But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?

 

        For this week I chose to observe Project Nicaragua from the balcony. My friend Allie is on the exec board for this organization, so I thought it would be less awkward to show up and observe a random organization. I would like to first about how the meeting went and the set up and dynamic.

        The exec board started with introduction while they stood up in the front of the room. The general members then introduced themselves and the meeting started. In all, there were 5 exec members and 12 general members as they trickled in. So it was a small meeting, in part due to the nasty weather.

        So obviously there are a lot of the questions on page 16 that cannot be answered without asking a member, or being in the organization itself, however I will do my best to answer the ones that apply. 

Who is the leader? For the first part of the meeting, the leader was clear in that one of the co-directors of the organization was doing most of the talking while the other exec members still stood in the front. There was some feedback back and forth, and you could tell it was a free flowing type of meeting where there really didn't need to be a whole lot of preparation. Then my friend Allie took over the rest of the meeting while the other exec members sat down and the co-director still stood up with her and directed some of the meeting. Allie went to talk about the Euchre tournament, which is a good way to fund raise for their cause. 

What does the organization value? From the meeting it was easy to tell that the (primarily pre-med) group of students were interested in helping the impoverished areas of Nicaragua. They have projects in which they fund raise for and take pride in traveling to Nicaragua to implement some of the change. They also do not fund raise to cover costs of travel, but to be able to build and improve the town. 

Who are the followers? The followers, again mostly pre-med and freshman, are those interested in helping out with project Nicaragua. Other fellow Ohio State students who share a common interest and goal.

What do they value/what do they gain? Members of the organization seem to share the same value that the leaders do. It wasn't as apparent, but being new members, they are figuring it out as they go. As the meeting went on, they seemed to lighten up and become more sociable and talkative about working to make the euchre tournament go smoothly. Most members seemed to step up and volunteer to do something. Another thing was that they all wanted to get trained to be able to work at Nationwide as a fundraiser. Being a member, especially one that participates has the chance to go on a trip when they do go. 

The context or environment: Well they originally had a room where it was completely flat, so I'd imagine they might have made a circle or arranged the room to include everyone, but the members sat in two rows in front of the people talking. They mostly sat and listened during the meeting, with some feedback about ideas. As to the remaining questions, the members and leaders appear to be happy with what they are doing. 

Cliche balcony picture? Check!

It was definitely an interesting experience just sitting in and observing a meeting. There were many times, especially when talking about the resources the Union offers, that I wanted to step in! I wanted to let them know that you can rent all sorts of things from the CSLS...but someone in the group eventually realized they could! I think this would also be a fun, and even beneficial exercise to do with one of my own organizations. They seemed to know what they are doing, and I am impressed with the work that they do as a student organization.