You can find my talk at Eva Haller Salon – Vosse Plackis-Cheng (or the video shared above)
After sharing the launch of Mybench on social media, I received the amazing opportunity to present our work and mission on the Eva Haller Salon Series. This entailed creating a 30~45 minute long presentation (sort of like a TED-Talk) and then presenting the following Saturday.
The Salon Series’ aim is to “bring together artists, scientists and media makers from around the globe,” and was started by Eva Haller, a 94 year old activist, philanthropist & holocaust survivor. Ms. Haller truly is a woman of great impact and that is why when asked to present at her salon I was immensly excited. Without further ado, I will give you the highlights of the presentation!
(Slide 1)
How do you get someone to listen to a 45 minute talk about benches? You have to relate it to them.
These five pictures depict our modern day battles: phone addiction, lack of communication, environmental insecurity, low productivity, and bad habits.
What if I told you the idea of a bench could solve all these problems? This is where Mybench comes in.
(Slide 2)
So what is Mybench? Good question! We are a youth organization that inspires youth to be present in their lives by working together to design and contribute benches to communities. Through this process they create impact, learn skills, and make connections.
(slide 3)
So why and how did I find my passion in four legs and a plank? Well, benches are hidden pillars of every urban community. We all use them and enjoy them without giving them a second thought. In our communities, benches are a highly overused public resource compared to the funding they receive from many governments. This leads many of our beloved benches to fall into disrepair.
(slide 4)
Benches are also highly important for sustaining and creating social connections. Whether it’s with the friend you sat down with or a stranger sharing the same space with you, you never know what conversations will blossom from a bench.
(slide 5)
Another thing that makes benches so great is the relative ease it takes to construct one and their price effectiveness compared to other infrastructure types. Through ‘easy’ contributions we are able to make long lasting impacts that will serve their environments for years!
(slide 6)
Lastly and arguably most importantly, benches connect and inspire. I personally have made so many memories and connections with people from all over the world simply because we have shared the creation of a bench together.
(slide 7)
From the start I wanted Mybench to be more accessible to the average person. This is why I opted against a regular organization structure. Having a process that prioritizes the journey and adventure itself allows us to have a broader reach and impact more people. Furthermore, the submission of the final product as the application allows more people to get recognition and take a part of our organization stress free.
(slide 8)
This is an upcoming project that is yet to be posted (spoiler!). Mybench was given the amazing opportunity to work with our youngest members yet on building and customizing a bench for their private outdoor area (more on this still to come!).
(slide 9)
Here are some examples of the amazing groups I have personally got to create benches with. Each person and bench brings back such amazing memories and ideas and I am grateful for each one.
(slide 10)
In our roughly year of operation, we managed to reach four different countries through the help of 50+ volunteers and advisors representing 20+ nationalities. This is partly due to our non-traditional structure, but also the passion and energy that every person brings to our projects.
(slide 11)
This is the previous information represented on a map. As you can see we currently operate in 4 countries, however Mybench’s sights are set on about 4 more to build and expand our projects into.
On the right, the nationalities are represented in red. One of the most important parts of Mybench is to connect different people from all walks of life and allow them to share common ground and ideas. We have even brought people together who wouldn’t have otherwise due to the geo-political situations their countries face.
(slide 12)
As an organization, it is imperative that we have a clear timeline and goals for our future.
Starting from the near future, we strive to establish ourselves and perpetuate our main message to inspire youth. We hope to do this through dissemination of information. Further on, we have planned more partnerships with corporations and firms and set our sights on furthering our US faction.
Far out, I see Mybench utilizing a request interface or donate-a-bench aspect and expanding into youth camps and national parks. We have a bright future!
(slide 13)
Here, I just wanted to reiterate that we do not push one goal or idea – the impact of Mybench results from different intersections of factors.
1) The inspiration of youth leads to learned skills and experience in life.
2) The process establishes connections and bonds people together through memories, helping youth to connect themselves better to their communities.
3) Our end product serves a lasting impact that is unquantifiable.
(slide 14)
With this slide I wanted to emphasize how building benches can be accessible and how you can build benches for a wide variety of costs, with a wide variety of techniques and materials.
(slide 15)
Call to action is always important – for you the reader too! You can help and support us tremendously through any of these three ways!
(slide 16)
MY FAVORITE SLIDE!