purpose

Each year three farmers (and the occasional community member) were given an award at the annual fundraising gala. For years, the awardees would accept the award and give a speech at the event. Because public speaking was not necessarily something farmer's are comfortable doing, the acceptance speeches would take a lot of time and many were difficult to hear. Guests would lose interest and start talking over the farmers, which meant these donors missed the most moving part of the evening and the farmer's left the event feeling insulted.

Working closely with photographer Gabriella Marks, we conducted interviews with the farmers at their farm. She would take video and still photographs while I talked with the farmers. I had a list of specific questions to guide the discussion, developed to help them feel more comfortable and to learn specific details about their work and engagement with the nonprofit.

The videos were kept to around 2 minutes long in order to maintain the attention and interest of viewers. They were shown for the first time at the event. Photographs from the time at the farms were used to promote the event and were given to the Farmers' Market and the farmers to use in marketing. I also wrote a bio, which was used in the event program and given to the farmers to use on their website.

results

Guests at the event gave their full attention as the videos played at the fundraising gala. The farmers regularly expressed immense gratitude for how they were presented. The social media posts I created wit the photos and videos are still being used to promote the Market and nonprofit, years later.