Eco-Rep Symposium (or how I spent my Saturday)

My group for the symposium was responsible for signage, meaning directing people to the location of the event and essentially putting together the folders with sustainable materials. Most of our tasks came together Friday, in finally assembling the folders with all of the necessary information, and on Saturday, when we decided the easiest and most visible way to direct people to the buildings would be to chalk. Chalking was accomplished in short time, and as far as I know, people didn't have difficulty finding the buildings.

Although we put the symposium together mainly last week, I think it turned out really well. I'm not sure of the exact number of people in attendance, but there was a pretty good showing and a variety of schools represented. I found the get-to-know-each other game to be a good introduction that put people more at ease. I also thought the sessions I attended were interesting. I'm excited at the prospect of Tufts own eco-rep program being established on campus for next semester, as it seems that other schools are experiencing a lot of success with theirs. It was also interesting to hear that other schools are facing some of the same barriers that we are, particularly with regard to the whole tray situation.

Breaking down into groups was another aspect of the symposium that I found really helpful. It was great to hear other people's experiences on their campuses and any ideas they had that might be useful. And to top it all off, much to the credit of the food group, lunch and dinner were a hit. Tumbleweed Anonymous was also incredibly entertaining (where does all this talent come from?).

As in most cases, it's usually best to start projects earlier than later. Besides the preliminary planning done by Dallase and Tina, I don't think the ball really start rolling until last week. That left a lot of the smaller details to be figured out, particularly all of the folder materials on Friday. For me, this worked out best and I imagine it's a common situation because things aren't usually cemented until the last minute. I hope this didn't put any undue pressure on anyone, though we were sort of burning the midnight oil. Nonetheless, everything turned out swell, almost as if we'd been preparing for a much longer time.

I would definitely consider the event a success. I think it says a lot about Dallase that she was able to get students from all over to come to our symposium. It was really great to see everything come together on Saturday as one cohesive event.

As the focus of the class is "shifting from saying to doing," I think it was important for us to work on such a hands-on project. It's all about practice; as Dallase was saying, picture a basketball team composed of players that had only read manuals but never played. That would certainly be a mess, but if they'd practiced, they'd be much better. So, too, I think my ability to put on any sort of event, or take action, has been improved through this experience.