THE NEXT 30
OPEN CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
Seeking podcast interviewers; no experience necessary. Be part of something historic.
Be Part of The Next Thirty
We’re looking for curious people ages 55+ who want to listen to the next generation.
What is it like to be young in Orange County today?
What makes young people want to stay? What makes them want to leave? What do they value about this community? What would they change? What worries them about the future? What gives them hope?
The Arts Center in Orange is looking for 12 volunteers, age 55 and older, to become interviewers for The Next Thirty Podcast Project.
No interviewing, podcasting, or oral history experience is necessary. We are looking for people who are curious about others, comfortable having conversations, willing to listen, and interested in getting to know a generation different from their own.
What is The Next Thirty
Created as part of The Arts Center’s 30th anniversary, The Next Thirty is a community oral history and podcast project focused not on the past, but on the future.
Over six months, we will interview young people between the ages of 16 and 30 who live in Orange County and ask them about their lives, their community, and the world they are inheriting.
What is it like to grow up here? Do they see a future for themselves in Orange County? What traditions do they want to preserve—and what do they want to change? How do they think about work, technology, relationships, community, and belonging? What concerns them? What excites them? And what kind of Orange County do they hope to see thirty years from now?
The interviews will become individual podcast episodes and part of a growing public archive documenting the voices of a generation that is helping shape Orange County’s future.
Later, young professional artists will be invited to listen to these interviews and create original works of art in response to what they hear, culminating in a public exhibition at The Arts Center.
WHAT WILL VOLUNTEERS DO?
Our volunteers will become the interviewers.
Before interviewing participants, volunteers will receive training and practice in:
Oral history techniques
Conducting thoughtful, open-ended interviews
Active listening
Asking effective follow-up questions
Interviewing across generations
Creating a comfortable environment for participants
Conducting live recorded podcast conversations
Working with basic podcast and recording procedures
Ethical practices involved in documenting another person’s story
You do not need to be a historian, journalist, broadcaster, podcaster, or experienced interviewer.
We will teach you.
What matters most is that you are interested in people and willing to listen.
WHY VOLUNTEER?
This is not simply an opportunity to conduct podcast interviews.
It is an opportunity for two generations that do not always have the chance to sit down together simply to talk—and listen.
We spend a great deal of time talking about young people. The Next Thirty creates an opportunity to talk with them.
As an interviewer, you will meet young people from throughout Orange County and hear firsthand how they understand their community, their lives, and their futures. Your job will not be to teach them, advise them, debate them, or tell them what you think.
Your job will be to ask good questions.
And listen.
Thirty years from now, these interviews will provide a remarkable record of what it was like to be young in Orange County at this particular moment in its history.
We are looking for 12 people who would like to help us create that record.
INTERESTED?
If you are 55 or older, live in or have a connection to the Orange County community, and can commit approximately three hours a month for six months after completing the initial training, we would love to hear from you.
No experience necessary. Curiosity required.
The Next Thirty
Voices, Podcasts, and Art by a New Generation
The Arts Center in Orange
129 E. Main Street
Orange, Virginia
To participate, email submissions@artscenterinorange.com and put Next Thirty in the subject line. Introduce yourself in the email by telling us a little about you and why this interests you. Feel free to share your thoughts. Thank you.
THE COMMITMENT
We are hoping to assemble a team of 12 volunteer interviewers aged 55+ who will work with us for approximately six months.
Volunteers should be prepared to commit to:
Initial training and practice: A few hours of training and practice before interviews begin.
Monthly commitment: Approximately three hours per month for six months conducting interviews at The Arts Center.
With a team of 12 volunteers sharing the work, the commitment for each individual is relatively small. Collectively, however, we will be able to record and preserve the experiences of a remarkable number of young people throughout Orange County.