Week 8 Story Critique - Facing Race

This week I am critiquing Racial Justice Accomplishments in 2014. The digital evaluation traits I will be assessing are:

Story – Rinku Sen, Executive Director of Race Forward immediately pulled me into the story with a compelling appeal for what moves anything forward; conversations. This story shares the energy, collaboration, inspiration, and unification of people around race at the Facing Race conference in 2014. I was delighted to find out the 2016 conference is here in Atlanta.

The conference attendees, speakers, and entertainers are the central characters. The story is told with narration and powerful video to complement the speakers. When Rinku talks about how people brought their mind, body, and hearts to these transformative discussions about race and cuts to video that allows the viewer to see and feel that energy the story is solidified.

The digital story starts with this powerful introduction, then cuts to conference shots of the 1,600 diverse attendees. What follows is a mix of brand marketing, however, because of the strength and authenticity of the opening it did not feel like a sales pitch. The research, media, and training available to conference participants was actually a high point.

Project Planning – There was evidence of solid project planning. The narrator had a concise, clear script indicating detailed scripting. The video choices, conference shots, and research and training to create a more unified society were well planned. The music complemented the visuals and the sense of place resonated positively.

Originality, voice, and creativity – I had never heard of this conference and thought the concept in itself was original. There are so few spaces to really talk about what is happening around race in our world. The harm, the suffering, the disenfranchisement is like the elephant in the room people would like to ignore even when tripping over its tusks and trunks.