Reflection of progress so far..

Now it's been quite some time since I started organizing my flash mob. 

Things I have done well in the progress so far:

1. Keeping people updated so they don't forget about the event
2. Researching for 15 minutes every night by reading Smart mobs by Howard Rheingold
3. Solving issues, such as use of speakers, contacting stadshallen.

Flashmob sign up sheets!

Johanna and I have put up posters around the school area to get more people to join the flashmob, and we have hooked up a couple of people :)

To-do-list

1. Hang out posters in hallways. November 26th DONE! Got 5 new participants from MYP 4 
2. Decide date for meeting. November 28th DONE: 11th of December, 12 am @stadsparken
3. Reach a number 50 participants December 1st DONE (many people are not sure yet, and many people have friends that they want to bring, and they are not part of the group)

UPDATE 17/12

Our facebook-Group (42 participants)

Facebook-event (44 participants)

4. Decide and send out message to 6 people who will start the dance on the second turn after me and Johanna. And 6 other people to start third turn. People in mind:
Line, Victor, Arianna, Sonia, Ottie      ? December 5th - DONE! 6 people: Line, Ingrid, Henrik, Emilia, Sara, and Filippa
5. Email Mats at Stadshallen to ask for permission to borrow outlet for our speakers. December 1st DONE!

The email sent to Mats

Smart Mob book received!

Email from Anna our librarian, saying that she received the book and that we can come pick it up.

Project specification

Personal Project Specification

Guiding question: How can I create a dance choreography and teach it to a group of people to perform in a flashmob?

A flash mob is a spontaneous performance that many people have learned in secret and then perform it in a big public place. The people in the flash mob don't arrive to the performance place together, but they may come in and start at different points of the performance. A flashmob could be a dance routine, a singing performance, a big freeze, or a sleeping-event, and whatever you could possibly imagine. The reasons for flash mobs are to spread joy, and just have an awesome time!

I would like to spread joy in a creative way. Around Christmas time, it’s the season to be jolly, so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to make a flash mob about Christmas! A flashmob is also an opportunity to be heard, and we would like as many people as possible to see our performance. The best place for this is at Stortorget, the big “square” in Lund. On Saturdays, there are the most people around because they are all out shopping. Especially for christmas gifts since it is quite close to Christmas. My flashmob will be performed at 14:00 on Saturday, December 17^th.

Area Of Interaction: Human Ingenuity

Human ingenuity questions why and how we create. What the consequences are of creating, and how humans think, create and initiate change. This area of interaction fits in with our flash mob because we are creating a dance routine, and we have to figure out how to design our performance in a way so that it will look good, that it is noticeable, and so that it makes people happier on a grey, dull day in Lund.

Questions/problems:

Problems that we have right now are…

• Who will document the performance
• Organizing the dance so people don’t start dancing all at the same time. When me and Johanna have danced one round of the song, 6 other people join in, and on the third round, everyone else joins in.
• Everybody needs a red Santa Claus hat
• How to make the music heard by everybody
• How will people really learn the dance we have and be able to memorize it to the day of the performance?
• Find 50 people before December 1^st

Here is an example of a disastrous flash mob event which we don’t want:

Santa Claus Invasion!

Materials I need:

• 3 Cameras (one for pictures, two for filming) for documentation
• Speakers
• Red santa claus hats
• iPod that has the song playing the song 6 times in total
• Public communication site to give information (facebook)

Specification

What: Dancing Santa Claus Flash mob!

When: Saturday, 14:00, December 17

Where: Stortorget, Lund

Who: Lotta Sandborgh and Johanna Jonsson + at least 50 people

Why: To spread joy and bring out the christmas spirit in Lund!

How: We will dance to the music..

Johanna and Lotta starts off...

After song has played once, 6 more people will join in, and after the song has played twice, another 6 will join, and when the fourth time will come, everybody else joins in...

When we have finished the dance after a total of 6 rounds, everybody walks away like nothing has happened...

Everybody will keep their santa claus hats on...

Success!

Instructional website I have followed:

http://www.wikihow.com/Organize-a-Flash-Mob

How To Smart Mob

Source: http://www.howcast.com/videos/88587-How-To-Smart-Mob

Flashmob = smartmob

Smart Mobs : The Next Social Revolution is a book written by Howard Rheignold. In the book he discuss the social, economic and political changes affected by the new technology. He specifically writes about the SMS-ing trend and wireless internet development, as well as highlighting the many ways in which technology changes and impacts the way people live and think.

Definition: A group of people who mobilize on short notice to perform a collective action to get a point across.

Flash Mobs are a more specific way of Smart Mobs using media, and other social network to organize it.

Source: http://www.smartmobs.com/book/book_summ.html

Santa Claus Dance!

Lyrics:

Santa Claus, Santa Claus, Santa Claus, Santa Claus

Christmas tree, Christmas tree, Christmas tree, Christmas tree

Leave the presents, Leave the presents, Leave the presents, Leave the presents

Eat the cookies, Eat the cookies, Eat the cookies, Eat the cookies

Indigestion, Indigestion, Indigestion, Indigestion

Pepto, do the pepto, do the pepto, do the pepto

Now up the chimney, up the chimney, up the chimney, up the chimney

Ride the sleigh, Ride the sleigh, Ride the sleigh, Ride the sleigh

Movement:

Santa Claus – hold stomach with both hands, swing from side to side

Christmas tree – shape christmas tree with your hands

Leave the presents – pretend to be leaving presents with your hands

Eat the cookies – take hand to mouth, first right then left

Indigestion – hold stomach and forehead

Pepto – thumb to mouth

Up the chimney – climb up and down

Ride the sleigh – ride around yourself

Hmm...

Santarchy History: The Early Years

posted by Santa Melmoth on December 21st, 2005

Dateline, San Francisco: Midget Dressed as Santa Disembowels Carmelite Nun with Teeth While Hundreds of Yobs Dressed as Santa Cheer

Now that I have your attention:

Santarchy: a brief history.
Santa names have been obscured to protect the guilty.

Talk about an absurd one trick pony event with a half-life of Strontium 90! The first â€œSantaCon” took place in San Francisco in 1994 and was sponsored by The San Francisco Cacophony Society. The original inspiration came from an earlier SF adventure club called The Suicide Club. The Founder and Avatar of The Suicide Club, Gary Warne decided to organize a non-political, purely surreal Santa prank event after reading a Mother Jones article about a Danish political group dressing as Santa’s and mobbing a Copenhagen Dept. store just before Christmas. Gary’s untimely death and the demise of the Suicide Club put the kibosh on this super obvious, (destined to be) Yule-time tradition. Gary’s idea, which was eventually given life years later by Cacophony was simply to play with the archetypal image of Santa using a barrage of many Santa’s (hopefully) inducing a psychedelic reaction from the public while the core of Santa’s had a real adventure and a lot of fun while goofing it up at various downtown X-mas locations. Had the Suicide Club organized the event it would have fit in nicely with other Club winners such as Clowns on the Bus (dozens of seemingly unrelated clowns going to work, all waiting at succeeding bus stops along the Geary bus line on a commute morning,) The Mud People (the mechanics should be obvious; this event was reprised with great success on Rodeo Dr. by L.A. Cacophony in ’94,) and many other public pranks pulled in the late 70’s & early 80’s. Alas, it was not to be. The Suicide Club, best known for climbing major suspension bridges, throwing insane costumed events in cemeteries, abandoned breweries and sewers, and for infiltrating cults such as the Moonies and the American Nazi Party left only a forlorn Suicide note from the Caliph of the North Pole.

source: http://santarchy.com/santarchy-history-the-early-years/

It all started with an email..

Back in the day in 2003, Bill used an email account called themobproject@yahoo.com to circulate emails that invited people to convene in a public place and take part in a random act in the purpose to confuse others. The first successful mob took place in a New York Macy's store. The hundreds of participants were all acting as if they were in search of a "love rug."

The love rug

After that, another event was held where 200 people flooded the lobby of a hotel and applauded for about fifteen seconds, and next a shoe boutique was invaded by participants pretending to be tourists on a bus trip.

The man known as "Bill" turned out to be Harper’s Magazine editor Bill Wasik. According to an interview with stayfreemagazine.org, his goal was to create an internet meme where people would simply be invited to do nothing to become part of the next big thing.

Source: http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall07/Picataggio/history.html

Why make a flashmob?

"A flash mobs purpose is to show off the creative and randomness of a group of people to entartain a group of people other than the flash mobbers and then to reform with the natural grouping........PLUS ITS REALLY REALLY REALLY FUN!!!!!!!!" - robberts8 from http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Start-A-Flash-Mob/

Instructional Website

Good Instructional website!

http://www.wikihow.com/Organize-a-Flash-Mob

Other flashmob ideas

• Ice cream social - A large group of teenagers in Belarus stood and ate ice cream for ten minutes in a big public area
• Chicken feeding - A girl spread out bread crumbles on the ground and people acting like chickens came and started to pick around the spot where she had spread out bread (watch it here ->  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3getP2Gu0A&feature=related)
• Bubble blowing - everybody blew bubbles
• Laugh mob - A group of people laughs for 10 minutes (not so organized, but funny)
• Bicycle tricks, dance, and singing at a train station

• A huge freeze - Everybody froze in a supermarket in different positions
• Pillow fight 

Other flashmobs

Finished flash mobs
http://improveverywhere.com - a good place for inspiration
Here's two flashmobs that I really like;

http://improveverywhere.com/2009/10/20/grocery-store-musical/

Where: supermarket

Who: 5 participants

When: anytime

What: Singing about fruits

How: Their own voices, fruit from the supermarket, a speaker with music, and microphone

Where: On the streets of a city

Who: more than 1,000 participants

What: People walking around with invisible dogs

How: Acting as if they had a dog in an empty leech, pretended to pick up poop on the ground, patted the dogs

When making a flashmob dance, it can be very simple. This one dance below contains of two moves, so it's very simple, but it's still funny. Found it on youtube.

Chosen: FLASHMOB!

Things flash mobs can be useful for

• Giving a message
• Commercial for a product or service
• Political purposes
• Publicity stunt
• Entertaining
• World Record

Ways to do a flash mob

• A choreographed dance
• Singing – opera, yodeling or a pop hit
• Acting – such as walking your invisible dog
• Miming – pretending to be trapped behind a wall
• Freeze – everybody freezes for five minutes in a supermarket
• Costumed – dress out to a cartoon, santa claus, or zombies and walk across a public place
• Eating – an ice cream social
• Sleeping – going to bed in the library

When to do it

• Use an existing event to spread happiness – wedding, graduation, anniversary
• When there's a lot of people around (if you want it to be seen by many) maybe on a saturday afternoon or saturday night if it's in the city

Where to do it

• Public place – in the city, in a mall, in a restaurant, supermarket
• Smaller place – on the train, bus, working place (construction site)
• School

How to do it

• Decide the message of the flash mob
• Choose way I want to give the message
• Create it
• Find a group of people who are willing to perform it – create facebook event, text message around, etc.
• Rehearse it
• Perform it!
• Reflect on it

Start the Personal Project - taken from itslearning

1.
AOI Context - Which Area of Interaction (AOI) will you use as the context for your personal project? Explain the reasons why you have chosen this AOI.
Svara
I will use Approaches to learning because I need to discover effective ways of teaching people something in my project.

2.
Topic for investigation -  You were asked two weeks ago to read through the document How do I start the Personal Project? and to start answering the questions given in order to pick a possible topic to investigate. From the list you have made, which topic... ....appeals to you the most? ... fits in with what you already do? ... will be challenging enough to keep you interested over several months? Make a choice. Pick one topic and explain why you have chosen this topic and how it fits under your AOI.
Svara
I will use Approaches to learning because I want to discover new ways of learning and making things. I have chosen to make a flashmob where I choreograph a dance piece for many people, and then we all perform it in a public place, spontaneously. This fits under approaches to learning because I have to figure out a way to teach a lot of people my choreography so that it is organized and everybody can remember it.

3.
Inquiry question - Brainstorm possible inquiry questions for your project.
Svara
How can I teach a big group of people (at least 20 people) a dance choreography?

4.
Deciding on the outcome or product - Will it be a performance? A published writing? An event? A static visual display? An interactive display? Depending on your project you might combine two or more of these ideas to create your product in response to the inquiry question.
Svara
It will be a performance and an event.

5.
Creating specifications - You will need to create specifications for your outcome or product. They are the way you will know you've achieved your goal. What are your specifications for your outcome or product?
Svara
My outcome will be a video of when the flash mob is in action.

6.
Resources - Make a list of the resources you will need to consult to complete your research (people, community services, electronic and print resources, etc.). Note: your list will grow when you do your research.
Svara
People, electronic resources.

7.
Process - List and number the steps you will undertake to achieve your goal. Be as specific as you can when detailing the tasks you will need to complete in order to achieve your final results. (This list will grow later!).
Svara
1. Make the choreography 2. Find people who wants to participate in a flashmob 3. Teach it to them 4. Find place to perform it 5. Perform it

8.
Process Journal - Which format will you use for your process journal ? Are you still unsure? Check the Process Journal power point on it's learning.
Svara
A scrapbook and/or a blog.

9.
How will you present your product/outcome in the Personal Project Exhibition?
Svara
Pictures, and a video of the flash mob.

Choosing topic..

STEP ONE DECISION: AREA OF INTERACTION

The area of interaction I will use as the context for my Personal Project is: Human ingenuity

I have chosen this area of interaction because I want to explore…

How I can change people's mood and feelings, or make them consider something new that they have never thought about before.

MY CURRENT ACTIVITIES

Currently, the things I am involved in or do at school, with clubs or social groups are:

I dance

I play drums

I sing

PERSONAL ENJOYMENT AND RELAXATION

Currently, the things I enjoy doing for relaxation or fun are:

Talking

Drawing

Photography

Dance

Sing

Read

Listen to music

Play drums

IMPORTANT THINGS TO ME

Currently, the most important things to me are:

Family

Friends

Have fun

Learn

IMPORTANT ISSUES AND MATTERS TO PEOPLE MY AGE

Currently, the things I think people my age are concerned about are:

Relationships

Friendships

Fashion

Status

IMPORTANT ISSUES AND MATTERS TO THE WORLD

Currently, the things I think people around the world are concerned about are:

Money

Education

Transport

Friendships

Love

STEP TWO DECISION: TOPIC FOR INVESTIGATION

The topic I will investigate for my Personal Project is:

Dance!

I have chosen this topic because…

I enjoy doing this the most out of all of my activities and hobbies.

The topic fits under the area of interaction human ingenuity

because…

By creating a dance and then performing it in public will get people to top and stare. Therefore, we will get people's attention, and we can give them our message. The message could be anything, and people will still watch it out of curiosity, because not a lot of people just goes and performs in public spontaneously.