, I just went ahead and did it!
The point of Exercise 7 is to make a visual model for all the entities involved in my project and show who gives and gets what. The idea being that if you have entities who are giving without receiving, it’s a red flag that you could have a problem or a gap that needs to be filled in your project.
My Visual Models
I made two versions of my visual model:
- A simple model with just the essentials – audience, some refreshments, maybe a volunteer or two, and a venue.
- A model representing what my project COULD eventually be with all the bells and whistles: sponsors, sound and lighting techs, a marketing team, etc.
And here they are, the basic version:
And the fully fleshed-out version:
You might have noticed I’ve really taken a liking to calling my project “The Campfire.” To me, it perfectly captures the essence of what I want this project to be: a bunch of people cozying up together and sharing stories in the backdrop of nature.
How It Went
Part of the exercise was to help ensure that everyone involved has something to contribute to the event, but also gets something in return. In most cases, the groups I thought of were ones that would mostly be wanting money in return for their services, but I did think that in future, there could be some other possibilities for entities getting value in ways other than money for helping with the project and made a mental note to keep that in mind.
Doing this exercises made me realize how many moving parts a project like this could have. It forced me to think about what is necessary for a project like this to succeed, but also what it has the potential to become. It also made me realize how hard it would be to do alone; even in it’s simplest form, it still requires a fair amount of coordination and planning. If it grows to something like The Moth events (on a stage with a large audience), then it would be nearly impossible to organize alone. This exercise definitely made me understand the logistical aspects of the project better.
As I did this exercise, I didn’t feel a need to change or revise my project at all, to the point where I started to wonder whether I’m missing something, but I took advantage of the advice I got from Exercise 6 and information I could find online on planning an event like this and included as many entities as I could.
Wrapping Up
The more I talk with more people, get more advice, and do these exercises, the project starts to materialize in my mind and I really feel like I’m starting to understand what it would mean to do a project like this. It almost starts to take on a life of it’s own and it sometimes feels like I’m just helping it move forward, as if it’s not coming from me. I hope that trend continues and am excited to go into the next exercise – doing a financial analysis to understand the money-side of the project!
If there’s anything you think I’m missing in my visual model – connections between entities that I didn’t notice, entities that I didn’t think of, or other benefits the entities could get from participating in the project, let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
