The campaign has been coming along with some fits and starts. It seems that the branding really hasn’t taken hold here, and remarkably, news of the campaign seems spread much faster through certain channels in Yellowknife! One really needs to be literal here. Hardly anyone in town refers to the 21 Challenge, it is always referred to directly, as the library project. The 21 tags are seen as “cute” and have momentarily raise people’s curiousity, but haven’t had the impact I’d hoped for.

Another difficulty is that my experience is based in methods of communication/promotion that are bound to the internet and most older people here do not read blogs and are not on any social network. While I’ve spoken on the CBC a few times now, had articles featured in local and territorial wide newspapers, submitted blurbs to local newsletters etc, the bulk of information remains online which is not the best way to reach the community. It seems to me that ties forged through face to face contact, community projects and individuals, are really what works, slow as these methods are.

On another note, I’ve learned something really important from the challenges of working on this project. Down south, it seems to me that it is common place to complain about the minutae of one’s work on a frequent and regular basis when things are difficult. I’ve come to realize that at least for myself, this manner of complaining is a sign of luxury; if I have the time and energy to bitch, then the problems I face in my work really aren’t worth bitching about.

No one local complains about the cold here because it is truly so harsh, that if everyone voiced their discomfort, nothing would ever get done. Even the “expats” learn quickly to brush off the extremity of the weather. It’s pretty much the same way about working to change negative trends here. Up north, the frustrations and obstacles can be so extreme or insurmountable at times, it would be foolish to begin adopting a negative attitude. I find myself now thinking “it is what it is” instead of a complaint. Instead of laying blame on other people or groups, which I find comprises a great deal of work related complaining, I remind myself to suck it up, look for solutions, and keep trying to hit my marks. And I don’t even think about the real possibility of total failure; don’t have the energy for it to spare. Sometimes I find myself sliding back into old habits, but I’ve found the need for efficiency eventually demands a halt to the slippage.