Connections Box

There is a small curtained off booth with a sign that reads “Connections”.
Inside the curtain, there is a table, which has a chair, pens and paper, a black box, a camera, and a computer with a screen that is always turned on- to Skype.  On the other side someone will already be on the screen, waiting to talk.
There is a sign above the computer. The sign reads:
This is your chance to make a connection.  Someone is waiting for you on the other side.  It is your choice to engage.
You may stay as long as you want.
You may call anyone in the contact list on the screen.
You may learn something new.
You may make a new connection.
You may change your life.
In the contact list of this Skype account will be several people in New York who will be online during the presentation time to receive the call of the participant.  I will assure that at least one person will be online and “in call” at all times (which means, their face will already be on the screen when the person walks in).
There is a list of questions to help people begin to engage with one another.  This is provided only as a suggestion.
There is a stack of cards sitting on the table beside the computer.  They read:
Thank you for participating.  
I hope you had a good a time as I did.  
You may follow up with those the people you have met and the people you may not have met through this project by visiting
skypeduet.wordpress.com  
There you may post your own comments about this experience, or simply stay in touch.  
See you soon.
There is a blog, documenting the development process of this piece and providing a means for those who have participated in our “Strangers meeting in a Performance” experiments, either during the “Connection Box” installation or the “Skype Duet” theater piece to stay connected with one another, meet each other for the first time, or comment on the experience of communicating and establishing relationships through technology.