Recently PLP took part in the spring exhibition. This was actually my first spring exhibition I had ever been to. Last year I created a product for the exhibition, but I was so sick that I couldn’t make it to the actual event. I didn’t realize this until after the exhibition, but I think I like the spring exhibition better then the winter one, it may just be the fact that summer begins right when that night ends! I worked really hard on this years exhibition, we focused on our circle BC trip, and the three main topics, which were industries in BC, First Nation relations, and the gold rush. For my topic I chose to focus on industry in BC. I was so interested in the port of Prince Rupert, and the environmentalism that they talk about in their mission statement and there future plans. But really what drew me to the port was what wasn’t talked about. I wanted to know what they meant when they talked about being the most sustainable port in the world, or how they were actually showing that. And so my exhibition question was formed. Now came the heavy lifting.
I have recently become very interested in journalism, and so I decided that for this project I would like to make a 3 page newspaper, that can hold a iPad within it. My idea varied a bit from this one at the start but this is what I ended with. I began with the idea of sustainability, and how industries like the cannery are being run dry, and losing income from our poor ecosystems, and I could show this by doing a newspaper which symbolizes the change in direction from classic “paper” to a more reliable source such as an iPad or an Ereader.
As my actual project idea changed my physical object idea mostly stayed the same so I was able to get a bit of a head start on creating my newspaper, and unlike many other people my project relied solely on research or actual information. So the next step was to do buckets and buckets of research and complete a few interviews.
We talked about this step in the launch journal in school, and I believe that this is the step that has stuck with me the most. For completing a project you had to have finished your primary and secondary research. Primary research is basically just using google and asking around with your peers, or creating pole. Secondary research is sourcing someone who would be understanding in the field that your looking into, and then asking them. This is really important because my project wouldn’t have been even remotely the same with out the secondary research I found.
I did a interview with someone at the port of Prince Rupert, and I also did a interview with someone at plastic bank. Now both of these interviews made my project quite a bit more interesting, so I personally think that research is a very big part of ones project, even if it’s not research based.
The next step I took was creating the actual end product, this took quite a bit because I had to get the layout just right. People don’t really realize just how much work goes into the little things, and since I got quite a few compliments talking about how mine looked a lot like a north shore news paper, I think I did pretty good! The layout took quite a bit of time but once I had it down it was smooth sailing from there.
On the night of the exhibition I really didn’t know what to expect. I had worked really hard on my project, but I didn’t know what people would think of it, and how they would react to the information. The first wave of people came by and Isabelle’s parents were the first people to come to my station, which made it a lot easier to tell people about my project for the first time. It was a huge hit, and I got a sense of confidence, I also found key points I wanted to cover and things I didn’t need to talk about. I also found myself a sort of script that I really enjoyed saying and made it easier for me to get my point across. I didn’t even escape my station till the end of the night when we all started to pack up because when people came to my station they stayed for quite a little bit, so I couldn’t find time throughout the night to see others, but from what I saw in my room alone, everyone’s was incredible, so I think PLP did really well this year.
All in all I learned a bunch about environmentalism in platt industries and what that means, and I also had a good time.
Thanks for reading and happy summer