Public Jam: The New Normal

A new, experimental Jam format that takes your points of view as a basis for developing our Design Thinking journey together.

Pre-COVID, we lived our lives as if things were normal. A few months into the 1st wave, social isolation and remote working became normal. By the 2nd wave, we were questioning what normal even meant. What did we hope would become normal in the aftermath of COVID?

In most cases, we tend to see our current norms as stable and ever-present, yet the idea of ‘normal’ is always a social construction. At that moment, when ‘normal’ was in flux, relative, and overlapping, we had the opportunity to reflect and propose new ways of living together, both during COVID and beyond.

This two-part Jam took place over two Zoom sessions, a week apart.

This two-part Jam took place over two Zoom sessions, a week apart.

Thursday, November 5th: 12-1:15pm PST

During the first Jam, participants reflected on questions related to our experience of “new normals” that developed during the first and second waves of COVID-19. The outcomes of this discussion informed the following week’s session.

Thursday, November 12th: 12-1:15pm PST

During the second Jam, we focused on a particular subject or outcome from the previous session and collaborated to reorient ourselves for the next “new normal” phase of our lives.