Free School (of Everything) Tomorrow Night - London

What do you want to learn?

Looking forward to meeting up with the School of Everything (SOE) folk (Andy Gibson, Sebastian Mary Harrington and compadres) tomorrow night at Free School. We’ve been talking about fun, expansive stuff in the informal education space together lately and found many friends and values in common

They helped set up Social Innovation Camp with Dr Dan, Nesta and all, and are now all systems go with real funding from people like philanthropist and visionary Esther Dyson, plus Rocco Pellegrinelli, JP Rangaswami and Channel 4 Education. Their charter is to make learning and teaching much more accessible and human, in the spirit of Ivan Illich. (Interesting to note Illich’s shared use of ‘convivial’ with Slow Food Movement, another passion). They were kind enough to invite me to be their Feature Teacher last month.

I won’t go on about it too much, but suffice to say I am deeply inspired by what they are about, by what they are creating. It links up with so much of what we have been looking at over the last decade, culminating in the MA in Person Centred Education journey. See more on the previous blog Learning.

Social media, social enterprise and education all come together. Sparks are flying! Wherever I go right now - Team Everything are there. The list of friends/colleagues in common, random path crossings and thought trains is getting too spooky to mention.

I’ve been asked to do a short show and teach at Free School, plus it’s a good chance to meet up, and my London digs are in Bethnal Green anyway.. too easy! I’m guessing it will be a great and somewhat intense evening of like mindedness and learning. Real learning. Plus Sarah Cheal is coming down from The Foundry to join in, which is a grand bonus prize.

Where? Gallery Cafe, Old Ford Rd, Bethnal Green

When? 6-9pm on Tuesday 29 April.

Here’s how Seb Mary described it earlier. Nice and informal:

“The idea is to get interested local people, friends, fellow social-enterprisers and other lovely people together for a few hours regularly to swap skills, find out what we can teach each other, and of course eat cake. And go to the pub afterwards.

The format of the evening is: cake (of course), nice people, a friendly cafe, and a Free School signup sheet. This is basically a piece of paper where you can add what you want to learn, or what you can teach, and see if anyone else matches up. It always results in new friends, and surprisingly often in skill-swapping.

We also like having a mini-teaching session or two on something people might find interesting…. might you be interested in running a mini-session on blogging for social enterprises?”

Free School will also be running at the Shine Unconference for Social Entrepreneurs on 9-11 May. Authentic Blogging / Presence Labs will also be at Shine, and might be offering a session too. Will keep you posted.

More on Free School with SOE here…

Can’t make it, or want to swot up before or after?

“A Taste of Social Media” (web 2.0, mass collaboration and creativity, blogging, flickr, facebook etc) for individuals, activists, organisations, artists, any and all.

Plus many many more short sessions where you can learn or teach for free.

For a preview of “what is social media?“, start with the wiki definition. Social media par excellance.

Try out a ning social network here. Join if it’s you - and post your thoughts and questions.

Enjoy the wonderful We Think animation to introduce Charlie Leadbeater’s new book of the same name and start getting your head around social media again, and again, and again…

Social Innovation Camp - Making IT Active

“…an experiment in using social technology for social change”

Definitely want to be there next year. Well done to all involved and especially Dr Dan McQuillan from Internet Artizans and Paul Miller from School of Everything for getting it off the ground. Long may we all be social and active together!

Dopplr adds carbon calculations

I’m delighted to see that Dopplr has added a carbon calculator for the trips you take. This is just what we need. Once actual carbon data is visible, people can go ahead and make changes in their travel and lives.

Without the real data, we just all live in fear, doubt and uncertainty (and even denial).

I Am An Activist - Tribute to Anita Roddick

I am a big fan and sometimes apologist for Anita Roddick. I am also an activist.

I have grown up with Anita’s strong voice and heart, strong actions, in my life. She is like an inspiring, very sympatico Aunty, always there, always putting the fire in my belly.

The day she died was a day I remember well. It was a shock that hit me in the guts. I had no idea Anita was even sick. I happened to be joining with Sarah James, a fellow activist, to begin a new initiative. We dedicated our meeting to her memory.

I dedicate large chunks of what I know and am to Anita.

I only met her once. She came to talk at a Business School I was teaching at in Australia. I hate allocated seating and, like my young daughter, usually sit right at the front if I can. I know it’s rude, I know it’s not fair. But as a kid, the older I got, the more I knew what I wanted to know. The more passionate I was about finding out about it. If (and I mean if) I went to class, I sat at the front. I worked hard. I listened.

So when Anita came to talk, I sat right next to her… where no-one else dared sit.

I wanted to see her hands. That’s what really mattered at the time. I thought I could see inside her soul and find out if she was true, and real and worthy of my sometimes teenage adoration, if I could only see her hands. At the risk of sounding like a tosser, I have to say - they were beautiful. They were the hands of a worker, but still somewhat refined. They had balance. I’m not saying she was perfect, or a saint by any means. She made tough decisions, was perceived to be in control of stuff that was way outside her control, but she did her best. She got under people’s skin, one way or another. The way she fanned her own fire sparked countless 1000s more to ignite. She made things happen. Good things.

When she died, I realised I would not be working with her - as I had planned . We moved to Brighton in 2005, birthplace of Body Shop store No. 1 and close to Anita.’s new base and mother. A place for activists. When friends asked “why are you moving back to the UK, to Brighton. What will you do?” I said casually, “Oh, I think I’m going to be working with Anita Roddick. Now she’s out of The Body Shop, I think she’ld be great fun to work with. She’s got doing loads of good stuff and someone’s bound to introduce us to each other. It’s destiny.” I was only partly tongue in cheek. Stranger things have happened, and she did live just down the road - and we do have friends in common.

Alas, it was not to be. In one sense. In another, we are all working together - towards similar goals, wherever we are. Social justice, sustainability of life on earth, human and animal rights. The work needs doing, so we unite to do it. With or without Anita, her spiritual forebears or descendants. We are one point in the continuum, all linked going through time and space. We are not alone. There is bamboo.

Here are some tributes given during the I Am An Activist event on 23 October 2007, when “thousands of thinkers, artists, activists, and other heroic saboteurs of the status quo gathered to celebrate the remarkable life and legacy of Dame Anita Roddick.”

“[Anita was] the human equivalent of a flag, a claxon, a torch, a flare, an alarm clock. … Uncompromising, inspiring and visionary, an active world citizen, but still funny, sexy, and overflowing.”

Alan Rickman, actor and activist

“Beethoven said, ‘If it comes from the heart, it goes to the heart.’ That quote speaks volumes about my mum. I believe it is the reason my mum touched so many people. Whether you agreed with her or not, or whether you liked her or not, the one thing that is really non-negotiable, the one thing that is not up for discussion, is that all she did as a parent or as an activist, it really all did come from the heart.”

Justine Roddick

My mother treated life like each day was her last, and this gave her the permission for incredible bravery. … Tonight I am personally pledging that I Am An Activist, and within that, I also will have a lot of fun, and I also will be silly. I will not be polite and I will never, ever, ask for permission.

Sam Roddick

“Many have the resources Anita had, but few have the moral fortitude to use those resources to achieve the only truly important goal of social and environmental sustainability.”

Herman Wallace, member of the Angola 3 Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola

“She was, in my opinion, one of the world’s greatest communicators.”

Adrian Bellamy, Chairman of The Body Shop

“Watch and listen to figures from Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Reprieve, The Body Shop, as well as family and close friends, as they laugh and cry and ultimately take to the streets to launch a new movement in activism inspired by the one and only Anita Roddick.”

DVD of the I Am An Activist event available here at, what was, Anita’s blog.

Reposted from the community blog at Authentic Blogging’s online network. All activists welcome to join.

I think, you think, we create (better) together

“We’re here to make a positive difference through blogging - and other social media - for ourselves, for our organisations, for others.”

Are you a friend of the Ood?

I am a Dr Who devotee in a family of them, over generations. I am a friend of the Ood. I look to Russell T Davies and friends for answers… and questions. Beautiful, beautiful questions.

Planet of the Ood - Episode Three, Series Four. First aired 6.20pm 19 April 2008.

“Humanity defines us, we look to you for answers.”

Ood irony.

“2000 Ood (slaves)? We can write them off, that’s what insurance is for.”

Evil Son of Evil British/Human Empir

“The Circle must be broken, so that we can sing.”

Ood call for freedom.

Slavery, persecution, the cruelty of the British human empire. Are we a virus or a blessing

The new circle, the new song.

The sacred, knowing and not knowing. Uncertainty. Social justice, animal rights.

Hive mind. It’s all there.

It’s deep, it’s powerful. We’re all watching it. We love you Ood Sigma. We love you Doctor. You are a Buddha indeed. We love you Russell T, Graeme Harper and all on the team. We love you BBC.

We love you Oods!!!

Oh dear, I’ve got it bad

More about Doctor Who on Wikipedia.

Google App Engine

Thanks Google, what a tasty birthday present. I’m thinking the Google App Engine is going to be a lot of fun. I guess the devil is going to be in the scaling. Haven’t read that bit of the docs yet.

Authentic Blogging Community

We’ve started up a Ning community for Authentic Blogging.

Lib pressed the button on this a few days ago and a bunch of interesting people have shown up and some very interesting discussions are taking place around authenticity, blogging and all sorts. If you are interested in the bigger questions around blogging, voice, authenticity and what it all means, then please come and join in.

Moved to The Werks

I’ve moved offices and joined the emerging coworking community The Werks on Church Road in Hove. A dynamic and interesting space full of dynamic and interesting people werking away.

For those that know the space a little, I’ve got a permanent desk on the First floor in the back corner, sitting across from Jim Callender.

Week off next week

Just to let you all know, am taking a short break next week (14th - 18th April 2008) — off the the Isle of Wight with family for a few days of (hopefully) sunshine and spring air.

I’ll still be around for emergencies, but am really trying to get a little break in before school goes back and the big work push towards summer begins.

More great resources for non profits

Check out the Non-profit Blog Exchange.

See previous resources detailed here.

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