Sarah Susanka:Author 2011
Sarah Susanka is the author of books such asThe Not So Big House, Inside the Not So Big House, The Not So Big Life, and Not So Big Remodeling, etc. Susanka is a nationally known author and architect with roots in MN. Many of the homes she has remodeled and featured in her books are located in MN. Susanka’s program will focus on MN architecture and the “Not So Big House” concept.
Event Dates, Locations and Attendance at each individual event:
- 05/20/2011 - Concordia College in Moorhead - 190
- 05/21/2011 - Historic Holmes Theatre in Detroit Lakes - 223
413 people attended the Activity programs.
Partner Organization(s):Marvin Windows, Outdoor Design & Living Guide, Rose Creek Designs, Historic Holmes Theatre, WDAY Television
Partner Organization(s) Contribution/Role in the Program:Marvin Windows contributed $1,000 toward the cost of the program.Outdoor Design & Living Guide provided $500 of advertising. Rose Creek Designs contributed $100 toward the cost of the program.Historic Holmes Theatre provides rental at a 50% rate.WDAY provided free production for a TV ad.
Measurable Outcomes may be collected by survey, anecdotal responses, pre-test/post-test, observations; Describe proposed end user change in Behavior, Attitude, Skills, Knowledge, Condition and/or Status.
- Business professionals and community members will learn about Minnesota architecture and about the "Not so Big House/Life" concept.With the current economy, this is a great time to promote this concept.
- We will survey the participants and engage them in conversation before and after the program to gain an understanding of the impact on the audience members.
- Regarding the community, this could make an impact on the older neighbor hoods in Moorhead - encouraging home owners to renovate current space, rather than supporting urban sprawl.
A summary of survey results is:Please rate the quality of this program: (Using 1-5 scale, with 5 being excellent and 1 being poor)
- Not rated-~ (2), - (0), 2 - (1), 3 - (2), 4 - (32), 5 - (113), Average (4.69)
What did you like best about the program?
- Wonderful perspective on life and design
- The personal stories & slides - both really demonstrated her story
- Explanations
- The speaker was well prepared
- The info was clearly presented and seems so logical!
- FREE! (2) Learning & gaining knowledge about something I am interested in
- Topic: home, interior design, less is more philosophy (5)
- Photos (8)
- Slideshow (2) & the flow that she had of her speech
- Interesting & useful - pictures helped
- Meeting the author of the books
- Overview of ideas (4)
- Susanka's casual, easy style of presentation w/ pictures on the screens
- Everything she said (2)
- Not only information but excellent presentation
- New information, informative (3)
- Good focus with visual ideas
- Loved the not so big life - always busy
- Focus on major concepts
- Down to earth approach to a smaller living space
- How real Sarah was; she has inspired me to live smaller and with more quality
- Wonderfully presented in easy to understand language; well illustrated
- Very practical information from a quality person with a quality perspective
- Ease of listening to a very informative & entertaining speaker
- Lots of new usable information (2)
- Great ideas about a new way of living
- Her passion, excitement & clarity!
- Speakers attitude & philosophy (2)
- The subject matter & the author; loved the caramel rolls!
- Speaker offered very practical information
- Very well presented with supporting graphics
- Speaker was very engaging
- Topic; delivery
- Interesting speaker and good sized event
- Relevant, informative, well-known speaker
- Content & speaker (12)
- She offered insight not only about building/design but about life and how to live it
- Overview of philosophy behind art & life (2)
- The knowledge and ability to relate to audience
- Seeing examples of Sarah's ideas in the slides (6)
- The depth of topics (5)
- Sincerity
- Information related to our own lives
- Learning to live in the present
- Sarah (3) is wise
- 3D info
- All of it! (4)
- The visuals helped to better understand the concepts being discussed
- Sarah!Books for sale on site
- Quality/import of content (3)
- The concept of adding detail rather than space
- Sarah's relaxed presentation (3)
- Simplicity & clarity
- Being in a not so big venue & a not so big school
- Hearing her passion for the concepts in her books (2)
- Personable
- Very enjoyable - thought provoking
- Presenter's warmth (2); many practical, useful observations
- Low key but excellent presentation
What did you expect to experience or learn from this presentation? Were your expectations met?
- To learn about Sarah's process/background - get some design ideas
- Expectations were definitely met
- Yes (30) Loved it! (2)
- Ideas for remodeling or building
- Improved house designs
- Too many technical problems (10) should have been worked out earlier
- I learned about design elements that add a lot of character to a house!
- More about architecture, design & aesthetics
- New urbanism, not so big house
- To see & meet Sarah
- Minimize to maximize
- Hear from Sarah - we have many of her books
- Hopefully use these suggestions
- An hour is too little time for specifics
- More than I expected (5)
- Wonderfully exceeded
- Good speaker; very "now" information
- Better understanding of her books and her architectural philosophy (2)
- Help in visualizing where to move to
- How one could incorporate beauty into smaller space
- Just to meet Sarah - it was perfect
- Appreciation for design, economy of space; the program was much better than expected and inspiring
- To learn more about what's possible in creative & sustainable housing, lifestyles & philosophy of life - my expectations were exceeded
- We are in a small house! Wonderful ideas.
- What to do about existing space in the home
- Why build small beyond sustainability?
- To hear her personally talk about her concepts
- How to begin a project
- Understanding the "not so big" (3)
- Practical, specific ideas for building a small, comfortable, low maintenance cabin
- Impressive achievement that LARL secured such a world renowned author
- Design inspiration
- Start on time (7)
- Do book signing first, start program @ 7
- It would be nice to reserve tickets online then pick up @ lecture site
- Perhaps a walk thru a local home
- Better projector (8)
- It was great
- More time for questions & answers (2)
- Better venue
- Show house w/less sq. footage - your houses larger than middle working class
- Improved video quality (2) - larger
- More stories, more humor
- Better audio/visual presentation
- Very good
- Allow an intermission and lengthen it
- More interactive
- Drawing for a few of her books
- Visuals were a little hard to see - stage lights should have been lowered
- Less about books - more about ideas
What other programs would you like to see offered at the library?
- More fine arts speakers/workshops
- Cabinology author
- More design-related talks
- Home/season specific - composting
- Eric Bergeson will be good
- Poets - writers - plays
- Humor - travel
- Love the variety - choices!
- Living organically
- Living alone
- More Minnesota authors
- More of the same - Susanka gave the best presentation I have seen in the recent library series
- More poetry, architecture and jazz!
- More on sustainability & more on planning communities sustainably
- Animals to read to
- Landscaping
- Square foot gardening, composting, etc.
- Informational lectures that have meaning
- United States green building council
- Landscaping (2)
- More design stuff (2)
- Art/architecture related programs (2)
- More inspirational speakers (2)
- Gardening(2)
- Fannie Hagg
- MN writers/authors (2)
- Stephanie Meyer
- Finance stuff
- More "Life Quality" education
- Artists & creative people talking about their craft
- Scandinavian design/architecture
- Scandinavian traditions
- Woodcarving fishing lures, falconry or the British Isles
- Travel seminars; motivational speakers - Friday night sessions
- Author artists - paper crafts, mixed media, photography, scrapbooking
- Louise Erdrich; writer's workshops; photo reading (Paul Scheele)
- Music -folk, jazz, R&B
- "Tiny" House Design, sustainable community design
Prior to this program, have you ever attended a program at the library or sponsored by the library? Yes (79) No (68) How did you hear about the program?Program flier - 15Information/poster at the library - 53Information/poster in the community - 37Library newsletter - 14Library web site - 24Newspaper/magazine - 59Radio - 16Television - 15From library staff - 22From another person - 79 Check your age range: Birth to 5 (0), 6-17 (0), 18-54 (64), 55 and over (84) What is your zip code? 58103 (3) - 56501 (12) - 56589 (2) - 54701 (1) - 56537 (1) - 56573 (1) - 56554 (1) - 55431 (1) - 58060 (1) - 55077 (1) - 58102 (16) - 56587 (1) - 58501 (1) - 56528 (1) - 58104 (1) - 56515 (1) - 56572 (1) - 56601(1) - 56547 (4) - 58078 (3) - 58104 (2) - 60613 (1) -04043 (2) - 27516 (1) - 02134 (1) - 56561 (1) - 56573 (1) - 56520 (2) - 56514 (2) - 56560(24) - 58103(16) Do you have a current library card? Yes - 112 No - 33 NA - 5# of evaluations received: 150