thinking: relating- celebrating :-)

Here is what all the 10 year olds will be doing next. Thomas makes some other good points during his presentation – like most of the kids know way more about the technology than their teachers which is a real challenge for educators.

‘Thomas Suarez is a 6th grade student at a middle school in the South Bay of Los Angeles. When Apple released the Software Development Kit (SDK), he began to create and sell his own applications. “My parents, my friends and even the people at the Apple store all supported me,” he says, “and Steve Jobs inspired me”.

Thomas points out that it’s hard to learn how to make an app.

“For soccer you could go to a soccer team … but what if you want to make an app?” He’s started a club for fellow students at school, where he shares his knowledge of programming. Thomas articulates his vision that students are a valuable new technology resource to teachers, and should be empowered to offer assistance in developing the technology curriculum and also assist in delivering the lessons.

Thomas has been fascinated by computers and technology since before kindergarten. Recently, he’s been focused on the development of applications for the iPhone, and has established his own company, CarrotCorp’

from TEDxManhattanBeach

For more examples see SMH last week

The other example I liked was - iSpoke Flash Cards

‘Another student from NSW, Conner Brendish, 18, helped create the $4.49 iSpoke Flash Cards, an interactive flash cards app which gives users the ability to create their own flash cards, store them in albums and record or overdub their own voice.

It was designed as an educational tool for children with special needs. Anthony Toben, a parent frustrated with the technology available to assist and treat autism for his son Joshua, got Brendish to make it. From the proceeds, 50 cents of each sale is donated to Autism Spectrum Australia.’

Back on Sept 26th along with 450 others we made it across the bridge to TEDxAuckland 2010.  I was able to take my daughter (9 going on 19) and one of my work colleagues.  As DialogCRM I was the CRM Partner for the event and helped out on a few other areas and was delighted to be able to do that.

Special thanks to Richard Hollingnum and all the other speakers and helpers too. Here are my notes from the day. Apologies for the delay in getting the post live but better late than never as they say.

First up Cindy Gallop was skyped in from South Africa. The technology quality of the call was very challenging and it wasn’t until near the end of her talk that she got any real cut thru. “Make sh*t happen. ” was a call to arms. I think Cindy also invited us to all visit her in NYC.

A key point here was to break actions into micro-actions – write them down on cards at the back and get started converting intentions into actions.

Renee Liang made an instant connection with us as she weaved her story of being NZ born Chinese (Piokiwi) on Chinglish blogger & poet. Renee is also part of Funky Oriental Beats (FOB). For me this was FAB thunderbirds are Go time. Renee has excellent timing and her droll sense of humour (very kiwi) warmed up the house nicely.

Richard Loseby was up next. What is it with advertising and adventures in Afghanistan ? One of my favourite reads in 2003 was Shantaram by Greg Roberts*. I have read Richards book but on this telling I’m afraid I got a bit distacted by a story about a goat and walking a lot (700km) and this note by @elysey

One Beep have some radio technology which enables the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) users to power up their computers. This is a project with a big vision and it won global recognition in the Image Cup. I think the team missed a great opportunity to lose their suit jackets & come up with a more spontaneous presentation when (ironically) their tech demo didn’t work. I’m sure we will hear more from these guys.

Divya Dhar has an impressive background and her talk covered some big ideas on P3. I loved that my daughter got to watch some other young women going places. At times though; (and this applies to some of the other young speakers.) I did wonder if a a couple of G&T’s and a few more personal anecdotes may have been a good idea.

Getting that balance between head and heart is a fine thing and we saw it a few times during the day.

Ms 9 (my daughter) thought Divya’s talk was a bit “alice in wonderland” ish. Not sure what she meant but again – great to see young people rising up into leadership roles. I know how much effort it takes to prepare a presentation and totally appreciate that but creating a connection with an audience is harder than it looks.

The benchmark TED related talk for young speakers has to be Eva Vertes who at 19 shared her journey towards a more radical theory on cancer and use of stem cells is at times a bit of a stretch. However she does manage to weave in a back story and sense of purpose that brings the audience along for the ride.

TEDxAuckland will be remembered for the number of young people presenting and pushing the envelope. There is a huge challenge there to all of us and it reassuring to see and hear from some young people who are committed to change. Over on TED there is a series of TED under 30 talks.

Stephen Knightleys talk on gaming connected with me as I have projects in the same territory. Augmented reality and gaming approaches to a range of topics have been successful. About this time I began wondering if Richard Loseby and Greg Roberts were both game characters how they would compare.

Jonathan of the learning Connexxion had some great stories of how everyone could learn to draw and even a few jokes sprinkled in there. He was someone who had seen a few bad days but had pushed through and art learning conection is in the transformational business.

Star Jam’s Julie Bartlet was the high point for me and I suspect many others. Her project helps disabled kids chase their dreams and there is always a risk with this type of content that it becomes an exercise in manipulation. Julies personal connection to the project was evident and when her brother came on stage I suspect a few people reached for their hankies. Later on a group of young performers from Starjam performed a few songs. Not my kind of music but no doubting the heart in both presentations.

There were so many great presentations and the audience was great too.

My personal favourites were @plumjungle @tokyolovein who did a messy delightful break all the presentation rules kind of effortlessly entertaining set.

Here is the plumjungle video of the day below. Thanks Michael for the lovely photos – even got one of me.

Here is Michael taking photos Plum Jungle story over here on Fundbreak and their fundbreak application over here. We need more crowdfunding projects here. Also like Kickstarter but here is a post on them and 8 others crowdsourced funding platforms.

* Special bonus for reading this far. Shantaram interview from ABC in 2007 Greg Roberts.

Love the bit about NZ Passport best one for a man on the run and the idea that the only thing he is now qualified for is advertising.

I predict an unusual demand for baby sitters this coming Tuesday morning. Its going to be a bit hard to find a sitter at 2am but I think some parents are going to try. The reason is a live global event called TEDxChange which is being broadcast live to the web from NYC.

It is free to attend and the first 50 students to apply actually get free tickets to the TEDxAuckland event being held on Sunday 26th of September at Westlake Boys High on the North Shore in Auckland.

If you want to be in on the free ticket offer you need to view the TEDxChange_Auckland.pdf and read the details there to see if you qualify. As student tickets are $5o each for TEDxAuckland that is a great deal. (The poster is 1.4mb so careful if on your mobile data plan.)

“Please join TEDxAuckland for a crazy pyjama party and a unique experience on September 21, 2010 at 2 a.m for TEDxChange, a live event from New York, co-hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and TED.”

TEDxChange marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the eight Millennium Development Goals set out by the UN to tackle global issues such as poverty, child mortality and disease.

Convened by Melinda French Gates and featuring talks by some of the world’s most inspired thinkers and doers, TEDxChange will look at what changes have taken place in the last decade, and what more needs to be done to ensure the health and well-being of future generations.

Watch the webcast: The entire 90-minute program will be streamed live on TED.com on September 20, 2010 at 11am EDT which is 2 and 3 am in the morning NZ time

Where: Business School Decima Glenn Room, Level 3 Owen Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Rd. 2am-5am BYO Teddy.

Any tips on where to find babysitters at 2am in the morning will be warmly received.

I will definitely be going the the TEDxAuckland event on Sunday the 26th which is just one week away now.

If you want to download a poster to email or print out please $100 adults $50 Students http://ow.ly/d/6Bp

At DialogCRM we are proud and delighted to be one of the sponsors for the event.

Download: TEDxAuckland_2010.pdf