Social Network for RSA Fellows
Listening to Fellows!
I was reminded by the Interesting09 conference, which took place yesterday, of all the discussions and thoughts I have had over the last 2 years about finding a way of listening to more RSA Fellows. I attended Interest08 last year (obviously) and really enjoyed the speedy, energetic and diverse format.
My main thought with regard RSA is very simple: I would really love to hear Fellows talking about their work or interests.
I don’t think I am alone in this. We obviously have an amazing free lecture series, which include people who really are the ‘thought leaders’ they claim to be. We are also fortunate in now being able to watch these great lectures at our leisure at home.
There are however, hundreds (maybe even thousands) of Fellows, both in the UK and abroad who are being leaders, breaking new ground in their own environments and fields, earning valuable experiences and insights which may only being shared within their particular field, and not more widely.
Wouldn’t it be great if Fellows found a way of creating opportunities to release all that emergent knowledge and passion ... and have some fun in the process?
Here are some of the ideas that have come out though discussions about this.
Open Mic Evenings
This was suggested frequently about 14 months. We find a venue and invite Fellows (and others) to come and grab the mic and tell us about what they do. This idea is very informal and spontaneous.
TED Fringe (or possibly even TEDx)
I related to Matthew Taylor’s post on the TED conference in July in Oxford.
What Matthew seemed to mind most was the sense of elitism ‘TED delegates think of themselves as a hand-picked elite, and have paid about £3,000 for that status’. The point of course is that some of those same speakers will come to RSA to speak and those lectures will be free, demonstrating very firmly the idealistic philosophy of spreading ideas and thinking to everyone.
Could the RSA and Fellows set up a TED ‘fringe’, a range of regional small Fellow-led conferences around TED or separate events such as the TEDxTuttle conference being run by Lloyd Davies this week?
Or even better perhaps, RSA could run these mini-conference themselves rather than around TED?
Pecha Kucha Nights
I was talking about this to a local Fellow Johhny Grey, and he told me about Pecha Kucha (which is Japanese for the sound of conversation). Perhaps you have heard about this, but I hadn’t at the time.
“Pecha Kucha Night, devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dythamwas conceived in 2003 as a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.
But as we all know, give a mike to a designer (especially an architect) and you’ll be trapped for hours. The key to Pecha Kucha Night is its patented system for avoiding this fate. Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each – giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show”
6 minutes and 40 seconds! That’s how long it takes to warm up a crowd with silly jokes, surely? Or to stop feeling faint?
I like the idea of this format for three reasons:
- If you turned up for an event like this someone would be bound to interest you (rather than single speaker events)
- The brevity would ensure that it kept lively (rather than the *potential* for boring long lectures).
- People would have to take time and trouble preparing a very good presentation and this would probably increase the quality.
Taking it ‘open and local’
Rather than looking at it just as Fellows speaking at these types of events, at regional and local level it could be really helpful and fun to arrange events like this that invited a local community to both speak and to attend.
What do you think?
Would you like to hear other Fellows speaking?
Would you attend any events like this?
Would you like to speak at an event like this?
Would you help arrange an event like this?
Do you have a venue that could be used, or know someone with a venue that could be used e.g. a school, village hall, conference space or warehouse?
What would be needed to start an experiment? How could the RSA and Fellows work together to arrange something? Could the new Fellowship Council help facilitate these sorts of conversations?
Would these formats work for Fellows in other places around the world?
Are there other types of formats you have found to work really well?
Are there other ways we could share Fellow knowledge informally other than a face-to-face format? Perhaps through live online conference facilities or using other social media tools?
My main thought with regard RSA is very simple: I would really love to hear Fellows talking about their work or interests.
I don’t think I am alone in this. We obviously have an amazing free lecture series, which include people who really are the ‘thought leaders’ they claim to be. We are also fortunate in now being able to watch these great lectures at our leisure at home.
There are however, hundreds (maybe even thousands) of Fellows, both in the UK and abroad who are being leaders, breaking new ground in their own environments and fields, earning valuable experiences and insights which may only being shared within their particular field, and not more widely.
Wouldn’t it be great if Fellows found a way of creating opportunities to release all that emergent knowledge and passion ... and have some fun in the process?
Here are some of the ideas that have come out though discussions about this.
Open Mic Evenings
This was suggested frequently about 14 months. We find a venue and invite Fellows (and others) to come and grab the mic and tell us about what they do. This idea is very informal and spontaneous.
TED Fringe (or possibly even TEDx)
I related to Matthew Taylor’s post on the TED conference in July in Oxford.
What Matthew seemed to mind most was the sense of elitism ‘TED delegates think of themselves as a hand-picked elite, and have paid about £3,000 for that status’. The point of course is that some of those same speakers will come to RSA to speak and those lectures will be free, demonstrating very firmly the idealistic philosophy of spreading ideas and thinking to everyone.
Could the RSA and Fellows set up a TED ‘fringe’, a range of regional small Fellow-led conferences around TED or separate events such as the TEDxTuttle conference being run by Lloyd Davies this week?
Or even better perhaps, RSA could run these mini-conference themselves rather than around TED?
Pecha Kucha Nights
I was talking about this to a local Fellow Johhny Grey, and he told me about Pecha Kucha (which is Japanese for the sound of conversation). Perhaps you have heard about this, but I hadn’t at the time.
“Pecha Kucha Night, devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dythamwas conceived in 2003 as a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.
But as we all know, give a mike to a designer (especially an architect) and you’ll be trapped for hours. The key to Pecha Kucha Night is its patented system for avoiding this fate. Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each – giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show”
6 minutes and 40 seconds! That’s how long it takes to warm up a crowd with silly jokes, surely? Or to stop feeling faint?
I like the idea of this format for three reasons:
- If you turned up for an event like this someone would be bound to interest you (rather than single speaker events)
- The brevity would ensure that it kept lively (rather than the *potential* for boring long lectures).
- People would have to take time and trouble preparing a very good presentation and this would probably increase the quality.
Taking it ‘open and local’
Rather than looking at it just as Fellows speaking at these types of events, at regional and local level it could be really helpful and fun to arrange events like this that invited a local community to both speak and to attend.
What do you think?
Would you like to hear other Fellows speaking?
Would you attend any events like this?
Would you like to speak at an event like this?
Would you help arrange an event like this?
Do you have a venue that could be used, or know someone with a venue that could be used e.g. a school, village hall, conference space or warehouse?
What would be needed to start an experiment? How could the RSA and Fellows work together to arrange something? Could the new Fellowship Council help facilitate these sorts of conversations?
Would these formats work for Fellows in other places around the world?
Are there other types of formats you have found to work really well?
Are there other ways we could share Fellow knowledge informally other than a face-to-face format? Perhaps through live online conference facilities or using other social media tools?
Views: 7
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by David Young on -
Hi Tess
thanks for your emails about your post
Imagine if we were able to listen to other fellows speaking in their workplace? We could all sorts of networks going without the need to be focused on the RSA House.
I could certainly host something at BT centre is one of our technology suites. I'm sure we have fellows in every FTSE 100 and many would be prepared to do the same
David
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Permalink Reply by Tessy Britton on -
@ David Young
What a great offer! Could we perhaps talk about getting those interested to help arrange something?
@ David Wilcox
If we are trying something new I am probably less keen to start with outcomes, activity, relationships etc could be emergent?
It is very exciting if David Young feels that as well as his own company, there may be other organisations who might host a knowledge sharing event of the sort we are discussing. I particularly like the idea, wrapped up in David Young's suggestion, of creating opportunities for Fellows to contribute and initiate. If we add universities and schools, who also potentially have spaces they might offer, then there could be ways of growing the idea?
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Permalink Reply by David Price on -
Great idea, Tessy: thank you.
Building on Stephen's suggestion about connecting thought and action, and given the diversity of interests and experience, I wonder whether there might be something to be said for organizing a series of such events thematically -- perhaps using the RSA projects / themes as the initial seeds?
Theming the events (even in a loosely-defined way) might gather a group (more) predisposed to action in relation to the theme and increase the chances that the serendipitous discoveries at the event will catalyse action.
David
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Permalink Reply by Tessy Britton on
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@ David Price Thanks David - I like the idea of collecting ideas for sharing into some general themes too - as well as exploring cross-discipline sharing opportunities as well.
You could envisage these might come out of more general desire that Fellows have often voiced to form interest/discussion/action groups around both existing RSA projects and new collaborative Fellow-led projects?
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Permalink Reply by Tessy Britton on
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@ David Wilcox That sounds very encouraging - thanks for feeding back David.
Anything we can develop which is collaborative between RSA and Fellows is likely to much more exciting and appealing.
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Permalink Reply by Sian Prime on
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This is all very exciting. I like the idea of occasional Pecha Kucha style events.
Would there be an interest in creating Action Learning Sets, or more informal groups, so Fellows could meet, commit to giving one another time to help support one another to develop ideas, turn thoughts in to action and hold one another accountable? I know that I'd really appreciate opportunities to talk with Fellows in that way and be happy to facilitate some.
S
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Permalink Reply by Tessy Britton on
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Hi Sian - That's a really interesting idea and wonderful of you to offer to help facilitate. What seems to be coming out of the comments here is the desire for deeper types of co-learning where action is the aim from the beginning, and perhaps a lighter, very informal format. You could also see one leading from the other?
Thanks Mas - getting the balance right (between a whole range of things) is a real issue at events isn't it? It would certainly be exciting - having Pecha Kucha and speed networking on the same night - although I think we might need a 'quiet room' where some of *us* could go ....
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Permalink Reply by Belinda Lester on -
Hi all -
LOVE this discussion. We had a great event in New York last night, which was in many ways a standard network event, glasses of wine in hand. However, after an introduction from the Chair of RSA-US Peter Peyser and myself, we made it all about Fellows. People spoke about why they became a Fellow, how their work and wider interests merge, and projects that they would be interested in taking forward. It creates such an energy and I must admit resulted in the recruitment of about 5 new fantastic Fellows.
We will be adapting something similar for the next New Fellows' evening in London on 28 Sept - I will make sure I feed back to you afterwards.
I hope that we can run our Council meetings with similar energy and intention - the first meeting will be informal in nature but very focused on results. We are a creative and innovative lot and we should make the most of this!
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Permalink Reply by Tessy Britton on
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That sounds like a really interesting event Belinda - please do let us know how this goes on the 28th!
There seem to be several Fellows who have replied to this discussion interested in helping to set up some test events - with some great experience and expertise. Do you think this is something that Fellows could do collaboratively with RSA.... it would make a real difference working together on them?
I am wondering what the best way would be to take forward these wonderful offers and suggestions?
- We could start a group on here and gather interested Fellows?
- Have a meeting - Jackie Elliman offered to arrange and host one in London to start discussing possible formats etc?
- Take the concept of 'knowledge sharing' to the Fellowship Council meeting - see what support the Council might be able to offer enthusiastic Fellows who would like to initiate discussions or events with this focus?
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Coleman on -
Yes - in a sense, it's what one does as a teacher in a university. I always assume that the only way my students can be expected to listen to me is if a) I have something to say to them that will allow them to go away and do something in a new way; b) I make it possible for them to do that; c) I ensure that they have opportunities to witness one another doing something new; d) they can see me witnessing them doing something new; and e) this all feeds in to the next talk by me that I want them to engage with.
It's much easier, of course, to give them a lecture, go home and hope that the brilliance of my words has enlightened them. But that rarely works. And, anyway, if the 'enlightenment' one is seeking entails turning students into people capable of making a difference, mere echo-learning will never do the trick.
So, I think that there are some ideas to be gained from observing how effective, interactive education is made sustainable.
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Coleman on
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Re Tessy's question (13 September)
Yes - in a sense, it's what one does as a teacher in a university. I always assume that the only way my students can be expected to listen to me is if a) I have something to say to them that will allow them to go away and do something in a new way; b) I make it possible for them to do that; c) I ensure that they have opportunities to witness one another doing something new; d) they can see me witnessing them doing something new; and e) this all feeds in to the next talk by me that I want them to engage with.
It's much easier, of course, to give them a lecture, go home and hope that the brilliance of my words has enlightened them. But that rarely works. And, anyway, if the 'enlightenment' one is seeking entails turning students into people capable of making a difference, mere echo-learning will never do the trick.
So, I think that there are some ideas to be gained from observing how effective, interactive education is made sustainable.
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