thinking: relating- celebrating :-)

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.

Stephen Knightly is going to be presenting at TEDxAuckland on gaming for good.

One of the games that he will probably mention is called MyFriendQuest.

MyFriendQuest is an animated PC application created by the BrightMind LABS team to teach children to recognize and respond appropriately to emotions.

Initially designed for the specific needs of children with high functioning autism or Asperger’s syndrome, MyFriendQuest also achieves great results with children with ADD, ADHD, dyspraxia, learning difficulties, social anxiety and severe shyness. 

MyFriendQuest is designed to engage children on a gaming level while making sense of a part of everyday life that many struggle with.

Stephen is a Director of video games consultancy InGame and technology and innovation marketing consultancy Pursuit PR, but has turned his longtime passion for creating video games into an income and a positive contribution. Recent posts by Stephen include Case Study: Autism game for kids and TED talks about gaming.

One that caught my attention was this talk on a the gaming layer idea by

Seth Priebatsch: Entrepreneur (21)

Prresented recently At TEDxBoston JUly 2010  12:02 minutes Posted: Aug 2010

By now, we’re used to letting Facebook and Twitter capture our social lives on the web — building a “social layer” on top of the real world. At TEDxBoston, Seth Priebatsch looks at the next layer in progress: the “game layer,” a pervasive net of behavior-steering game dynamics that will reshape education and commerce.

He is currently (more about Seth Priebatsch)

“working on SCVNGR, “a massive experiment in building a mobile game together.” Backed by Google Ventures, SCVNGR is part game, part game platform.  Players play SCVNGR by going places, doing challenges and having fun — outside of the office, beyond the screen, in the real world. Organizations use SCVNGR by building on the game layer by adding their own challenges to the places they care about.”

About Seth Priebatsch

“Proud Princeton dropout” Seth Priebatsch runs SCVNGR, a mobile start-up trying to build the game layer on top of the world. Full bio and more links

This video clip is from Plum Jungle: Pete Longworth (photography), Michael K. Chin (music), Christopher Baron (film). @PlumJungle are coming across to Auckland and presenting at TEDxAuckland on 26th of Sept. I’m looking forward to this. Music, film, photography, media and more. Michael is @TokyoLoveIn Genres:Electronic, Music, Jazz

‘Life on Top of Hyde Park’ project – the genesis for other works like, ‘Another Time, Another Pace’. Music: ‘Crosstown’ – from the album, ‘Life on top of Hyde Park’ by Michael K. Chin (Tokyo Love-In)

Available on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/

I like the work but also spotted that @FundBreak is partly behind some of this creative work. Their tagline is FundBreaker, Crowd funding platform for your projects & ideas.

I don’t believe we have anything like this in NZ . The fundbreak business model looks like a great way to lend a hand up. I have written here before about peer to peer banking and development aid. This looks like a start-up waiting to happen here. The Big Idea New Zealand creative community meets Give a Little.

Apparently there is some $ available The New Zealand Venture Investment Fund says $50 million has become available to establish new funds targeting innovative local companies …not strictly for creative companies (The deadline for proposals for new funds is 5pm Monday, 27 September 2010.)

What is Fundbreak?
Fundbreak is a new crowdfunding platform and community for creative projects and ideas. Developed for artists, musicians, filmmakers, journalists, designers, entrepreneurs, inventors, event organisers, software developers and all other creative’s, to raise funds and give project creators the break they need to realise their goals and aspirations.

How does Fundbreak work?
Fundbreak provides project creators with a platform to present their ideas to a worldwide audience. If anyone likes the idea, they can support it by pledging money to the creator’s project. In return for support, the project creators will offer rewards depending on the level of funding; essentially differentiating itself from the normal funding process.

Who is the Fundbreak team?
The Fundbreak team is made up of four energetic, tech-savvy, eccentric team members, situated in Sydney.

Whether you are a part-time photographer or an inspiring xylophone musician, Fundbreak is here with a capable platform in helping you find your funds.