Before I leave, I ask Loeb what is to be gained from looking for aliens, and his reply is surprisingly humble. “We know from our private life that if we find a partner, it gives new meaning to our existence,” he says. “So finding a partner somewhere in the form of another civilisation that can teach us things that we can imitate, that we can aspire to, will give us a meaning to our cosmic existence. The universe will not be pointless any more.
The publication is suing both companies for copyright infringement and asks them to be held liable for “billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages” for allegedly copying its works. It’s also asking the court to prevent OpenAI and Microsoft from training their AI models using its content, as well as remove the Times’ work from the companies’ datasets.
Facial recognition searches match the biometric measurements of an identified photograph, such as that contained on driving licences, to those of an image picked up elsewhere. The intention to allow the police or the National Crime Agency (NCA) to exploit the UK’s driving licence records is not explicitly referenced in the bill or in its explanatory notes, raising criticism from leading academics that the government is “sneaking it under the radar”.
There was confusion in the plenary hall shortly after the agreement was passed as many parties had assumed there would be a debate over the text. The Alliance of Small Island States, representing 39 countries, said it had not been in the room when the deal was adopted as it was still coordinating its response. Its lead negotiator, Anne Rasmussen, from Samoa, did not formally object to the agreement and believed the deal had good elements, but said the “the process has failed us” and the text included a “litany of loopholes”. “We have made an incremental advancement over business as usual when what we really needed is an exponential step change in our actions and support,” she said. Her speech was met with a standing ovation.
Generating images was by far the most energy- and carbon-intensive AI-based task. Generating 1,000 images with a powerful AI model, such as Stable Diffusion XL, is responsible for roughly as much carbon dioxide as driving the equivalent of 4.1 miles in an average gasoline-powered car. In contrast, the least carbon-intensive text generation model they examined was responsible for as much CO2 as driving 0.0006 miles in a similar vehicle. Stability AI, the company behind Stable Diffusion XL, did not respond to a request for comment.
On Friday, the California-based company said in a regulatory filing that the personal data of 0.1% of customers – or about 14,000 individuals – had been accessed by “threat actors”. But the filing warned that hackers were also able to access “a significant number of files containing profile information about other users’ ancestry”. The company confirmed to TechCrunch on Saturday that because of an opt-in feature that allows DNA-related relatives to contact each other, the true number of people exposed was 6.9 million – or just less than half of 23andMe’s 14 million reported customers. Another group of about 1.4 million people who opted in to 23andMe’s DNA relatives feature also “had their family tree profile information accessed”, the company also acknowledged. That information includes names, relationship labels, birth year, self-reported location and other data.
If you do not want your website’s content used for this training, you can ask the bots deployed by Google and Open AI to skip over your site. Keep in mind that this only applies to future scraping. If Google or OpenAI already have data from your site, they will not remove it.
A glance back, a look around and a momentary peer towards the future.
As predicted last year, chapters were burning to a close and new ones were stirring in their embers.
2022 was tough. The long tail of the pandemic set in which continued the survival mode of the previous two years, where I and others it seemed to battle and scrape through (emotionally and financially). It was a year which went on to provide a foil to 2023…
…as the borders of the world re-opened I was able to travel and explore and connect into latent communities once again. This created momentum and re-ignited hopes plus fanned the muted coals of my ambition. I was hungry in ambition again and my heart was re-opened!
So lets begin this end of year review with recapping the significant 2023 pages turned and adventures ended:
3 months ago I left (see / read Leaving To Arrive | Way Led On To Way) after 3 months of preparing, which is half a year of transitioning from one immense state of being to another.
It was challenging!
For nearly a decade, I knew I was living in a wonderful country. I had built epic friendships and had intense, transformative experiences. I crafted a different career skillset and personna (when I left I was all about social media and was taking my little company(s) with me to be bought and relaunched there, which never happened). I basically created a life full of richness and was very grateful even against the downside of being so far away from everything.
Then the pandemic hit and boy the isolation got amplified. And with that the communities and activities around TEDxWellington and Creative Leadership NZ went away plus most of my work dried up. Although as I mentioned above, my ambition did the opposite and was back with a vengeance end of last year and beginning of this. So I started applying for big roles and got nowhere. I also noted that when going offshore there was far more opportunities and significant gigs (purely due to market size plus openness of other cultures as NZ is conservative no matter what they tell themselves and the world).
Then I met someone (who lives in Europe).
With that and against the backdrop of a major global market contraction plus a desire to keep pushing the boundaries of my own learning experiences I knew I had to leave (and friends / mentors where also saying the same).
As a citizen I can always return but for now, I’m trying really hard to follow Mr Dass’s advice and be here now because I miss the land of the long white cloud so very much!
After 50 episodes, featuring 100 bold humans having courageous conversations, this imaginative enterprise found a natural end.
I’m so massively proud of what Jono (Tucker from Empire Films) and I did over the three years of this project. There’s nothing like it in the world of podcasts and to have 100 other people participate in a long-form media offering like this still astounds me.
We did one extra episode (watch above plus read all about it here) and if this is the first time you’ve heard about this please, please, please watch this one as it’s a great introduction plus celebration of lessons learned.
ALL the bold humans who participated!
CREATIVE PRODUCING
Seen in Wellington, New Zealand.
I love creating space for people and also designing opportunities for others to have voice. That to me is the essence of a creative producer in the context of events and activations.
This year I got to collaborate with an array of clients to develop tailored and specific stakeholder engagement experiences which went much further than the usual talking at people and asking them a couple of questions (this by the way is called a seminar).
I truly feel at home in the design process of such things: aligning the goals and aims to the advocacy of the delegate experience; going back to first principles to constantly check against presumptions; dealing in evoking emotion and potential; trusting the process of discovery through intuition and informed experience.
So whether it was developing a multi-day / venue experience around the country for a major government organisation who were launching a massive new policy or shaping an arena for high level government elected officials to understand the work of their organisational leads via a showcase, all briefs were delivered with the understanding of creating learning experiences which show rather than just tell, and always impact beyond expectations.
See below on details on how this has now become my day job.
After nearly 4 years of MC’ing their online events and leading their in-studio productions plus producing most of their audio podcasts, my time with Teulo drew to a close with my emigration.
Just to be at the start of a new venture is a gift, let alone an initiative such as this, to watch it flourish and blossom from the inside as an aligned delivery partner has been a pure treat.
Thank you Jay for the trust you placed in me and the opportunity to learn aside you.
Will continue to watch and clap in celebration from afar!
And what about the opening acts of new narratives:
RETURNING TO BLIGHTY
For the reasons above, I got a job back in the UK.
I applied for well over thirty jobs in Spring and early Summer this year. Two were in the UK and I got an interview for one with a job offer arriving a week later.
Since returning, I’ve settled back in the heart of the valleys, re-engaging with the family and roots. It’s amazing to be called ‘but’ and ‘bach’ again. It’s an odd thing to find myself where I said I would never go back to but I know I’m just passing through. The aim is to move up to the Celtic north early next year and lay my hat in that region for the foreseeable future.
NEW JOB
Can’t share much but what I can say is that I’m working for a central government agency, leading a new department with a newly formed team, to develop and deliver a major conference plus some other in-house experiences.
It’s a wonderfully challenging place to be and I’m totally fascinated by everything that that includes (as you can imagine).
In a few months the conference details will be public so sorry about the sparse details but more will follow mid-year.
LEADING (A NEW TEAM AND…)
…an organisation through a new new literacy set regarding events as a professional discipline. That’s the longer game alongside the shorter one of establishing a new team, with the right culture and approach.
As a manger, I try my best to take a servant leadership approach, which manifests in principles relating to collaboration, trust and creativity.
From my previous leadership training and coaching, as well as being exposed to many amazing pioneers in my speaker coaching work plus meeting many more impressive ground-breakers via TED, TEDx, Creative Welly, Creative Leadership, events like HATCH, C2 Montreal, BIF etc., it’s become obvious that the nature of such a role is not about power. It’s about devolving power and forging opportunities to grow. It’s about aiding others to become more than they are which in turn positively impacts on organisational delivery / brand / effectiveness.
For me, authority has never been a title but a demonstration of pedigree, expertise and competence.
Leading is always, always, always, approached with all the compassion and grace I can muster.
SPEAKER COACHING
I negotiated a four-day-week in my current role with the intention of continuing my speaker coaching services because it fills my soul.
For the beginning of 2024 I will be working with just one client to increase the in-house capability of their staff for external speaking opportunities, which means I have no time to offer any masterclasses for the first quarter of next year. However, still open for a couple 1-2-1s with impressive leaders though so just holler and happy to book other things in from April onwards.
If you present online for any reasons like speaking at virtual events or pitching for work through digital channels, then this cheap-as-chips course is for you (get in now as going to be hiked up next year after a reboot).
TEDx TALK & BOOK
Right at the end of 2022 I spoke at TEDxNelson, a small event situated in the extreme north of the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand.
And since going live I’ve been amazed to watch it creep towards the half a million views mark (currently at 477+k views). It does a good job of condensing nearly a decade of practice in under 20mins.
A few months after it went live I released an ebook / audiobook package which was inspired by the talk and was 20 years in the making.
For only $10NZD this bundle deal features an ebook with 37 juicy chapters, nearly 14,000 words across 89 pages plus a 1hour34mins audiobook version (read by me).
Other highlights from this chunk of time have included:
GIGS
2023 clients who have aided me paying the rent have included: Accenture, ACC, Do Digital Agency, Groov, IBI Arcadis, Impact Hub Munich, Pro Clima Teulo, Shaw Festival Theatre, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, Wellington Regional Leadership Committee, plus many 1-2-1s with leaders (as well as a couple I can’t talk about due to NDA’s).
Usually, I do a breakdown of how much money I earned from the different categories of services I offer although due to the simple reasons of time and energy, not happening this year.
Thank you all, deeply and with humble deep waist bows!
CURATED / CREATED
As social media eats it tail, am grateful to have this blog (an activity which I’ve been doing for nearly 25 years now).
Here’s my 2023 tally including curated posts which have so many goodies and further things to explore (I’m in constant wonderment regarding the goodies found online and even more by those who prefer to watch TV instead):
Been so very fortunate to explore new and old places this year such Auckland, Northland, Christchurch, Queenstown, road trip around South Island (of Aotearoa New Zealand), Barcelona, Edinburgh, Montrose, London, Munich, Berlin, Dublin, Montreux, Toronto, Niagara on the Lake & the Falls.
In 2024 I’m hoping to do a lot more of Europe and the UK whilst also visit the last populated continent I’ve yet to visit: South America.
And as for the coming 2024 chunk of time, I have plans but we all know planning is guessing, then again, for what it’s worth:
I’ll basically add more chapters, build out more of the peripheral content and resources plus weave in some ‘show and tell’ of other new tech which I’ve been playing with.
A couple of my peers have mentioned how stupidly cheap it is (even to the point of stating I should add a “0” to the end). Will definitely be upping the price to match the extra content and think about some affiliate options as well.
THIRD BOOK
Been fascinated by some of the historic tales from when the Romans first invaded these lands and the beginning of the cultural colonisation which followed for what would become the Welsh.
Due to the imperialism and in some cases the genocide of the culture, Wales has had the least storytelling from all the Celtic nations appear on a global stage.
So I’m penning an historical fiction tale for no other reason than to try and offer something in the space (and not going to use ChatGPT for it).
RESEARCHING FOURTH BOOK + FOURTH BUSINESS
I’ve also started research on a fourth book and planning out a movement / business idea.
This one has been bubbling for some time and aligns to the last decade of creative producing and other more artistic activities.
It’s a slow burn and I’m in no rush with this one as the world isn’t ready for it just yet, so for now it’s about allowing it to come through organically, through conversation, leaning (again) into my Celtic heritage of aural / oral mediums.
PODCASTING AGAIN (MAYBE)
I’m dusting off an old idea and thinking of podcasting, again.
Ever since I started in 2006, it’s a medium which has liberated and fulfilled many aspects of my persona.
Again though, it will be with the intention of furthering the genre in a creative way (like with Creative Welly).
WRAPPING UP
Was feeling pretty buoyant coming to the end of 2023, albeit knackered after moving from one side of the globe to the other and starting a brand new job with a new team doing something this organisation I’ve never collaborated with has ever done before.
Then some words / actions of others scuppered those good feelings and transformed levity into stressful times and troubling thoughts.
Luckily, I had good souls around to comfort plus offer support and guidance. Seeking further insights from others, I switched into being proactive and produced a solution or two and then activated my creative strategy skills in manifesting potential pathways. I also reflected on other challenges I’ve overcome in the past and in terms of scale how this is very manageable. I uncovered through this process how deeply tied to my values I am and how that is a very good thing for the soul.
So now all there’s to do is greet the oncoming shift upwards in suffix numerals to denote a calendar change with a smile, and welcome the possibilities of greatness we’re all manifesting. With love.
So, how was your 2023 and what does 2024 have in store for yous?
Scientists believe we have great thoughts in bed because our brain is in a state conducive to neuroplasticity. Occupying ourselves with smartphones has replaced staring off into the distance and daydreaming. People equate boredom with low productivity, but making time for boredom may help you be more creative.
…if an AI company was aware that its training data included unlicensed works, or that its algorithms generated unauthorised derivative works not covered by “fair use”, then it could be liable for damages of up to $150,000 for each instance of knowing use. And in case anyone thinks that infringement suits by angry artists are like midge bites to corporations, it’s worth noting that Getty, a very large picture library, is suing Stability AI for alleged unlicensed copying of millions of its photos and using them to train its AI, Stable Diffusion, to generate more accurate depictions based on user prompts. The inescapable implication is that there may be serious liabilities for generative AIs coming down the line.
“Despite the increasing adoption of the technology, campaigners point out there is no legal basis for police to use it, with a courtroom challenge finding that South Wales police’s use of biometric surveillance was unlawful and breached privacy rights and equality laws.“
“I’ve been using the voice function since yesterday and noticed that it makes breathing sounds when it speaks,” said one Reddit user. “It takes a deep breath before starting a sentence. And today, actually a minute ago, it coughed between words while answering my questions.”
“Company documents cited in the complaint described several Meta officials acknowledging the company designed its products to exploit shortcomings in youthful psychology, including a May 2020 internal presentation called “teen fundamentals” which highlighted certain vulnerabilities of the young brain that could be exploited by product development. The presentation discussed teen brains’ relative immaturity, and teenagers’ tendency to be driven by “emotion, the intrigue of novelty and reward” and asked how these asked how these characteristics could “manifest . . . in product usage”.”
“Now Earth’s oceans are no longer unique. They’re just strange. They exist on our planet’s sunlit surface, while the seas of the outer solar system are tucked beneath ice and bathed in darkness. And these subterranean liquid oceans seem to be the rule for our solar system, not the exception. In addition to Europa and Enceladus, other moons with ice-covered oceans almost certainly exist as well. A fleet of spacecraft will explore them in detail over the next decade.”
It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply… There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet, trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair. That’s why you must walk so lightly. Lightly my darling, on tiptoes and no luggage, not even a sponge bag, completely unencumbered.
“The Kiwi Diary showcases Aotearoa’s people, landscape and stories, and becomes a treasured, personalised keepsake. KD is “good nutrition for your cognition” – adorned with art, recipes, poetry, and thought-leadership. Kiwi Diary content is designed to keep us connected to what is good for planet & people.”
Thought I’d have a crack at reading it out loud to add some ‘soul’ to the piece (4m32s):
Thank you to Freda for continuing to curate and produce this wonderful artifact (which you can purchase here).
Still brimming with new ideas, juicy insights plus useful language after my time at the first ever Brave Leadership Summit last week.
Devised and organised by the fantabulous David McQueen a dear friend who delivered a masterclass in crafting and holding space for others to shine. Developing a learning experience with superb speakers and all the aspects to make it go smoothly is no small feat so want to publicly celebrate the success of those who are bold enough to try (plus nail it)!
Took loads of notes and the biggest takeaways for me were:
Leadership is supposed to be tough: step into that discomfort with gratitude
Privilege is about power: often just to simply have and use your voice
Compassion and vulnerability takes courage: lots of speakers were channeling Brene Brown on this topic
As a leader, have you created a culture of trust, for people to ask questions, to make mistakes, to be bold etc: culture is only culture when lived (not words on a page or spoken out)
There’s no room for ego in leadership
“You can’t pour from an empty cup”
“It’s not about laying bricks, it’s about building a cathedral”
The experience is still reverberating through me, the side conversations, the language and insights shared plus being surrounded by considerate humans all purposeful & respectful of each others journeys as well… can’t wait till next year!
The ‘Welsh Not’, which usually consisted of a small piece of wood or slate inscribed with the letters ‘W.N’, was hung around the neck of a child who was caught speaking Welsh. At the end of the school day, the child wearing the ‘Welsh Not’ would be punished by the schoolteacher via People’s Collection Wales.
A bunch of things (which I tweeted) for your eyes and ears plus brain to spend time on.
So now it’s sparkly shit, in flames, stinking up the place…
I remember a time when it was an active community of humans adding value to each other (as when you tweeted people would see it, respond, share on etc).
It’s not anymore.
I remember when tweet-ups were a thing (literally tweeting out where you were going to be in a city or place or event and folks would join you from the virtual community to make themselves real).
It’s not anymore.
I remember when geo-location was available as a search criteria (as a way to connect into physical communities of practice and tracking some fun stuff).
It’s not anymore.
I remember when ‘Follow Fridays’ was a thing (celebrating people in your network for their efforts online and exposing them to your network for more follows).
It’s not anymore.
I remember when RSS feeds where available on profiles and even searches / hashtags (which allowed an opportunity to mash-up that data as research and insights or even as a way to curate clusters of people into fun groups).
It’s not anymore.
I remember when the platform had trust in its user base by showing just the tweets from people you were following (by the way if you want that, start a private list as sponsored tweets don’t appear in there when viewed and tweets are sorted by latest).
It’s not anymore.
I remember when Twitter was fun and allowed third party services like IFTTT to again curate and play with what’s being shared in interesting ways (I used to tweet quotes from Rilke and have them automatically curate to a Tumblr blog called ‘Missing Rilke‘).
It’s not anymore.
…the reason I stayed this long was due to the legacy echo of community and connection.
My engagement (folks I talk to and who respond to my tweets) has flat lined to nearly zero these past few years. And just like with all my relationships, I need some parity of energy and effort to continue investing from my side.
Twitter will probably become one of the worst financial investment failures in modern history and all because one person thought he could do better than others for himself not the community as a whole (success in one arena does not equal mastery in another).
So I’m going back to things I can control. The stuff I used to advocate for when delivering new media training back in the day with my second company MediaSnackers. This blog (please do subscribe in the sidebra / footer or grab the RSS feed) will become the center point of future activities and my community (yes I’ve sniffed out Mastodon, Discord, BlueSky etc but I have no energy to build a new community elsewhere and dilute my offerings / energy further, plus I’m going to be busy for a while with my new job).
After a 12 years, I’m off to take up a role with a central UK government agency where I’ll be leading a newly formed team to develop and deliver an international multi-day conference in 2025.
In 2011 I moved from the capital city of Cymru Wales, to Christchurch, four months after the February earthquake. It was a challenging place to settle and in under a year I moved again to the capital of Aotearoa New Zealand, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, where I’ve been ever since.
I will miss this place, dearly.
I didn’t want to move and the short story is this is a career opportunity I wouldn’t get if I stayed and I’m hungry (there’s a longer story and happy to share if you ask / buy me a peppermint tea).
For anyone reading this who has emigrated you will attest to the logistical and emotional toll such a journey encompasses. The mountain of action needed to traverse from one geographical region to the next whilst also facing down multiple emotional experiences. And as shared in the wrap-up bonus episode of Creative Welly, I will miss the people the most.
Such a move makes one reflective and a retrospective of my time here will follow, but for now, I’m head down in downsizing / goodwilling / recycling / gifting all my stuff ready for the move plus catching up with people that matter, along with lining up living options on the other side of the planet.
So it’s onwards into a new chapter.
A new country to live in.
A new capital city to explore.
A new community to serve.
A new job to do (I’ve negotiated a four-day week contract to ensure I can continue my speaker coaching with leaders and some other side projects which I’ve put off for a while).
So if you’re looking for a masterclass or speaker coaching session get one in super-fast in the next two weeks. Or if you want to catch up in-person before I leave these shores then please just reach out (quickly), as who knows when I’ll be back this way again:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
The final episode of this three year journey in creating something beautiful (in podcast form).
Last week I posted episodes 49 and 50 of the unique podcast I conceived and produced, Creative Welly, where we have courageous conversations with bold humans, and today the final ‘bonus’ episode went live—watch above for the back story and insights into the whole adventure.
The first episode went live in June 2020 and after 50 episodes, 100 humans, over 80 hours worth of conversation shared, it’s time to wrap it all up in a neat bow and stand back as a gift to the community of participants, partners and watchers / listeners alike.
This was a selfish project in some ways (which I talk about above) although with a high intention of creating space for humanity to flourish (through conversation) and in doing so offer a way to deeply connect back into something ritualistic and primal.
You see, Creative Welly is a fireside.
A democratic gathering of humans through a bond of openness, curiosity and design.
Everything about it was crafted with this in mind: the circular table aiding the balance of the storytelling space for those who sat at it; the key-light which lit all participants equally and wonderfully; the black and white aesthetic to continue the attempt of harmony; moving the cameras far back into the shadows so they don’t get in the way; the visual split of everyone being on screen in the final edit which serves a further purpose to amplify intimacy in the viewers (as every nuance of non-verbal gestural cues was on display not like other podcasts or video content).
Metrics of success
As discussed, in many episodes and the one above, I never once looked at the stats relating to the project.
Having 100 of my network to say yes and share this experience with them, was reward enough.
However, other noticeable achievements was the invite to apply (under sponsorship) for a Webby Award (we didn’t win but amazing to be invited), got interviewed by the local radio station plus we were notified also that Creative Welly was in the top top 4% of content creators on Spotify as well.
Many are still surprised to find out the whole project was funded by:
Sponsorship
Membership
Donations
Affiliate links
Paid participation spots
Selling branded merchandise
Selling tickets to live shows
Our own time and money (independently produced and hosting paid for us).
…and the fact we made so many episodes is a total accomplishment (as again detailed in the above episode, the amount of work which goes into them is a lot).
Recognition
Apart from me there were three entities who made Creative Welly bloom:
David sadly passed away the day after we shot the final episodes and he will be missed by the photography and film studio community in Wellington.
The first 9 episodes were previously hosted at Xequals offices. Thanks to them and specifically Alex Matthews (who participated in Episode 14) for again believing in the project when it was just an idea.
Epilogue
So, checking against the brief, to both create something unique in the podcast genre which creates intimacy for the participants as well as the viewers and celebrate humans who are doing imaginative things in this fair city and beyond (hence the name):
Creative |adjective : imaginative / original people adding value to the world.
Welly|British informal : with dynamic energy and vigour.
…can smile when I say: we nailed it!
Last week we also held a gathering inviting all who have participated at the new Empire Films studio (like we did back in July 2021) as they were the first to know we were wrapping up the project:
And here’s the monster list of all the episodes in case you missed any:
