Overview

Overview from SLT:
The Engine Room’s Deep Dive Week
August 2024

This August, TER engaged in our first deep dive learning and exploration week. This was an opportunity for us to take much needed time off from the day-to-day and dive deeply into areas of learning that are personal to each of us and relevant in some way to TER. Our aim was to bring an infusion of lightness, joy, spontaneity, creativity, and playfulness to our brains, psyches, bodies, and connections with each other.

We all have things that have piqued our interest that there doesn’t seem to be the time to explore: articles we’ve wanted to re-read, podcasts to listen to, a mountain of open tabs to get through, artwork to experience, and the suggestions of friends and colleagues. This was a chance to engage in those things.

We also knew early on that we wanted to share what we learned - both the content we explored as well as the experience. So we committed to publishing this zine so that we could share the paths we'd explored with each other and the people in our world.

Acknowledging that everyone works and creates differently, we assembled a team of talented and varied artists, musicians, designers, videographers, researchers, copy editors, and translators. Each TER team member partnered with a creative support team member to create something that reflected what each person explored, the questions and curiosities that arose, the musings and reflections, and the learning that carried us forward.

What went into the plan
Some up-front agreements we made going into the week:
The team could contribute in whatever way suited each person.
We were intentional about not having to share everything we’d explored or learned.
We committed ourselves to leaving the raw edges - to not worrying about polishing our outputs or completing our thinking.

We also had help from some key people in making this happen. We brought in an amazing facilitator/comms strategist, Ledys Sanjuan, to help manage all the moving parts so that the whole TER team was able to participate. We also had researcher/copy editor/translator, Cloe Villalobos to support us and think with us. Three speakers, Miliaku Nwabueze, Aída Herrera Peña, and Paz Peña, joined us for sessions. They challenged us to orchestrate chaos, contemplate (and dance on) the dead body of the internet, and to consider embodying performative research. Their talks were more than just interesting - in many ways they helped us really shift where we stood on our topics and our approaches for the week.

What happened and what we learned
The outcomes of our deep dive week are many, but concretely, there are collaborations between TER’s team and the creative support team that you will find in this zine. They come in the form of personal narrative, soundscape, brochure, video, song, visual art, and more.

This was a big experiment for us. TER is known for our forward-thinking and we wanted to try some new ways to nurture that. We also wanted to prompt serendipity, and self-expression through opportunities outside our usual ones.

The overwhelming response was that the week was a success. People appreciated the time and space to explore with freedom and creativity (a few noted that at first the commitment to a week off from the regular work was a little daunting - but so great!). Throughout this zine you’ll read people’s personal experiences. We also have a few key takeaways:
There’s no way to stay current on everything in this ever-changing world where digital rights and social justice collide. The best way to assure we are thinking quickly and expansively - and integrating what comes our way - is to keep ourselves engaged and curious. Taking a week to do that really helped our team.
A fresh sense of new and unexpected creative disequilibrium is a good thing! Team members said they thought about things differently and experienced their topics in new and unexpected ways through collaboration.
Members of the creative support team were wonderful at bridging gaps in knowledge, language and mediums. Many of our TER team said they’d love to work with their creative partner again.
It’s important for us to have opportunities to explore and create in new ways without the pressure we may typically put on ourselves - as well as the ones that come from project deadlines and structured outputs. This also supports engagement through a multicultural lens and honors our commitment to equity in our team experience.

We all started with topics in mind and let them take us to new places. This is something that we realized we don’t get to do enough. It’s one of the beauties of the fraught internet that we sometimes forget - the ability to meander from page to page - swinging through the trees. It gave us energy, awakened dormant parts of our brains, and opened perspectives on new and familiar topics.

The week gave me the opportunity to let go of the pressure of perfect outcomes and to simply enjoy the process of creating something new. It was inspiring to connect with others, learn from their interests, and approach content in ways that felt more fluid and open. I’m excited to carry these lessons forward, particularly around how creativity can be integrated into storytelling and supporting future projects in new, innovative ways. (Lesedi Bewlay, TER team member)

This zine itself is also a new modality for us. We invite you to take the time to explore it and play with it and to connect with us around it if you are inspired to do so. Stay tuned for where our deep dives take The Engine Room next!

Paola, Dalia, and Gillian