Reflection

Professionalism

An indication of our professionalism was best seen in the successful interaction between the market place attendees and our way finding tools, which lead them to and around the marketplace. On the day of setup, our group performed professionally and efficiently to make sure everything was ready on the market day while still leaving time to make any last adjustments. On the day of the market place, we felt the majority of our signage was clear for the participants and throughout the day we were present and willing to guide or adapt our tools in case people were ever lost. Once the market place was over, we again maintained the same level of professionalism and efficiency to pack down everything we had done on the event while also helping to tidy up the place along the way.

Effort versus Return

Initially we had bigger plans for our lightboxes and vinyl ideas but we scaled this according to finance restrictions. Our ability to adapt is clearly displayed in the quality of our back up plans that were implemented through screens, floor tape and boxes to achieve the same standard that we initially set ourselves.

We decided to go with multiple touch points to engage people coming to the market as well as moving through it and the result of this was a massive amount of time and effort put in by our group. The return for this was having people from the events streams come up to us and tell us how impressed they were with what we’d done and observing participants of the market reacting to our work.

Group Functioning

Organisation was key for our group and meeting up at a certain time every week helped us to set out our goals and ultimately achieve them to a high standard. Using tools such as Trello and Facebook assisted communication, allowing us to function effectively in the busy weeks leading up to the marketplace. We struggled with Google Plus and Keep because we found they were less effective than face-to-face communication, which hindered our momentum initially. We solved this problem by increasing the allocated meeting times. During set up we identified as a group by wearing yellow arrows and black outfits, making us cohesive as a team (as well as being on brand!) To ensure maximum success in the functioning of the group during set up, we divided the tasks and each member took responsibility for the completion of a different role.

Working in a Team

Delegating tasks to members depending on their strengths was a valuable learning curve as it increased efficiency dramatically. As a team, having a policy of being open and honest allowed us to work through any issues and make compromises that kept everyone happy. We made a point of going out to lunch together in order to get to know each of the members and this helped us work together efficiently as well as increasing our the enjoyment of the paper. In hindsight, we should have done more of this team building earlier on because of how successful it was. As a team we have reflected we could have spent more time thinking about signage and leading market participants into the dark space. We also had a member that had personal issues who may have required more support than given.

Audience Response

The overall response to our way finding was immensely positive. Market participants were visibly excited about following the trail of planes to the market and many of our peers from the paper mentioned the novelty of the planes to us. The signage was cited as a successful component of the marketplace, particularly the digital aspect that was seen as a great professional touch. Offering teams from the dark space provided feedback that they felt more way finding tools were needed to direct people to their area, as there was only an icon stand and an entrance sign guiding people there. The screens placed around Massey to generate interest in the market were successful as they generated conversation and created buzz, with a group of people even taking a ‘selfie’ with one.