CONNECT51%: Our Reality
51%: Our Reality is a traveling virtual reality exhibit—free and open to the public—based on the real perspectives, experiences and trials of women in LA, who make up 51% of our city’s population.
Please describe the activation your organization seeks to launch.
51%: Our Reality is a multi-narrative virtual reality exhibit based on the real experiences of women in LA, who make up 51% of our city’s population. This interactive, traveling “installation” will foster dialogue across all demographics, introduce new perspectives and challenge us to discuss current issues within our community. 51% will then live on in perpetuity, preserving the stories of Angelenos and our city’s gender narratives in a time capsule buried at the end of this two year journey.
Which of the CONNECT metrics will your activation impact?
Adults getting sufficient social & emotional support
Attendance at cultural events
Total number of local social media friends and connections Angelenos have
Will your proposal impact any other LA2050 goal categories?
LA is the best place to CREATE
LA is the healthiest place to LIVE
In what areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
City of Los Angeles
How will your activation mobilize Angelenos?
Digital organizing or activism
Trainings and/or in-person engagements
Influence individual behavior
Connect Angelenos with impactful volunteer opportunities
Increase donations to organizations and causes
Describe in greater detail how your activation will make LA the best place to CONNECT?
51%: Our Reality will explore the diverse perspectives, experiences and trials of women in LA through three virtual reality narratives, allowing participants to “walk” in different women’s shoes. Our goal is to showcase the true, the challenging, the positive, the subtle & hidden—stories from which men, women, boys girls and those who are gender-fluid can learn. Our strategies for implementation will target key LA2050 metrics, including providing emotional support, expanding access to cultural events and increasing local social media connections.
Here’s how:
1) We will activate our Advisory Council, a group of local experts in gender, LGBTQ and race-related issues, to help us responsibly curate a variety of real experiences in our VR narratives. We will conduct a cross-sectional survey to collect data on the current social and emotional needs of women in LA across all demographics, and use these stories to impact our content.
2) The National Endowment for the Arts has cited location as a major barrier to arts attendance. (When Going Gets Tough: Barriers and Motivations Affecting Arts Attendance) The 51% exhibit will capitalize on VR’s transportability, hosting traveling exhibits throughout the LA metropolitan area in order to provide more communities with access to cultural events—particularly focusing on transportation-deserts and low-mobility populations such as retirement homes. The exhibit will also be free to all and a shortened experience will be available online.
3) Guests at the exhibit can share their experiences via social media, using the hashtag #51percentLA, which will be collated on a dedicated website for the exhibit. Additionally, citizens can visit the website and add their own experiences, photos, stories and strategies to make LA a better place for all women. All of these submissions will be collated into a time capsule for future Angelenos to explore LA’s current gender climate. Through this we will connect our city’s future and present.
How will your activation engage Angelenos to make LA the best place to CONNECT
We plan on engaging Angelenos in a variety of ways:
1) We will collect data and stories of at least 10,000 women throughout Los Angeles during our cross-sectional survey.
2) We will organize and engage female filmmaking talent during the writing, production and editing of our VR films. We anticipate a crew totaling 500 locals.
3) This virtual reality installation aims to reach 50,000 LA citizens through an initial launch space that anyone can visit and 200 pop-up events in various communities throughout LA county. Participants can choose between three VR films that tackle different female perspectives, and discuss their reactions afterwards with other guests.
4) At each event, we will provide opportunities for attendees to volunteer and donate to women-oriented organizations in Los Angeles. Our goal is to encourage at least 500 people to donate or volunteer over the two year period.
5) We will use social media as one of our main forms of digital activation in order to make #51percentLA a viral and shareable hashtag in the community. Angelenos will be encouraged to join in the conversation online via our activation hub and Facebook group, where they can discuss opportunities to improve the female experience in Los Angeles, as well as contribute their experiences to our time capsule. We aim to employ Google Analytics and YouTube metrics to gather demographic data on our social media and digital engagement. We plan to engage at least 40,000 people in online participation.
Please explain how you will define and measure success for your activation.
In order for this project to succeed, as many intersections of women’s experiences need to be explored and represented throughout the process as possible. This is to ensure that we accomplish two objectives: 1) as many women as possible feel represented and celebrated through 51%: Our Reality, and 2) every participant leaves with a new perspective on women’s experiences in LA. To measure success in this, we will actively compare the demographics of our sample survey participants and event guests against LA’s most recent census data. We have developed an internal timeline which includes several touchpoints in which we will pause to evaluate and consistently challenge ourselves to be MORE inclusive. Our Advisory Council will also help us measure this process by establishing criteria by which to critically assess all our narratives.
Where do you hope this activation or your organization will be in five years?
We hope this activation inspires communities worldwide to take a critical look at their own cities’ gender experiences and create similar tools for empathy.
We’d love to revisit this project in 5 years to explore what shifts have occurred that would change our city’s gender narratives.