I love to meet new people. I talk with a lot of people online as a result of comments on blogs, photos, videos, and more, and I’ve had the chance to meet some great people through this kind of exchange.
Over the years I’ve tried to find questions to ask new people that don’t follow the normal “where are you from”/”how’s the weather there” flow. Here are three of the questions I ask just about everyone I meet, why I think they’re important to know, and how I’d answer them.
What’s your passion?
Passion is a weird beast. I’ve found that people often don’t even mention their passion outside of their close relationships, and it’s often something you wouldn’t expect. (I think it’s really unfortunate that people don’t follow their passion more; I mean, I can understand if it’s not your main job in life, but I don’t think you should hide your passion.)
I have two major passions, really. The first is pretty obvious: photography. The second is a little deeper: I enjoy looking at how new advances in technology are affecting society, and I like attempting to explain and use that in a way that people can understand. (That’s why I love working on datAvenger, and that’s why I occasionally keep up with writing at Another New World.)
Which photo of yourself do you like best?
When I first started asking this question, I was afraid people wouldn’t really want to answer; I thought it’d be limited to people who actually did photography themselves. I was surprised, though, that people really seem to think about the question and look for a photo they really like.
The choice really reveals a lot about the person. Do they like the photo because they look really good in it? (That happens a lot.) Is it because of the people with them in the photograph? Is it because of where they are? Photos speak to memories, and I think that tells a lot about a person without having to explain every detail about the choice.
Here are three of my favorites:
The first was taken by my good friend Cait on our trip to the Rockland Breakwater. The second is the work of Jeff at the AFF, and the third is my own right around college graduation time.
What do you like most about yourself?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is my go-to question. I ask this to everyone. It’s such a simple question, but it often makes people think much more than I expect.
The two most common responses? “I don’t know” and “physically or personality-wise?” I don’t accept “I don’t know;” I keep asking until I get a real answer. At the same time, I purposefully leave the question completely open; I don’t put any limits on it. It’s amazing what you learn about a person from the response, and it’s amazing how some people really do start to fit into a couple of pretty broad categories after you ask the question enough.
Personally, I like that I’m a good listener. I might not be the most talkative (more on that later), but I’m always there. I also like that my mind’s always active and thinking about what else is possible.
What are your thoughts? Do you have any questions you tend to ask new people you meet? How would you answer my three? I’d be interested to know. If you haven’t answered them already, tell me what you think sometime!
Say what you will about the 2009 American Folk Festival: it was rainy on Saturday, it messed up traffic, there weren’t as many people… I thought it was amazing. This year, instead of learning just about music and culture, I also happened to learn a bunch about people and myself.
I’d volunteered for the Festival in 2007 as one of the people who set up the stages and food areas. I had a lot of fun, and it allowed me to feel more like I was really a part of the festival I attend every year. Unfortunately, my pesky hernia prevented me from volunteering last year, and I didn’t really want to do any heavy lifting this time around. Instead, I decided to push my own boundaries a bit: I volunteered for the public survey and for the legendary Bucket Brigade.
The public survey is an interesting gig. UMaine’s Center for Tourism Research and Outreach produces a 10-ish question survey that combines demographic and festival information. Volunteers from the festival (as well as CenTRO researchers) hit the crowd individually and find people to take the survey by doing nothing more scientific than asking people if they mind being surveyed. The process takes about 5-10 minutes, and the participant is entered to win a festival t-shirt. If they provide their email address for a follow-up survey, they’re entered to win one of six L.L. Bean gift certificates at the completion of the follow-up survey.
Those who know me well may be saying, “wait, Justin did that?” Although I don’t seem it from my presence online, I’m a pretty strong introvert in person. I have trouble joining conversations, and I can never go up to someone randomly and ask a question for fear of interrupting whatever they’re doing or of being denied. But yes, I signed up to be a surveyor, and I found that people were overwhelmingly receptive to going through the process with me. I met some great people of all ages and of all walks of life, and I was able to see a view of the festival that I had never seen before.
Unfortunately, by the end of my shift on Saturday morning, I was so soaked by the remnant rains of Hurricane Danny that I decided to call it a day and go home. Over the course of the festival I put my body through a lot – too much, really – and I’m still somewhat sore from the weekend.
For the past few years, the highlight of the festival for me has been the photographic opportunity it presents. There are tons of great shots just waiting to be taken there, and I love to see how many I can capture. I didn’t take as many photos this year, and I took even fewer photos of the artists than I’d expected. I’d taken some shots on Friday night (including some fun chances to capture some of my favorite UMaine dancers in the parade), but I scheduled Sunday as my best chance to take some good festival photos.
After doing the surveying, I’d decided to push myself just a little bit more and ask people attending if I could take their portrait. That limitation had been the one thing I’d always thought held me back from being the best photographer I could be; I’ve passed up a lot of opportunities because I was too shy or apprehensive to ask if I could take a picture. The surveying changed everything. On Sunday it was easy for me to go up to someone and ask if I could take a portrait, and to my surprise nobody I asked refused. I ended up with some photos that make me quite happy, and the knowledge that I’d grown as a photographer pleased me as well.
(After the festival I received some wonderful compliments about my photography by both old and new friends. I’ve never been able to accept compliments well, but I really do appreciate everything that people say about my work. I’m so glad that people enjoy it.)
For the final hours of the festival, I’d signed up to be part of the Bucket Brigade, the volunteer force that goes around the crowd with buckets asking for donations. This was the highlight of my weekend. The generosity of the people there was overwhelming for me, especially considering the economic situation we’ve experienced lately. As people dropped $1’s, $5’s, $20’s, and checks into my bucket, I smiled and thanked them for coming to the festival. It was incredibly rewarding to watch everyone – everyone – there contribute to the festival’s success, from toddlers in strollers with money from their parents to elderly people determined to move their trembling hands close enough to put a couple of bills in the bucket’s hole.
As I swam against the current of the sea of people walking on Front Street, I noticed the rainbow of blue, yellow, orange, and purple “I kicked in!” stickers dabbling almost every shirt I passed. Over the last few years I’ve had the opportunity to attend the festival, donate to it, volunteer for it, take photos of it, create websites for it, work for a sponsor company of it, and sing its praises anywhere I can. This weekend I realized for the first time that this festival really is about much, much more than just the music that graces the Bangor waterfront each year.
