RSA (Renewal, Sharing, Advancement)

Gra and I went up to the Royal Society for the Arts recently to hear Charlie Leadbeater talk about his new book We Think. We were also keen to find out more about the RSA as they have approached me to become a Fellow.

Mum bought a copy of We Think while she was visiting… keen to get her head around the space we are in, and perfect for her ilk, among others. There are many major ommissions and doesn’t come much from deep, personal experience (Charlie doesn’t blog or facebook), but is a fine point of reference for many at this point in time. I am recommending it widely.

Highlights of the evening were…

Blogging as Gardening

Talking with Charlie and Tessy Britton afterwards about blogging. Our message that “the first audience for your blog is you” (blogging as a reflective, learning tool or private/public path on which to travel) got Charlie mentioning “zero-audience blogging” and gardening as a metaphor for why and how some people blog, ie. the cultivation of your blog is a meditative pleasure in itself, towards the cultivation (and harvesting?) of the self… plus others can stroll by and enjoy it too.

Mary Harrington (aka Seb Mary) from School of Everything has talked about this in the past and present too. Interestingly, her garden is out back and not visible to others except when invited in. Mine’s a bit like that too. Maybe I could do with a bit of improvement out front (aka let’s finish the upgrade!

What’s Happening in The RSA

Looking around the crowd afterwards, I spotted Felix Velarde from Underwired. (To be honest, I was just looking for a model to do a nice juxtaposition shot and vox pop, note: interesting facial hair and piercings). He had many positive things to say about the benefits of RSA membership, as did Tessy, who we spent an expansive evening with.

The RSA, it turns out, are making special efforts to attract new media folk, new paradigm folk to their hallowed halls. When I first got their letter, I thought it was a mass marketing effort. Turns out they are serious about engaging Fellows (erk, the feminist in me gasps) in opening up debate and moving forward a very progressive, authentic, connected vision.

There is much emphasis on education which resonates deeply Glad to see Roland Meighan and friends trying to keep them on track as outspoken agitators working from within… Ian Cunningham is also a Fellow.

They are about “removing the barriers to social progress” and state their recently revised manifesto challenges as:

• Encouraging Enterprise
• Moving Towards a Zero-Waste Society
• Developing a Capable Population
• Fostering Resilient Communities
• Advancing Global Citizenship

If we were courting each other, I would have to say the feelings are strongly reciprocal and we will be getting hitched, if for no other reason that to follow Richard Sennett’s call in The Craftsman to cultivate our skills and higher self in the company of like-minded people.

I used to think the UK was impossibly BIG. Now the multiple connections between RSA, School of Everything, Richard Birkin (Biff), Ian Cunningham, Richard Sennett, Michael Fielding, Tessy, Roland, John Grant, Andy Gibson, Seb Mary, MA in Person Centred Education, blogging, progressive education, and Everything are so rich in the potential patterns they create – it’s almost fractal in it’s beauty. Feeling very connected and safe within the spaces opening up and the paths between them. In permaculture terms, there is edge, there is diversity, the soil is rich, the system is in harmony.

Spring has sprung.

Free School Joins Dots

Really enjoyed (as you can see) experiencing Free School this week. Congratulations to Seb Mary and all from School of Everything for making it happen. Some fine folk took a short course in Advanced Raving & Merriment to be sure. We also learnt and taught some very tangible things about…

• Public relations and marketing (thanks Heleana)
• Social media, authenticity and learning
• Taking egalitarian education to the streets.. cafes.. anywhere, anytime.

Find out more here.

Better still, try getting along to the next one.

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!

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.

New dates for Fresh Writing (plus spring tips)

Spring has come and it’s time for even fresher writing!

Here are the dates for the next series of our Fresh Writing Classes at The Werks.

Tuesdays 10.30 – 12.30

1 April
CANCELLED DUE TO NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE

22 April

6 May

20 May

Put them in your diaries now if you have a positive intention to come and learn / create / express / play.

More information about the classes here.

To celebrate the fresh new season – three top tips for improving your writing & blogging… and expanding your mind…

1. Watch your verbs

Verbs are (remember!?) “doing words”. They are the action of your sentences. If you want your writing to jump from the page, give it legs. Think about your verbs. Use new ones. Take risks, combine them in new ways with your nouns (”naming words”). Experiment. Wake people up. Surprise them.

Here is a list to play with, inspired by Spring…

Use them in unlikely ways and surprise yourself. Thaw those frozen fingers. Explode onto the page. Or just tweet a little.

2. Stay alert with new ideas

The wonders of modern tech. Register a Google Alert for a key word expression that relates to your work / passion / writing / life. One of mine is “authentic blogging”. I get sent blog posts from all around the world that use these two key words together. I am forever finding relevant, inspiring new material to write/blog about.

Give it a try. Register here and follow the prompts.

It’s easier than you think.

3. You Think, I Think, We Think (Better) Together

Last thing is… you just gotta watch this clip… if you are remotely interested in creativity and innovation. Yum.

http://authenticblogging.com/2008/03/26/you-think-i-think-we-think-better-together/

Better still, buy the book. “We Think” by Charles Leadbetter.

Reap what you sow.

Hope to see you some Tuesday.

Libby

PS – Happy to come into organisations and do affordable bespoke sessions.

Please forward to anyone interested, with many thanks

More posts on writing to help get your words flowing…

HTML

Get it?

see more crazy cat pics

You Think, I Think, We Think (Better) Together

Been reading reviews about Charles Leadbetter’s book We Think all over the place. Got to get my hands on a copy sooon (come on Rosie, hand it over).

If anyone is trying to get their heads around Web 2.0, social media, new paradigm thinking and all that claptrap – get a look at this. Lovely simple animation. I’m going to use it at the beginning of all my courses. Free event coming up soon to give people a taste of it all. Watch this space.

Guardian review here (including Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky) which also looks reeal good.

Shame The Big Issue review isn’t available online. A different and very valid take on things.

No wonder most journalist’s I meet are annoyed with blogging and What’s Going On with we-think.

No wonder I am compelled to work in and support this space.

So glad Rosie Sherry is in it with me (thanks for the video).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiP79vYsfbo&hl=en]

Brighton Posse Serving Healthy Greens – But Will It Be In Time?

What a great group of people there were at the Striding Out Ethical Pitch event last night, out at the end of the bitterly cold Brighton Pier.

After a brief catch up with Thea Allison from B&H Business Community Partnerships, I was co-opted onto the panel at the last minute to help four passionate organisations sharpen their focus. Without wanting to sound too much like a beauty queen, I honestly felt I had as much to learn from everyone there as they did from me. Humbling to say the least.

Some highlights….

Ethical Weddings – impressed with the potential of their niche politically and culturally. The environmental impact of the average wedding can be huge. The opportunity to have a couple and their friends ritualise their commitment to core human/eco values and each other is a catalyst for great things to happen. I’m a great believer in weddings, and was thoroughly chuffed by how well they are weaving their magic and owning their niche. Ranking extremely well with Google (the blog and dot com would be helping). Great to hear they will be doing more to bring their community together and help them help each other. Let’s see if Ning works for them.

Farm Fresh Express – again, great knowledge about the ethical complexity of their sector. No green wash here. Looking forward to seeing if they can develop a franchise model and start embracing the power of blogging to attract funders, customers and stimulate vibrant conversations about food miles, purity, sovereignty, community resilience, slow food and all the issues that matter. Whichever climate scenario you subscribe to, how we eat and what we eat is a core issue to be dealing with.

Magpie / Shabitat - for their anarchic, shambolic, no-compromise, co-operative cool. Let’s see if they can hang on to it, and take their octopus to the next level.

EcoEvents – Dear Sam. What a woman. Like weddings and eating together, events are another time we come together and share conversations, hopefully positive ones. Plus the consumption of energy to get people their, feed, water and entertain them is massive. Want to see EcoEvents do really well. They have everything it takes. Come the rebranding and refocus onto great events first (which they no doubt can do – can’t wait to refer people to them), green BS8901 standard stuff second – they will be flying. Another dot com ranking well for key search. Well done on that front too.

Main thing is, we can’t shop our way out of global warming. Wish I had kept my big mouth shut and let brainy young futurist Hugh Knowles from Forum for the Future talk more from the panel. Wish he had spelt out in no uncertain terms that their ain’t no time for weighing up the benefits of frilly organic knickers – bleached or unbleached right now.

During a sideways conversation his call to arms hit home and I’m off to start reading Climate Code Red. Hugh reckons the IPCC (Nobel Laureatte Al Gore and Co) are being conservative.

Sadly, I think I agree with him.

Climate Emergency

- Raise the Alarm

Maybe the most important thing for ethical enterprises to be doing right now – other than being fully future aware in how they operate and contribute – is to raise the alarm among their sensitized stakeholders by blogging up the Code Red conversation. We wouldn’t want them to be shunned by those wanting to hide in the bunker. They need to read the signs and focus on the positives, helping us see ourselves as capable of taking on the enormous challenges we are all facing right now in coming back from the brink of destruction.

It needs to be handled sensitively. But without a livable climate, there might not be weddings or enough food to go around. We might not even be here.

Don’t shoot the messenger, bury your head in the sand or blame someone else. Got informed, and start raising the alarm.

“There is an urgent need to reconceive the issue we face as a sustainability emergency, that takes us beyond the politics of failure-inducing compromise. The feasibility of rapid transitions is well established historically.

“We now need to “think the unthinkable”, because the sustainability emergency is now not so much a radical idea as simply an indispensable course of action if we are to return to a safe-climate planet.”

More at… Climate Code Red.

More at Al Gore’s site here.

And here.

Where’s Winston when we need him.

Blogging for Change Agents

Are you driven to make a positive difference in the world?

An entrepreneur, social / environmental ethical enterprise, charity or other third sector organisation?

Do you see the internet as (perhaps) a powerful vehicle for making positive things happen in the world?

Do you want to make your mark in the world?

Have you ever wondered if blogging might help?

Then let’s talk.

We all hear about blogs a lot, but can they really make a difference? We say yes. As dedicated activists and change agents, we’ve looked very carefully at the world of blogging and social media before deciding to specialise in it.

“If I was running the biggest company in the world I would simply use a blog…let’s change the world one conversation at a time.” (Full thread here.)

Will McInnes, Founder – Nixon McInnes

Blogging offers an amazingly cost effective and growthful way to engage with your stakeholders and create online interest in what you do.

Plus search engines like Google rank blogs highly. One of our clients went from no web presence to a top online ranking in their sector within two weeks of starting.

Doing it authentically creates loyalty, connection and genuine relationships. It also helps you and your organisation learn, grow and pool together valuable creativity and intellectual property.

To find out more, read our free e-book on the Essence of Authentic Blogging.

We have a long association with “social / eco enterprise / ethical business” and founded the Sustainable Business Network in 1999. We have worked as activists and entrepreneurs, campaigning for issues from climate change to human rights and media literacy.

After generous feedback on our blogging courses and consultancy last year, we decided to make a commitment to your sector in 2008.

In the next month we want to hear what your sector wants from a blogging training package that is tailored to meet your needs, not just another off the shelf, one-size-fits-all scenario.

We will be talking with a range of people to refine our course outline.

We know people can make a difference. We know the internet has massive potential to connect. With our words, ideas and passion, in engaged dialogue with our key stakeholders – good things can happen.

Blogging is certainly in demand, and we think, rightly so. Web 2.0 is a very exciting space to be in… ripe with potential, especially for smaller organisations that want leverage.

So let’s hear from you!

The draft package outline (including outcomes, benefits, costs and structure) is here.

Sponsored Places

There will be a sliding scale from 20-100% course reduction to make it affordable for smaller enterprises, so get in touch if you would like to nominate for a sponsored place.

More resources for social/eco enterprises…. 

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