Last week, I presented my doctoral research at a public event in the Sense Loft, hosted by Sense Worldwide, a consultancy. They even videotaped and audio recorded the event, so sometime in the future , I may be able to link to these recordings!

This was a completely new experience for me because up to this point, I’ve always done presentations in venues such as universities, squatted and legalized radical social centers, and art galleries. Consequently, my audiences have tended to comprise of academics, squatters/activists, and artists. It was very cool to tailor a talk for people who are in the world of consulting, design, and commercial research.

In my talk, I mainly focused on methodology and shared some analysis, specifically articulating what squatter capital is. I began the presentation by playing the opening sequence of the sitcom and ended it with  a clip from episode 1, in which Iris runs an obstacle course that comprises ‘squatter capital’ to prove to the group that she has ‘what it takes’ to live with them in the squatted living group.

This event was one of the best experiences that I have had presenting my research. The setting was intimate, in which we all sat around a circle on couches. I encouraged people to interrupt and ask questions, rather than have a traditional presentation, followed by a Q&A. This format worked quite well because we had an interactive discussion guided by the slides in the background (if you are curious about the background slides, see sensepresentationpdf) . The audience was engaged and asked challenging questions driven by curiosity, which I found really refreshing.  Huge thanks to the team at Sense for organizing such a wonderful event!