Public Engagement Leaders Conference - May 16, 2017

At a conference hosted by the University of Minnesota's Office of Public Engagement, the Free Speech Machine spent an hour with local leaders in public engagement to find out what values UMN should be following to support public engagement.
Technical problems unfortunately limited our audio recordings, but we took a few notes as well.

• Walking by the quote on Northrop auditorium everyday: "The University of Minnesota: Founded in the Faith that Men are Ennobled by Understanding; Dedicated to the Advancement of Learning and the Search for Truth; Devoted to the Instruction of Youth and the Welfare of the State." Public engagement means looking for that truth together.
• We should be listening to communities and their needs.
• We should recognize the past trauma in communities when working with them. We should trust their knowledge and respect their experiences.
• We need to move past the outreach model toward collaboration with communities.
• Reciprocity in interaction
• Create one point of contact at the university for groups or citizens to connect with experts, to facilitate that process, so that communities can initiate contact. Possibly also offer assistance in finding funding for projects. Projects should be driven by community needs and wants, not just university staff.
• Equity, co-creation, mutual reciprocity, social justice
• The values the university should embrace are generosity, integrity: this creates an open door of understanding rather than an assigned path.
• Inclusivity
• One important value is realizing that we do not have all the answers. We must listen to our community partners.

Metro Transit A-Line Launch - June 11, 2016

Bus rapid transit comes to the Twin Cities. How was the ride, and where should it go next?

Community Visioning at Park Plaza Cooperative in Fridley - February 6, 2016

"What's your favorite thing about Park Plaza?' and 'What's your biggest dream for Park Plaza's future?' were the topics of conversation at this visioning event for Park Plaza Cooperative.
Here's what residents and other stakeholders had to say:

St. Paul Healthy Transportation for All - February 3, 2016

The community was definitely engaged at this event. The Free Speech Machine was only set up for one hour, but recorded almost 30 minutes of audio! Listen to St. Paul speaks its truth about transportation in the Twin Cities.

Mia - The Art of Rebellion - January 21, 2016

Photo courtesy Mia

People had lots to say at Third Thursday, Art of Rebellion at Mia.

More from Fort Snelling

A couple of speeches from 4Play tried to get away, but we caught them and put them up for you now.

Speeches from the ARTathlon at Fort Snelling State Park

Even temperatures well below freezing couldn't keep people from exercising their right to free speech.

Final Words from the West Bank Block Party

Here's the final set of files from the West Bank Block Party, hosted by the West Bank Community Coalition on September 12, 2015.

More from the West Bank Block Party

A second set of files from the West Bank Block Party, hosted by the West Bank Community Coalition on September 12, 2015.

West Bank Block Party

The first group of files from the West Bank Block Party, hosted by the West Bank Community Coalition.

July 4th - People's Festival

The Free Speech Machine is happy to present the audio from the PPNA People's Festival, held July 4 in Powderhorn Park.

A Final Word from Fiesta Days

This final installment includes greetings to Montevideo, Minn.'s sister city in Uruguay.

Next Installment from Fiesta Days

A second installment from June 20th at Fiesta Days in Montevideo, Minn. Lots of people wondering how to keep the beloved festival going another 40 years.

Montevideo Fiesta Days

The first installment from last Saturday at Fiesta Days in Montevideo, Minn.

Final Audio from Arbor Day

Here's the last installment from Arbor Day celebrations at Linwood Recreation Center. Thank you Summit Hill Association for inviting us out!

More from Arbor Day...

More audio from the Arbor Day celebrations with Summit Hill Association and the City of St. Paul.

FSM at Arbor Day celebrations

The Free Speech Machine collaborated with the Summit Hill Association for Arbor Day celebrations in the City of St. Paul at the Linwood Recreation Center. Here are the first of the day's recordings.

















Check back for more posts in the coming days.

Art-a-Whirl 2015

It's always interesting how different installations affect the speech that's recorded. For Art-a-Whirl this year, the FSM was set  up in a location where it was "unsupervised", though signage explained how it worked an suggested some potential topics. There is quite a variety of styles of interaction, including what seem to be some revivals of Dadaist poetry.


Friday




Saturday








Sunday

bushCon - rounding out the day

The final batch of speeches from bushConnect. Many thanks to all who shared their stories, ideas and experiences. It was truly an inspiring day.

bushCon - the hits keep coming!

We ended up with over two hours of audio from our day at bushConnect - that's an amazing amount, but no less than one would expect from that sort of gathering of minds. We've broken it into bite-sized chunks, usually with two to three speakers in each file. Enjoy!