Hitting the Streets for Market Research (and a Birthday!)

Today we had some great engagement with the community as students got to know the dynamic of the Liberties, our neighborhood in Dublin.  Students conducted market research on Thomas Street and Meath Street and compared a few businesses in each area. We continued the afternoon with a tour of Trinity College and getting to see the Book of Kells.  We also competed in an awesome group scavenger hunt to put our knowledge of navigating Dublin to the test- one lucky group even won some Murphy's ice cream as a prize. 

However, the most exciting part of our day was that it was the birthday of one of our AMAZING entrepreneurs- Emiliano Navarro!  One of the most beautiful aspects of this trip is how well our participants have formed a community and our group did a great job of joining together to celebrate Emiliano.  Earlier in the week, some of our group took it upon themselves to bake a cake and get cards and decorations, which meant we got to end our night with a surprise birthday party. 

Since it was his special day, I asked Emiliano to give us a little insight on our activities: 

How did it feel to conduct your research survey on the streets of Dublin?

I actually really enjoyed it.  I thought it would be a little awkward talking to people at first and I guess it was a little bit, but once we got talking to people I thought it was really fun and interesting. 

What were some of the interesting differences you noticed between Thomas Street and Meath Street?

I feel like Meath Street was obviously not as busy and it was very obvious that a lot of the businesses were older.  I talked to a lot of the shop owners and they were all so polite, chatty, and passionate about what they were doing.  I didn't get to talk much to the owners on Thomas Street, but it seemed that they weren't as interested in talking and weren't as passionate about what they were doing.  It had a lot more tourists and students on Thomas Street.  It would be great if there could be some experience to attract people to the more local shops in Meath Street. 

How did it feel to celebrate your birthday in Dublin? 

It was pretty fun! I very much enjoyed all the little things like doughnuts and singing and everything.  It was certainly one of my most memorable birthdays so far. 

Emiliano is a rising senior from Palo Alto, California.  Happy Birthday, Emiliano!