Teen Led Events
2023 | May
Teen Led Events
YDSC '23: Youth Led Planning in Practice
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YDSC '23: Youth Led Planning in Practice 〰️
By Bubbles DuMouchel
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On April fifteenth, the air in EMU’s McKenny Hall was already cooking at the ripe hour of 9 a.m.. The electric buzz of noise and energy practically summoned you to the registration tables of the 2023 Annual Youth Driven Space Conference. With stereotypes of teenagers being lazy and grouchy all hours of every day, you might have expected a different scene but this was reality check one of the day; the teen conference members were more alive than anyone.
The concept of the Youth Driven Spaces Conference is simple: a day-long event with workshops and networking for teens in Southeast Michigan created by those who know them best; their peers. For the past five months, a dedicated teen committee of 10 had taken the ‘nebulous’ idea of a conference and crafted it into what we were about to experience. With two adult allies on standby, they flourished to cover all the essentials from sending registration and reminder emails, to picking organizations to present workshops, to designing swag. There wasn’t an aspect of this conference missing teen input.
Teens and adult allies from all over southeast Michigan were bringing the same energy the committee members were bringing. As the day kicked off, the committee ran us through community building activities they picked, group norms they agreed on, and a schedule they planned. Following lunch, youth representing five organizations led workshops on the theme of Transitioning to Adulthood. People were making fans out of nearby paper but ninety degrees couldn’t cook the enthusiasm out of the conference.
In the end nearly 100 youth and adults representing 20 organizations in Southeast Michigan participated in the conference.
Two planning committee members weighed in on what the experience of planning this conference was like for them.
“When youth are your audience, it’s important to make sure they’re getting what they need out of whatever you’re presenting or organizing… This specific conference, the best thing about it is that it’s youth driven and we have a lot of youth voices represented here and they’re able to share what they need.”
– Sri, Workshops & Pitches Committee
“It feels amazing, it feels so fulfilling to have all of our plans actually be executed.”
– Josi, Communications Committee
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We received anonymous appreciations throughout the conference saying things like I appreciate “space and opportunity to connect with my org”, “meeting the most amazing people ever ッ♡”, “very welcoming hosts and balanced information”, and “talking & networking with new people ♥”.
Workshop Participants
Youth Perspectives
“I learned things that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise and I wouldn’t have been curious enough to search on my own.”
“I have lots of ideas to improve my school and participate in more activism.”
“I learned how to facilitate a workshop!”
“I loved the talks we had, they were open and honest and taught me new terms.”
“I learned a lot about managing money and safe sex. Ultimately, I feel more prepared for adulthood.”
“It got me fired up to bring awareness and fight for my rights even in school!”
Adult Perspectives
“This workshop was super impactful. I took away the ways in which we can include all voices in our activism and make sure that our local work has larger impacts.”
“Very informative, excellently run, the youth had fantastic facilitation skills and were extraordinarily knowledgeable.”
“We had a really great group discussion and I was empowered by the ways youth are able to discuss mental health.”
Event Planning Resources
Planning any event can be overwhelming, there are so many details to manage. While there is often energy for the concept of the event, the finer details are easily overlooked -- who are you hoping to reach, what organizational values does the event express, who will create the flier and by when?
As a resource, we are sharing two tools. A big picture planning template to help your group grapple with the more conceptual aspects of event planning, such as the goals, potential partners, and event logistics. As well as a generic checklist based on many of the tasks we completed in the YDS Conference planning process. We encourage you to download or make a copy of the documents so it can be useful to you.
