Presented at the Conflict to Peace Conference Washington DC Sept 2011
I created this poster on Illustrator and placed sticky mirrors over each Hello nametag. The effect was when you looked straight on instead of seeing the nametags you saw yourself. At the conference I also handed out real nametags with mirrors on them – so that as the participants walked around the conference instead of the name tag saying “Hello My name is – so and so” it was a mirror – reflecting the person meeting them. This was to create a face-to-face space and place – where participants can practice asking each other about their assumptions. The nametags said “Hello, my name is” in languages that represented countries currently in conflict which are listed. The quote at the bottom by Cooley asked the viewer to think about the assumptions he believes about himself and the other. This was created to illustrate my research on the topic of applying social marketing and transmedia storytelling to the field of conflict resolution and peacebuilding
The idea was to use this as a format at a future conference where the webpage, brochures, t-shirts, nametags and other marketing/informational material would all ask the conference participants what their assumptions are about themselves and the other and how they let these assumptions shape their attitudes, beliefs or behaviors.
It is transmedia as it would engage participants through a multi-platform framework, both in person and on line through media. It is social marketing as it challenges participants to consider their attitudes and beliefs about the other and further provides a place to practice engaging with the other. This initiative would open dialogue that can reduce misperceptions about the capabilities and assumptions of the other. I hope to implement this concept at a conference in the future.
Peace For Sale 