Republican National Convention: Day 2

Today’s event was quite unlike the pilot table because there was no table, just a poster board I carried, and instead of a neutral environment this one was politically charged. And, like the first, it was really hot. Dallas in August.

The American Airlines Center was heavily fenced and people weren’t really allowed to loiter. The only place people actually were was a march hosted by Indivisible Dallas. Note, We (ARE) the People is nonpartisan and attempts to create experiences before politics and labels enter the picture.

I held a printed sign and approached people before and after the march to see if they would be interested in answering the question, “What would you remind an American in 2076?” I learned a lot from the experience.

For instance, a march is a difficult environment to elicit responses because people are busy listening to a speaker over a megaphone and/or being led in chants. All that to say the number of responses was limited.

The biggest takeaway was that the table itself is central to the What’s Your Take? experience because it gives people a calm, slow, inviting space to occupy. I don’t foresee attempting the walk-around-with-a-poster experience again.