Personal data needs to be regarded as a human right, just as access to water is a human right. The ability for people to own and control their data should be considered a central human value. The data itself should be treated like property and people should be fairly compensated for it.
Am still reeling from the TEDache which comes from running a TEDx event, although, still smiling.
Everything we tried this year worked, even though we had no cash sponsor and had to cut the livestream option plus be very creative with the budget, all whilst going from a 1,000 speaker venue to 200 (as currently St James Theatre is undergoing earthquake restrengthening).
treasure hunts: with the first clue being handed out by our MC’s, this interaction provided an opportunity to gamify building connections between delegates. There were five clues that enabled the team participating to journey through the space, experiencing ‘chance’ encounters with TEDxWellington team members and the installations around the venue;
photobooth: creating digital takeaways to share through social channels;
head / neck / shoulders massage: because sometimes you need help in getting those ideas into your brain plus to shake off the emotions a little from the challenging talks of the previous session;
speaker stations: allocated spots for delegates to both find and connect with the speakers to dive deeper into their shared idea;
toilet interactions (yes that’s right): on the back of the cubicle doors we had a matrix of the speakers with an opportunity to mark how the talk made them feel.
silent disco: again utilising the colours related to the wristbands so that participants were grooving to tunes by ‘chance’.
The lessons learned from previous years were hard learned but oh so precious:
keep the leadership team small
outline (via ‘job descriptions’) the specific expectations for each role plus interview for these key positions
highlight this is not volunteering but actioneering (professionalism and quality is key).
Again, none of the above would’ve been possible without a dedicated group of humans (volunteers, leadership team, speakers alike plus our partners), devouting their free time / products for nothing (or a reduced rate) but feeding on the hope generator that is TEDx:
Lessons from the production of my favourite three films.
The above is a magnificent insight into the creative process of the Before Trilogy and the bold, collaborative approach taken by director, Richard Linklater.
Ethan starts the interview regaling the genesis of the first movie, along with the way Linklater devolved responsibility of the character plus script development to the actors during six weeks in Venice (a shared creative model which would be replicated in the next two films). The openness and willingness to trust is so uniquely evident in this action from Linklater, although you can still hear the influence of his guiding support, providing them with the courage and reasoning to continue with the project as doubts appear.
Even though Linklater obviously provides the themes and framework, it’s through the joint effort of his associates does the project flourish into beauty. It reminds me of playing in a band (I used to a be a drummer and even in the interview Ethan mentions this as a metaphor – how everyone knows their role against the backdrop of the melody) – the constraints catalyse experimentations and how roles change with the space / atmosphere created (again, just like in a band if someone starts riffing in a different key or to a different beat).
There’s so much to take from the above, from caring about the craft of the shared journey, cherishing artistry, knowing something is important and right as it feel like it’s extracting a toll, how the intimacy created in building something together echoes through to the final product, and how true leadership is collaborative.
As a solopreneur in most of my own endeavours am definitely hungry for these types of partnerships and will take this inspiration to seek them out more.
ADDENDUM 21.8.19 Here’s a short video from the day of me talking about the above, full reflections here:
The innate goodness of humans.
Last night was the first of five TEDxWellington speaker coaching sessions with these people:
Being surrounded by impressive souls (full bios) was a much needed reminder of the innate brilliance of humans doing superb things (from an initiative to track human rights violations to how to build homes so that the materials can be reused, a programme to teach mindfulness to children to new technology to help diagnose breast health, from ethically built sensors to monitor the health of your home to an ongoing project which cleans our underwater environment, from teaching communities to cook on a budget to an evolving body positive programme for females, from championing the use of menstrual cups for system change to rethinking our criminal justice system).
To feel that warmness of hope and genuine awe seems rare these days in the global gloom which blasts through the news and our other media channels.
Devoting time to remind oneself that the world is not what the media tells you is a must for our mental health. So thank you TEDx for continuing to offer opportunities which lightens the soul.
Watch and learn why Facebook needs to be broken up.
Mark’s influence is staggering, far beyond that of anyone else in the private sector or in government. He controls three core communications platforms — Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — that billions of people use every day. Facebook’s board works more like an advisory committee than an overseer, because Mark controls around 60 percent of voting shares. Mark alone can decide how to configure Facebook’s algorithms to determine what people see in their News Feeds, what privacy settings they can use and even which messages get delivered. He sets the rules for how to distinguish violent and incendiary speech from the merely offensive, and he can choose to shut down a competitor by acquiring, blocking or copying it.
