Set Up For Success

Cleo wrote on the group chat:

Team 4, you need to be at your station. We‘ll start testing in a minute.

Team 4 responded: Yes Cleooo! We just arrived, can’t you see us?

The two youngsters standing next to the vertical screen turned to the nearest security camera and excitedly posed and danced, knowing she could see them from the closed circuit.

On the other side of the connection, Cleo looked more serious than usual with the Town Centre Events Manager, who seemed to enjoy the carefree spirit of the youth centre members who behaved sometimes childishly and sometimes as grown-ups.

These local young people have been working on the “My Huyton” project for three months under the guidance of the local College. Cleo had been organizing all relevant activities and took care of every detail of today’s event. She was anxious that something would go wrong. The installations would remain active for a month in the Village, but she was most stressed about this opening night. Everyone would be here: her manager, the people from the Council, tutors from the College and of course, the parents and friends of the young members, who have been working with great dedication on this project.

The project made the children feel pride in themselves and their town, giving Cleo the greatest motivation to work hard.

In these last months, the members of Huyton youth centre were introduced to the world of graphic design and multimedia. The College provided workshops and resources, and the kids learned to design Interactive animated posters.

The ten animated posters that emerged from their work would encourage residents and visitors to engage with local activities, support the local economy, adopt habits beneficial to their health, and live according to the ideals of their community: kindness, solidarity, and courage. This seemed very timely under the current difficulties the world was facing.

Furthermore, the posters were interactive and could be enriched with videos that people uploaded to any of their social media accounts, as long as they used each poster’s labelled hashtag or checked-in on its location.

At precisely 6 p.m., the control centre emitted the signal, and the posters appeared on the screens. The pairs, now looking serious, were ready to welcome the guests and present their work. Cleo, who was watching from the control centre, sent a message on the group chat: "Can you please confirm the social media function?"

One of each pair opened a social media app on the tablet they were given for the presentation and posted their designated sample picture without forgetting to use the right hashtag and geo-tag.

Each team reported on the group chat:

Team 1: We just posted and waiting for it to appear

Team 2: post is up

Team 4: Something's wrong... Did someone else post with our hashtag?

Team 2: Ours shows an irrelevant picture. It’s not what we posted!!

Team 1: Cleo I think something is wrong...

Team 3: Cleo .. we have the wellness centre and the image that appeared has people playing Bingo!!

Team 4: We should have the Bingo nights poster, and a picture from the local market appeared on our screen

Cleo was reading in terror ... "Oh God, what is happening?" ... and then it hit her. She typed:

“You all get the footage of the next station... I think I know where the bug is... Will reboot in 5’ ”

She sprang out of her chair, saying to the guy, “I have to go to the youth centre”.

She came out of the Council building, and even though the youth centre was on the opposite side of the park, she jumped on her parked hoverboard and crossed the green space with prohibitive speed.

Sirens started whistling, and the security system decelerated and immobilized the board just before the entrance, charging her a speed fine. She stepped inside and ran to her workstation, which lit up the moment her face reflected on the screen.

Tapped and typed for a minute and then gave the verbal command “reboot Stations”.

She went out and ran to team 4, which was closer. A group of visitors was already there. The woman in the group posted a Meta story she had just recorded. The short video with the four friends posing and pointing to the Bingo building behind them appeared on the poster.

Cleo and the young pair looked at each other with relief. The visitors were laughing unsuspectingly, seeing themselves on the poster and started plotting a video with a choreography.

She returned to the control centre. The gentleman, who had no idea what had happened, smiled at her. Cleo sank into her chair.

On the group chat teams reported:

Team1: Works perfect

Team 2: Ok it’s restored

Team 4: All sorted

Team 5: it’s ok now Cleo

..