July 5, 2006

CaseCamp Montreal :: Looking Back

Last night I participated in Montreal’s inaugural casecamp. Pretty cool process.

CaseCamp is is a marketing-oriented ad-hoc gathering inspired by David Crow and BarCamp. It’s open to anyone and completely free. It’s about telling stories. Presenters, following The Rules of CaseCamp, share case studies of their work. The goal is to create a commons for discussion, learning and networking between all participants.

So how was it? Well, I left with mixed emotions. First, I need to put out there that I’m not really in the field of marketing. So, it’s possible that I was simply the wrong audience. However, I am interested in systems, self-organization, and the notion of the unconference, AND I used to be in the filed of advertising and marketing. So…

Last night’s casecamp took off around 6PM with a great line-up of presenters sharing real-life cases with the group of 60-ish participants. Great stuff! I really enjoyed the candid, open, and honest sharing of ideas, tactics, and strategies. It really had the feeling of community, especially given the often competitive nature of the biz. Also, those folks that spontaneous gathered for the ad-hoc event were great. That room last night had the feeling of creativity all over it! So, from a content and networking point-of-view, fabulous evening!

Now looking at it through the lens of the UNconference and self-organization… I have to say that I found the evening had many flavours of a real conference, albeit without the hefty price-tag and with the caveat that this was a first shot at the process. Presenters, well prepared ahead of time, stood at the front of the small auditorium (graciously provided by Radio Canada for the event) and did their ten-minute spiel. Then the audience asked them questions for about five. Hrrmmm… Presenters, audience… Sounds like a conference to me.

I found that the physical environment, though really nice for a conference, didn’t fully allow for dialogue amongst participants. Instead, questions were directed to the presenters and answered to the person asking the question. What was great though, was that the conversations did take place at the bio-break and at the end of the evening. Fabulous. And, to be perfectly fair, it was acknowledged that the space wasn’t… perfect. So again, fabulous.

I wonder if there’s an opportunity to turn this into something of a dialogue, where participants can speak more with one another rather than just the presenters and whether the presenters could be… well, a little less prepared and glossy. For me, a spontaneous gathering is just that – spontaneous. And to me the word spontaneous is not synonymous with well prepared. But then again, that might just be my own perception. I wonder about how we could instead see the content of the sessions generated, driven, and created by the participants, the day of, during the course of the event, rather than by a single organizer (hate to say it, but there was some organization to this… as no one had a say in the presentation topics other than those choosing to present), or small group of oganizers, in advance. Some thoughts in progress… All while being so appreciative of the event itself!

Overall, I really enjoyed the night and look forward to participating in the next Montreal casecamp. Special thanks to Mitch for taking the lead on helping the Montreal contingent get under way.

Read Mitch’s post about the event

July 2, 2006

Lightning will Strike!

Fabulous!

I’ve just found a great online resource to help me with my lighting-capturing-skills. And to quote Mr. Dynamite: “Chicks dig guys with skills.”

Check it out: Lightning Photography - Photo Tips

As a side note to this short piece…

I realize that I haven’t been posting in my words section lately, most probably as I am busy writing my MA and thus all my writing energy is being channelled into that work, but I am suddenly finding energy around blogging again. Not sure where this is coming from, perhaps lately being in a perpetual state of reflection is pushing me to share those reflections. Also, I’ve (again) realized that my thoughts aren’t really my thoughts until they are shared with another.

So, you’re the other. Thanks for that.

I’m going to try to let this new energy flow into more regular posts.
We’ll see how that goes…

May 24, 2006

War :: What are we doing?

So in the last few days, I’ve been posting some shots I took in the Mont Royal cemetery, specifically, in Veterans’ section. What’s been great is reading people’s reactions to these images. On my end, it was a quite powerful experience being out there, so I’m glad that this translated into the images.

One of the aspects I really love about having my photoblog is hearing from others and starting conversations on topics of interest. There was one that recently struck me and inspired this reflection/rant of a response so I though I’d share it to see if others want to input:

I was struck by your comment in particular re: “the other aspect is that life goes on”… you got me thinking. I think that part of my having taken and shared these photos is that my life DOES go on, regardless of where and what my country’s soldiers are fighting. For me, that’s the travesty I live with ever day that I’m conscious of it. It’s that piece around becoming numb to war and fighting as “just something that is happening” and that “[my] life goes on”.

I believe We are becoming complacent to war, potentially more blindly accepting it than we used to, in having a newly formed fear for our own “security”. North America’s been living the NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) lifestyle for many decades, but with the newly (perceived) security risks, we seem to accept new behaviours from our government, with which we may not necessarily be as morally and ethically aligned to.

It’s all about feeling safe now.

You know, this is a tough one for me. I usually like to have an alternate answer to a problem I’m seeing. However, in this case, I don’t have the answer. All I have is this pit in my stomach telling me I’m not sure what we are doing is right.

Reflection in progress…

March 24, 2006

Warning: bureaucracy at work is hazardous to your health

An article in the Globe and Mail. Don de Guerre is a professor of mine for my Masters in Human Systems Intervention.

Warning: bureaucracy at work is hazardous to your health
VIRGINIA GALT WORKPLACE REPORTER
Friday, March 24, 2006

March 18, 2006

Yatta :: Say No More

Okay, wow. A friend recently brought me into the world of Yatta… For those who haven’t yet experienced this phenomenon, click on the link below and prepare to drop your jaw:

Yatta on Google Video

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