“Regulators and lawmakers fail to make any changes to proactively protect the public, while allowing crypto firms to advertise and recruit new customers who seem far more likely to wind up as victims of yet another collapse as they are to become the next crypto-millionaires. How many people will have to lose how much money before we stop believing the lies from an industry that has preyed on people’s trust and hopes for financial miracles, only to dash them on the ground in failure after failure?Bankman-Fried is going to prison, but nothing has changed.”
“Use of the arts in healing does not contradict the medical view in bringing emotional, somatic, artistic, and spiritual dimensions to learning. Rather, it complements the biomedical view by focusing on not only sickness and symptoms themselves but the holistic nature of the person.When people are invited to work with creative and artistic processes that affect more than their identity with illness, they are more able to “create congruence between their affective states and their conceptual sense making.” Through creativity and imagination, we find our identity and our reservoir of healing. The more we understand the relationship between creative expression and healing, the more we will discover the healing power of the arts.”
“MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes International) and the Center for Countering Digital Hate claim the platforms are restricting local abortion providers from advertising, but failing to tackle misinformation that undermines public access to reproductive healthcare. MSI, which provides contraception and abortion services in 37 countries, said its adverts containing information on sexual health, including cancer advice, had been rejected or deleted by the platform.”
“A study published by a team of international researchers last month found that gravity batteries in decommissioned mines could offer a cost-effective, long-term solution for storing energy as the world transitions to renewable power. Scientists from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) found that the world’s abandoned mine shafts could store up to 70TWh of power – roughly the equivalent of global daily electricity consumption.”
“For many, it’s not just about recognizing a global issue but feeling a deep, personal impact on their mental well-being. Especially for those with a strong connection to their environment or homeland, this pervasive anxiety and distress manifests in unique ways. Such feelings can give rise to “solastalgia,” which refers to the dread originating from environmental change. Unlike nostalgia, which is a longing for a place or time in the past that one cannot revisit, solastalgia is the experience of distress from belonging to a home that is undergoing change.”
“Scholars might call it a philosophical treatise. But it seems familiar to us, and we can’t escape the feeling that the first text we’ve uncovered is a 2000-year-old blog post about how to enjoy life.”
Curated list of games no betterverse.be to help you think critically and imaginatively about the future of society, and collectively imagine brighter tomorrows.
Love the way this muzzleapp.com demonstrates the problem it’s going to solve (see notifications examples on the right hand side of the screen).
Starting a couple of new projects soon and always good to get some inspiration from onepagelove.com.
Want to practice your typing? typelit.io does that for free, online, and gets you to type out classic books.
morss.it creates RSS feeds from websites and a whole lot more, check it out.
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?
A hearty year coming out of 2020/2021 even though COVID devastated my event activity income stream. So very grateful for the variety of clients which contracted me to collaborate this year.
I crunched the numbers on how many gigs fell into which category (‘speaking’ includes talks as well as my ‘purposeful storytelling’ beginners and advanced full-and-half-day masterclasses for leadership groups) and here’s the results:
Also did the same for how much income each category pulled in as well:
So speaking is coming out as the top earner and as promised last year my in-person MCing is finally closed out as a service I offer.
Here’s what some of the clients said about what I delivered for them:
“DK delivered a brilliant session for my team, giving us all accessible, understandable and effective advice on how to present engagingly. The training worked for those with extensive presenting experience as well as those with little exposure to public speaking. It was also very practical and encouraged us to embed our learning by doing. Highly recommended!” Emma McLean, Engagement Lead, Engagement Lead, Accenture The Dock (Dublin)
“Engaging, smooth and professional. DK delivered his ‘Presenting Engagingly Online’ session to some of the sport sector in Wales. He keeps you locked in with his presentation, exhibiting exactly what he’s preaching with all the best tips and tricks for online delivery in the age of working from home. A top man who I highly recommend. Diolch, DK!” Matthew Davies, Digital Marketing Lead, Sport Wales
“I cannot recommend DK highly enough – we just had our second very well attended event with him “Presenting Engagingly Online”, which has received fantastic feedback from all the participants. After the first event on “presenting with purpose” with DK last year, our whole team gained a new level of confidence and know how, and it was so popular we just had to offer another session with DK. From the perspective of events organisation, the whole thing couldn’t have been easier – Having all the content and information provided in advance, easy set up made our jobs so much easier.” Julia Hahn, Wellington Branch Manager, German New Zealand Chambers of Commerce
Developed from an offer I had been delivering from the previous year as so many clients transitioned to the online medium to speak at conferences globally and I noticed nearly everyone do it so badly.
I had two other ideas to add to the offers which I still might do but for now, if you’re still sharing your screen and reading from a script to present online, first of all, don’t, it’s so bad for the folks watching, and secondly take my course and you will never present that way again plus engage with the participants in ways which excite and ignite emotional reactions.
CURATED / CREATED
As evident in the #47, #46, #45, #44, #43, #42, #41, #40, #39, #38, #37 digital breadcrumbs offerings—the good stuff I tweet collected into cohesive and more snackable monthly blog posts—my curiosity is still raging.
Had also a strong offering of blog posts this year also which included:
I also started a new series ‘for those who want to tell better stories: few chosen narrative examples, to uncover forms, inspire the soul and stir the creative spirits’:
On a more human scale, I continue to gather humans in conversations via Creative Welly, which is now up to 39 episodes—read the recent blog post benchmark review—it offers fuel for my spirit and stretches my cognition into new realms whilst satisfying my desire to learn in analogue form.
TEDXNELSON
I did a TEDx talk. A distillation of my 16 years as a paid speaker, 10 years as a facilitator through the TEDx licenses I held and the past 6 years paying my rent as a bona fide speaker coach. I’m now trying to write a companion guide based on this talk to publish early next year.
Till then, if you got an important presentation or pitch coming up and struggling to prepare, this will help (or your money back) and please share on if you find it of use.
It received over 10,000 views in just under a week of going live!
CREATIVE LEADERSHIP NZ
My little creativity conference for leaders never made a return after COVID (did mention it last year as a potential project to reignite). Am thinking someone needs to take it on if there’s someone who wants to…
LESSONS LEARNED
…but what we make.
Or more eloquently put: Amor Fati / the love of ones fate.
Especially if framed through a proactive lens of defining ones path and embracing the journey of discovery through intention.
Half the battle here is knowing thyself so recently invested in a couple of coaching sessions and spent time talking to wiser souls than I, to uncover the characteristics which I can’t see of myself (thanks Shazia, Neil, Tim, Mary)—what’s interesting is that they all came to similar conclusions of where I should be devoting my time.
This was further reinforced via the CliftonStrengths Assessment (thank you Antonia) which really helped to both define and validate the elements to amplify along with giving me the language in which to craft a path forward. These are my top 5 strengths from the assessment:
On a more personal level I keep coming back to: Can I choose gratitude in this moment? Can’t remember where I came across someone saying it although they had ‘happiness’ rather than gratitude in their question. When asked it activates a depth of connection with the world which I haven’t felt for a very long time.
2023 STRATEGY
Simply, pages are being turned.
New unexplored paths are being pursued with hope and vigour.
For now I will continue to offer my speaker coaching and creative producing services, however, will start to transition with a more calculated strategy for my future so watch this space.
So, how was your year, what are you feeling grateful for and what do you have lined up for your fate in 2023?
From moving between the different domains of my clients disciplines to some explorations of my personal creative agency, storytelling has been the thread between all the activities, along with the desire to add value to the world through collaboration. It’s been a year of internal revelations and a renewed hunger to try new things in a future which is starting to glisten with potential.
CLIENTS
To enable me to pay the rent, services were delivered to the following superb array of entities:
…plus individual speaker coaching sessions took the total to 35 clients for 2021—an honourable haul in current climes and very much appreciate deeply each and every opportunity.
In terms of what services were delivered, it comes out something like this (‘speaking’ includes talks as well as my ‘purposeful storytelling’ beginners and advanced full-and-half-day masterclasses for leadership groups):
How that equates to monies earned:
A couple of the choice highlights have been:
MC’ing the monthly online Teulo Talks whereby I get to interact plus learn from internationally renowned architectural and construction industry talent. Hearing how these leaders are exploring new computational approaches plus putting the climate crisis at the heart of their designs is wonderfully hope inducing.
Producing a three-day ‘purposeful storytelling’ learning experience with the good librarians of the Christchurch Libraries was a joy. Spending a repeated amount of time with clients is rare so it’s very much cherished when it occurs. And hearing after about the positive impact of aiding those to embrace their stories with the skills to share them makes me soul sing.
And here’s what a few folks said about me in other realms of my delivery (which makes me shift in my seat and feel odd although am trying to get better at celebrating myself more):
“I recently had DK run the ‘presenting engagingly online’ session at a virtual conference I was managing for our organization. We had many great speakers, but based on the feedback (and my opinion too!) DK’s was the highlight. The session included tangible take aways that I use daily while presenting and was fun and energetic. Coordinating the session with DK was a breeze (even with the time difference), and he tailored his approach to fit the group I was working with. Could not recommend enough!” June Kinloch, Lead, Digital Products, The HIVE at IBI Group
“When in lockdown, at Pharmac we asked DK to deliver a zoom presentation on ‘presenting engagingly online.’ Our objective was to give staff an opportunity to connect virtually after we had all shifted to working from home and we had few opportunities for a shared experience. We used DK’s prepared session to shift from presenting in this new medium (zoom) to how we adapt generally, with shifting mediums as a metaphor for the broader pressure on all of us to adapt and change in response to our external environment. The latter part was progressed via a moderated Q&A session. Staff really enjoyed the session – both parts – and I consider DK’s role as catalyst to have been really helpful.” Mark Woodard, Director of Corporate Services/CFO, PHARMAC NZ
“I have had the great pleasure of inviting DK to work with our team for 2 enjoyable and valuable sessions so far: an in-person (those were the days!) public speaking and storytelling workshop; and a virtual Presenting Engagingly Online session. These were both very highly rated by our team and we’re looking forward to having DK come and share more magic with us to help us continue to hone our skills and confidence. On top of that, DK is one of the kindest, most compassionate and generous people I know. He builds an environment of trust, confidence and care, role modelling respectful feedback and gently supporting people to build confidence and strength with public speaking, storytelling and presenting. I cannot recommend DK highly enough.” Kimberley Gilmour, People & Culture | Health & Wellbeing, Uneeq
The above was my first pass at the ‘delegate experience’ which was a result of a few sessions with the interactions team which I was leading this year. My aim was to inspire and guide the group to craft a creative experience for the 2,000 attendees which surprised and delighted whilst tapping into the subjects explored by the speakers and also literally recording plus increasing the nature of the chosen theme of the event, which was ‘hope’ (the speakers were already chosen by this stage as well as the theme, and after the event was cancelled were ‘gifted’ over to a new license and event TEDxPipitea to continue with).
TEDxWellington was so aligned to my purpose and I gave nearly a decade of pro bono time to it. Even though it nearly broke me a few times and constricted my ability to explore paid work, what an amazing 9 years selling out every event, giving many an opportunity to speak on a TEDx stage to catapult their stories into the world and a chance for many more to volunteer on a world-class initiative (many of which have leveraged in their own personal / professional journeys). I feel blessed to have had the experience which included:
Have been taking the time to go inwards and explore spirit versus ego, values and character, trauma and healing. It’s been long overdue and I know will never be a completed exercise as my ‘bastard brain‘ still pops up and does its usual thing. But there’s an emergence state occurring as a wider range of literacy regarding my emotions are being accessed.
There remains a deep reverberating ache for companionship, and that’s okay. I have a high level of trust in this longing which sparks an odd but familiar hopefulness in me. I have bared my calon and the outcome was the opposite of what was hoped for but I am proud of me for making the it known:
CURATED / CREATED
As evident in the 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 digital breadcrumbs offerings—the good stuff I tweet collected into cohesive and more snackable monthly blog posts—my curiosity is still sharp and I delight in having a wide view on the world. Between those and a modest blogging offering this year I will continue to seek out a wide-ranging media diet and delight in the brilliant intersections I see in most things:
This year I continued my Creative Welly activities along with my collaboration partners, and produced fourteen episodes featuring 28 bold humans (read the end of year review here). It continues to be a unique visual approach to the medium and keen to build off the wholly independently produced venture as still have a big list of people to get to.
Earlier in the year I got to making—have designed and developed a working prototype focused on amplifying human connection (born out of a failed attempt at an ebook on the same topic which I’m revisiting for the new year in a different form).
After lots of cardboard cutting and glue gun fun, a friend helped with the final ‘cut file’ to get it fabricated, and over a thousand bucks later I had the chance to fit it all together and… it works!
Have pitched the concept to a couple of agencies for use in the New Year (fingers crossed).
LESSONS LEARNED
Extrapolating from the types of services plus financials more speaking opportunities will be sort along with consulting, however, I’ll be dropping the in-person MC offerings (as actually know better practitioners out there I can pass on my inquiries to).
The self-care and self-awareness values have been ignited after being in dormancy which has sparked so many cognitive and emotional reactions in me that I know it’s important. Tenderness, kindness and grace have become often cited and lens by which to navigate this crazy life.
2022 ACTION STRATEGY / THE NEXT 8,760 HOURS
We’re all grown-ups and know that planning is guessing, shallow attempts to manifest best intentions, action is key.
Throw in a layer of doing things which serve my spirit and purpose, plus creative collaborations with other impressive people, then that’s an action list I want to chase down.
My purpose remains the same:
“I’m driven to enable people find and have voice.”
Beyond continuing to offer my current speaking / coaching services, my desire is to give attention to projects which raise eyebrows, both individually and in collaboration with others (centered around the above purpose statement). This will manifest in the following actions (no particular order):
as described above regarding the prototype, been researching for about 9 months and developing out a product around augmenting gathering experiences, so intending to go live in the first quarter with a few paid service offerings and one free informational offer;
also in the first quarter, will launch a series of online course offerings relating to presenting online (a deeper dive from what I’ve been delivering this past year or so to many clients);
Creative Leadership NZ (which ran in 2017, 2018, 2019 then paused due to the pandemic) will make a return at the end of 2022 to “connect visionary humans and creatives into a community to solve contemporary challenges” and is already in development mode (venues, curating speakers, exploring partnerships);
Creative Welly will continue to be my pro bono project and more episodes will follow soon enough (as an aside, the “Welly” in this title does not stand for “Wellington” as most assume, read about it on the about page);
artistic expressions through sound, artifacts and visuals (not NFTs because they are mainly a ponzi scheme which hurts the world);
and finally, have an audacious moonshot documentary project brewing which is titillating the senses and aiming to close the deal this year.
Also want to throw a big hope and that is to visit the family back in Wales and then other friends in other countries during the trip. With the current state of the virus who knows, am doing my best not to miss people / places and recognise in gratitude where I am and what I have also.
As for the more personal side of things, am keen to craft a ‘theme’ for the coming year and have settled on:
Radical creativity responsibility.
Towards the end of the year I unfollowed a bunch of people and entities on Twitter / Linkedin which were constantly creating a negative response in me and it triggered the realisation that it is up to me to define my state (or at least do my best to react to the world in the positive). Integrating traumatic experiences and sad-inducing moments I will take personally and treat them like adventures to be grateful for.
So, how was your year and what guesses / actions do you have for 2022?
Current thoughts on producing a unique, beautiful and independent video podcast.
In 1176 the then Prince of Wales, Rhys ap Gruffudd, invited a wide range of learned folks to Cardigan Castle to participate in the first ever Eisteddfod—Eistedd means “sit” and Fod means “be”—a cultural festival with the aim of sharing and learning from each others artistic expressions.
Creative Welly‘s model is simple: bring together two souls from different disciplines whom have never met, and then through a modern-day fireside situated discussion, we uncover the person plus lessons behind the projects / initiative / companies / organisations / approaches.
The dinstinct visual concept of the final video form is all about creating intimacy for the viewer, to offer through the peripheral, the sense of being connected deeply in to the discussions (check out the latest two episodes to see what I mean if you haven’t already seen):
For the participants themselves, nearly all comment on the wonderful sense of space it offers, simply having the time to explore ideas and experiences in unhurried conversation. This is how it’s filmed:
As for the financial model of such a creative endeavour: it’s independently produced which means we rely on the generosity of David Hamilton at Flashdog Studios who hosts us (for free) and the technical talents of Jono Tucker of Empire Films who produces the video offerings (for free). I work hard on curating the participants plus make it all go live to the world via creativewelly.com (for free) as well as pay for the video / domain hosting. There is no funder or advertising involved which ensures no agendas being pushed, so in essence we lose money although we gain so much in offering the world a totally original way to ‘sit’ and ‘be’ (as a viewer or participant).
As the world continues to hobble forward through it’s pandemic / environmental / corrupt leadership crisis, please do take the time to watch the incredible video essay above on what I’ve always held dear: humans are innately good.
LESSONS
Be fiercely kind because…
There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” ― Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
2021
Will be focused on the following:
Online production: have 20+ events already booked to MC plus producing podcasts for a couple of clients as well so building out the home studio to up the production values in these areas
Masterclasses, coaching and speaking: continuing to deliver in-person internal sessions on ‘purposeful storytelling’ whilst taking on 1-2-1 speaker coaching clients and also be open to speak on stage a few times as well (truly miss this)
Online course: putting together a virtual offering with the hope to launch mid 2021
TEDxWellington: my pro bono to bring the largest ever TEDx to the nations capital (going to be a 2,000 person live event) and shine a light on the incredible talent we have in the region then amplify them through the TED platform
Spent some time sprucing this website up a little using the new Twenty Twenty-One WordPress theme to really minimilise the design and visual clutter. Am still working out a few extra tweaks although on the whole nearly there and so much slicker.
So here’s a 2021 which elates, brings joy and softer changes.
So as the 20’s roll into view, am keen to develop more of the creative producing side and dial back the speaker coaching so there’s some parity in my analogue service offerings. Am also playing around with a new podcast series to further hone the craft of experience design.
Last week, the (sold out) inaugural Creative Leadership NZ conference brought together 14 speakers / facilitators and 150 attendees for:
Two days of ideas / insights into inspiring and managing the creative process / people which leads to innovation.
The event took about four and half months to organise and featured 6x keynotes, 5x different workshops, 4x idea-bombs, and 1x jazz trio (for the first day), plus 3x two-hour masterclasses which were repeated (for the second day).
In an attempt to learn out loud here are my takeaways:
Stats
As you can see from above we had a healthy gender representation of females. 15% of attendees were from outside of Wellington and overall there was representation from 70 cross-sector organisations (judging by email addresses):
Paying Folks
Just like at Speaking with Purpose 2017 earlier this year, nearly every one of the speakers / facilitators got remunerated in some way (some wouldn’t / couldn’t take payment). Everyone also got a plus one for the event to gift on as they pleased.
Former Executive Director at Lonely Planet, Co-founder of SneakySurf, Director at Roshambo, Entrepreneur in Residence at Vic Uni.
Bop Murdoch / Sarah Tuck / Jody Burrell CoLiberate
Creators of Wellington’s first Gym for mental wellbeing, the CoLiberate team are leaders in personal and professional mindhealth.
Victoria Spackman Director Te Auaha
Making safe spaces for creative types to flourish at Te Auaha – New Zealand Institute of Creativity.
Pavani Rao Boddapati CG Supervisor at Weta Digital
Pavani has over 12 years of experience in visual effects for film and has worked on numerous projects including Avatar, Planet of the Apes and The Hobbit trilogy.
Emilie Fetscher MC / Design Strategist
Collaborator in residence for design-focused leaders and currently consumed as an accidental entrepreneur at StrataMap.
Founder @ Making to Think. Lecturer @ MIT Sloan. Aithan builds leaders’ creative instincts using time- and science-tested techniques from the arts to expand perceptions and accelerate solutions.
Elysa Fenenbock Designer-in-residence at Google
At Google she facilitates human-centered design processes & spearheads social impact programs. In Creative Nomad Project, she leads global organizations to foster creativity in education & sustainable impact. Also lectures at Stanford d.school.
DK Producer / Speaker / Advisor
TEDxWellington licensee. Producer of many events. Speaker coach. Creative Welly founder. Arts Marketing Academy Mentor.
Nick Kapica Designer
Design Lead at Wellington City Council. Passionate about people, design and the urban environment. Looks after brand and pushes design deep into council.
Gareth Parry Designer
Gareth Parry is a partner in PwC’s Experience Centre. Gareth has experience in architecture, learning design, digital advertising, infography, human centered design, and event creation.
Ruth Keiry Designer
Ruth Keiry runs PwC’s Wellington Sandbox. She’s framed, designed, and facilitated dozens of collaborative spaces.
Mark Bradford BeWeDō® practitioner
Founder of BeWeDō® + Senior Lecturer at Massey University, School of Design. #BeWeDō is a unique motion-led creative leadership experience.
Finances
This was privately funded venture (even though many were approached for sponsorship / support) and delivered under the Creative Welly initiative.
The only external financial support came from the US Embassy and Australian High Commission who provided funds to cover most of the overseas expenses for Aithan, Elysa and Gus.
Other support came from Wellington Chocolate Factory who offered some gift packs for the speakers / facilitators plus our wonderful venue hosts The Roxy Cinema for a little discount for returning and booking the whole place out for two days.
The event cost $55k to run although I achieved the goal of just about doubling the profit of the Speaking with Purpose 2017 event.
Extra Costs
The ‘Creative Care Packs’ included: a printed brochure / agenda (with poster of creative leadership quotes on back), name badge, post-it notes, spare paper, Airline 210 medium black pen plus a bar of custom made chocolate for sustenance. These were given out to all attendees upon arrival and cost approx $3k.
There were items which wasn’t first budgeted for including fees for the jazz trio and the extra chairs to ensure preferred execution of the workshop experience, plus added material costs for the masterclasses / workshops.
Additional extras included nearly $2.5k on external lighting and sound / mics (to improve the experience) as well as paying my pal Emilie Fetscher for her MCing duties.
DIY (Kind Of) Rules
A few services were traded and registrations swapped against programme / brochure design plus the photos and main video on the top of this post.
Again, I didn’t use a ticketing service and invoiced everyone individually to both save on ticketing fees (as every ticketing provider holds on to the monies until after the event) whilst also creating the working capital needed for pay for venues and other costs.
The other things I personally undertook were:
design, content and copy for the website
all email newsletters and attendees communication
venue discussions, deliberations, decisions etc
all speaker and event curation
badge design (see below)
I also crafted extra content for promotion. These little ‘visual pearls’ were insights into what each speaker / facilitator will be bringing to the conference (example):
I tried to engage support in this area and spoke to half a dozen people in Wellington. Two didn’t respond, another three were busy and one agency priced themselves way above what was briefed.
Had some lovely support from several organisations in featuring the event and opportunity through their social channels.
One thing I did this time was spend time talking to gatekeepers within of organisations: business development, head of marketing, team leaders, CEOs etc. Those who are considering the larger impact of their brand plus who have direct access to monies.
From this I gained there’s not a lot of consideration given to leadership development and / or budgets set aside for professional development. Maybe something to remedy by highlighting the opportunity earlier in the year for future budgetary considerations.
Learnings
Three big takeaways from this event are:
Variety is key—the mix of 20min keynotes interlaces with 5min ‘idea-bombs’ ensured the event had pace and diversity of subjects / voice. More choice was available through the workshops which were a mix of physical, hands-on plus in-depth and participatory. A strategy which paid off and which was reflected in the positive feedback received;
Sales support is needed—as a builder and curator I want to continue to craft incredible events. The deficit I have is in my interest in pursuing sales. The need to find a sales partner with ethical core values (get in touch if that’s you and can prove it) will be something to develop;
Sponsorship—additional funding would grow the conference and reach of participants (from outside the region). Some of this funding would go into the marketing plus fund the sales support and the rest into sharpening up other elements.
Future
Encouraging and nurturing creative literacies plus leadership talent here in Wellington is part of the larger Creative Welly initiative, however, conversations are already starting with other regions in the country who have expressed an interest in hosting future events.
Connections are also already being made with potential sponsors for next years event as this is definitely something I’d like to replicate if the city and attendee base is willing.
In terms of gigs in 2015, the final total was 3 keynotes, 6 other talks, 2 workshops, 4 roundtables, 2 facilitations (totalling 6 days), 18 mentor sessions, 2 consults, and 2 MC gigs (R9 Accelerator and AnimFX).
Many of the above you can read about here and here—heartfelt thanks to all the clients for the opportunity to continue to learn and hone my craft.
There were some mammoth highlights professionally in terms of my own personal development and achievements, however, the challenge was always sustaining regular gigs from my base in Wellington, NZ.
As for my online efforts, a modest offering compared to previous years:
The last in the list is a post indicating where the majority of my days will now be focussed in 2016 (the rest of my time being split amongst TEDxWellington plus a personal pledge to recommit myself to punching again).
The new job takes me away from the specific social media sector and into a broader ‘smart cities’ and ecosystem development space. The long-term goal of which is threefold:
have the City Council (who provide the funds both for the role plus operational budget), widen it’s commitment beyond the three years;
for Wellington to start to attract global interest in terms of the work we’re doing, evidenced by web traffic, enquiries and invitations to share;
make people smile and / or think.
Obviously, all of the above relies on demonstrating a causal link between the activities of the Collider programme and the more connected and effective creative, digital and tech city ecosystem. An audacious challenge, but then again, if we aren’t being audacious then what’s the point in turning up‽
