Since our recent Video4Change gathering was the first of its kind in Indonesia, we made some observations and received feedback on design of the gathering.
We gathered video makers from different backgrounds with varying level of expertise. This became a plus point for us because there provided diverse perspective to the discussions. But it also posed a challenge, however, as they had different level of understanding and awareness about video its use in advocacy. So, instead of going deep into discussion about impact, we had to start with an open forum to ensure everyone understood basic concepts. Our recommendation for other such gatherings would be to start with basic discussions about video, advocacy and impact at the very beginning so everyone is familiar with the concepts and terminology.
Gathering participants in a single location helped a lot with keeping up with the workshop schedule and the participants’ needs. Some participants were also interested in learning some technical skills from each other. Organising pre and post events on skills-share would also prove useful.
Other difficulties we faced included not having well-accepted definitions of terminologies like impact, indicators and evaluation. Providing participants reading materials on such issues before the event could help with this, as well as more materials in local languages.
Original post by Yerry Niko Borang.