BEIRUT SERVICE JAM

Our very enthusiastic crowd was guided through a customized Design Thinking methodology throughout the two days. 

The participants were divided into teams to emphasize the importance of teamwork and collaboration. After revealing the secret theme the kids were asked to interpret it and then draw individually a scene that connected the theme to a problem they encounter daily. Many ecological and health concerns seemed to be on top of their list, such as water pollution and garbage. 

Once each team had voted on their preferred problem (in a democratic way), they had to think of all the stakeholders involved in this problem space and try to represent that specific character -as a simple way of understanding personas. This exercise was followed by a group stakeholder mapping to highlight the connections and interactions between the different characters. 

Once the connections were established each team was asked to transform their characters into super heroes that could come and save the day!

The first day was concluded by a short role playing exercise where each of the teams presented their problem space to the others by acting it out. This allowed the kids to voice out their ideas and as one of our participants mentioned “find the courage to go on stage!”.

The second day was dedicated to the solution space. Each team delved back into the initial situation by drawing a storyboard. We introduced a simple framework with three sections: problem, solution and resolution; thus inviting the kids to think of an intervention that could affect the problem. 

Once the improved scenarios were ready, each team started building a small model using arts and crafts materials. The point of the exercise being to bring the intangible problem into a sort of physicality. 

The model served as the setting for a short movie where each team explained the problem their identified and the solution they brought to the table. The videos were uploaded online and can be viewed along with additional information on our page on the global platform (link).

Since jamming is all about being part of a global event, we had asked jammers from around the world to participate in a letter-sharing project. Our goal was to have our participants reflect on some of their learning from the workshop while sharing it with another jammer. So each kid drew a name from a hat and pinned the final destination of his letter to a world map. The drawings and letters of the kids revealed many interesting insight, but we’ll talk about that in a separate post.

Our final shared moment was viewing the videos each team had created together as a means to reflect again on their work and feel the pride of having accomplished something.

In many ways, we -the organizers and volunteers of BSJ- found this experience heart-warming and eye opening. We truly hope it benefited the kids equally! 

This event could not haven been possible without the trust and collaboration of Sawa for development and aid and their amazing team and teachers. A special shout-out also goes to our amazing BSJ volunteers this year, namely (in alphabetic order): Adam (the nomadic helper), Fawzi (the patient carer), Haya (the warm-hearted), Nicolas (the positive energy) and Sandra (the leap taker).

Adam, Fawzi and Nicolas did not make it into the picture :(   

  Thank you all!

Together we jam,

This is a small initiative that the Beirut Service Jam team wants to dedicate to the Syrian community in Lebanon, in the hopes that this experience would equip our participants with new tools that could trigger positive impact on their daily lives.

The event is as usual open to everyone who would like to come and participate in any shape or form. A jam is above all a chance to learn and experience first hand Service Design. So if this is an item on your to do list then by all means shoot us an email/message/tweet/pigeon!

All our platforms are up and running, follow us closely: - Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/BeirutServiceJam - Twitter : https://twitter.com/beirutsjam And here on our blog!

On Friday evening, the global secret theme was released, kicking off our group brainstorming activity which allowed the participants to divide into 5 different teams according to their interests. 

The 2015 secret theme of the global service jam.

This year’s group was very diverse, from programmers to designers, going through filmmakers and engineers; each jammer had a specific input to bring to the table. 

Saturday was an intense day for the jammers, as they had to have their first prototype by noon to take it down on the street and get feedback from potential users. And to help push their projects forward, we had 4 different sessionists introduce different skills that could complement their work: the Business model canvas, the Service Blueprint, an Urban Design Thinking session using Urbacraft and an introduction to Stopmotion. 

As well as different sessions spent with mentors that gave feedback to each project. So thank you Lilian Abou Zeki, Ayssar Arida, Joumana Ibrahim, Nicolas Maalouf and Doreen Toutikian.

Ayssar during his session during BSJ’15.

We also had a great time interacting with other jammers from around the world, be it in the global challenge to dance over the “Shake it off” song, or through a skype call with the Dundee Service Jam or even by tweeting at each other.

The Jam wouldn’t have been possible without the Jammers great energy and their unbreakable willingness to stand in a big circle!

We also need to thank all our partners and sponsors who were instrumental to our event. So, a HUGE thanks to the Beirut Creative Cluster, Beirut Digital District, Byblos Bank, Dunkin’ Donuts, Lebtivity, Urbacraft, MENAversity and Tomatomatic. And to our Jamming partners: Beirut Design Week, GAIA Heritage, Ihjoz, MENA Design Research Center and Urbatecture, 

Another expression of gratitude is due to our great team of volunteers; Adib, Firas, Haya, Jad, Lilian, Nicolas; you rocked also, always #kassereldeneh !

The 5 teams each came up with different projects that were miraculously uploaded on the global platform on time on Sunday afternoon. (check out the projects here!) 

We concluded the jam around drinks and the traditional pineapple! We also have lots very cool pictures from the event that you will find here. 

We can’t wait to see you next year!

Lots of jammin’love

Responding to the theme: an image of a box template, jammers brainstormed and clustered their ideas that were then populated with personas, representing potential users affected by the topic. We really loved the way our ideas transformed into a virtual road map for growth!

These areas of interest were the focus point of our journey, as 4 groups emerged, each keen on developing one area to the max. Many of our jammers had never met before, and it was amazing to see how each person put their talent, expertise and insights at the disposal of their team members!

And it's this exchange that makes the Jam so special, and we encourage it even more by bringing in amazing mentors to fuel our jammers imagination and skills, and to help them be inspired by different tools and processes. A special Gracias goes out to Doreen, Pierre, Ryme, Joumana, Costa, Dima and Marc for the amazing energy and prep they put into their sessions!

Another highlight of our jam was the interaction with other jams, via twitter, Skype, and Youtube! We skyped with jammers from Dundee and showed them our prototypes, despite the bad connection. We also filmed a video of our jammers getting their groove on to Pharell's Happy song, as part of a promise to the NY service jam, and we were retweeted by the Global Service Jam HQ :D

And, we still managed to finish on time, and upload 4 prototypes to the Global Service Jam platform, and joining us for the final presentation was the Dutch ambassador, Mrs. Hester Somsen, who was delighted at the proactive attitude and positive spirit reflected in the prototypes.

This couldn't have been possible without the help of our partner, the Beirut Creative Cluster and all our sponsors: Berytech Digihive, Dunkin Donuts, Crepaway, City Stationary, Cloud 961, Menaversity, the Dutch Embassy and Nabbesh.