29/9/10 - Brighton Freshers Expo (NAT)

Between 11:30-12:00 we arrived at Brighton station.

Being my first time in Brighton I was quite excited and optimistic about the day ahead. I looked into my rucksack and had everything that I needed. Pen, notepad, camera and questions, CHECK.

On arrival at Brighton Racecourse we met up with the Ex ACS (African Caribbean Society) president, which is also a close friend of my brother and I. Straight away we got down to work. We decided as a team for the time being, that I was going to ask the questions whilst my brother filmed it. After having their initial reactions on camera Lem would take down student details and give them a poster, informing them how the can keep in contact with the Evolution Now project.

Throughout the day a lot of students were very forthcoming in airing their views on the questions that we asked. Although I think the question “ What really grinds your gears” was misinterpreted and some thought that it was to do with things that they really enjoy doing. We also asked some general questions like “what do you care about” but they kept on referring to politics when we wanted an initial reaction, this way we are able to state that politics relates to every aspect of life.

A general topic that seemed to "grind their gears" was university fees and Tax being on the rise. This was a major concern as it directly affects them. They were keen for the government to make education free, as it will give others that have the ability but not the money a chance in life.

Nathaniel Hinds - Workshop Team Leader

29/9/10 - Brighton Freshers Expo (ISH)

So we landed in Brighton at around midday. The purpose of the trip to Brighton, was to discover what young people think about politics and also to find out what issues affect them within their everyday life.

The day started off at the University of Brighton’s fresher’s fair which was held at the Brighton race course. Upon arrival we were greeted by the loud sounds of music, and the warm atmosphere of the student surroundings.

As soon as the evolution team arrived, I got into contact with my friend who is the ex president of the African and Caribbean society. Nathaniel, Lem and myself walked around the freshers fair with a video camcorder, asking people questions and capturing their responses on the camcorder.

The students in Brighton were very helpful towards the project and had a lot of positive views which we were permitted to record as part of our opinion collection exercise . We came across a few people who did not want to be filmed for personal reasons, but they left their names and emails so we could keep them updated about the project. Still a positive nonetheless!

We adopted a warm & informal approach to speaking with people which I found was very effective and lead to us getting quite a few people airing their views about politics via camcorder & general conversation.

Stay tuned for my next info splash....

Ismael Hinds - Marketing Team Leader

Hertfordshire Uni Expo - 27/09/10 (NAT)

Even though it was pouring down with rain when we arrived at the University of Hertfordshire, we were sill optimistic that it was going to be a good day. Pen, pad and camera at the ready we didn’t waste no time and got straight to work. We approached students asking them these 5 questions:
• What do you think politics is
• What do you care about
• What grinds your gears
• Describe a politician in one word
• Draw a politician
Our aim was to get their initial reactions caught on camera. We moved tight as a unit approaching different people at random. As the day went on our confidence grew and instead of us going to people some came to us. We had a wide range of answers some quite interesting and some funny.

A lot of people seemed interested about Evolution Now as a project and wanted their voices to be heard as a lot of them feel that it isn’t.
Again like Brighton I believe that question “What grinds your gears” was misinterpreted and people initially related this question to politics.

Unlike Brighton the students at Hertfordshire were reluctant to be filmed on camera but were more than happy to give us their email addresses so that we could keep them up to date with the project.

Nathaniel Hinds