Soft Skills to Master by 2020

1. Efficient integration with helper devices (Siri, smartphone reminders, smarthome sensors)

2. How to speak with devices: comprehensibility

3. Creative pursuits tied to the unique qualities of humanness (i.e. expression and ability to read emotional content with clear response)

4. Clear boundaries between self and the wearable tech world (time away from devices, Digital Detox, connection in balance with other humans, nature and the whole)

5. DESIGN for symbiosis: biomimicry, human-centered design combined with a clear understanding of our embedded future with helper devices

Languages of Mindfulness: Connected Learning and Collective Intelligence

Many movements are now forming to gather collective insight, solutions for a troubled planet. I see you all lining up in your positions and I see the leaders who have the big picture to our dynamic puzzle. I see you, striving hard to achieve and bring together the beauty of our world. Our eyes meet across the meetup. We are connecting.

Two aligned movements are colliding: connected learning and collective intelligence. We are learning to use our potential to solve problems together quickly.

Now is the time for collective intelligence to open doors to universal wisdom. We need to learn from each other quickly, sharing our shared insights. We share so much in common – our water and air, food and arteries of transportation that can bring us together in a day. We can solve the big issues like never before. Our capacity and technology grows exponentially, and now we must learn to work together to keep up with our creations.

Now is the time to be all we can be together, to mobilize and put our plans into action. If you do not have a plan yet, write one out…it can be as easy as change what we do and how we value things. Here’s a process that works for me:

GOAL:  Grow love, increase capacity to resolve conflict

OBJECTIVE:  Change global mindset, shifting culture for billions over the next 10 years

STRATEGY:  Clear message of peacebuilding, participation in public commons, growing empathy in daily life. Promote deliberative efforts.

PLAN: Talk to 10 friends, throw a party and gather insights at public events to develop a common message. Spotlight empathy through interactivity and public participation in related channels. 

ACTION: Event inquiry/conversation and social sharing (Twitter, G+, Facebook, LinkedIn) to grow engagement on collective insight, participation in media and empathy in daily life. Host deliberative events and produce local/global conversations that include resolutions for personal and collective actions.

Lay out a path for yourself that starts with a goal and works through setting measurable objectives, a strategy to get there, a plan that you can enact and the call to action you need to see it through. This is a path of mindfulness, of creation with care.

Last weekend I produced social & streaming with the amazing @GATECommunity for GATE3 & StoryCon at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. Amy Domini spoke of investing with your heart, a theme that has come up frequently in my work with the Center for the Greater Good to design impact investment and social development tools. The potential for social impact bonds is extraordinary – we have an opportunity now to show what value we can create together.

We all have a stake in our future. I am focused now on building the tools and models we need to create a beautiful world for our collective futures. Our learning technology startup Eddefy is a fantastic multitool, one of many tools that we are ready for in our box….tools that enhance our capabilities, organize information effectively and help us collaborate with others to solve those great challenges.  What do you want to learn and how do you want to use these tools to contribute your art to all of us?

This film may get your juices going to connect to the global grand challenges and find a solution to bring to the world. If you’re interested in medical innovation, check out the FutureMed stream this week from Singularity University, my alma mater is on fire this week.

Learning how to live with love & make media

In 2005 I traveled to Thailand to make a documentary with kids and women affected and infected with HIV & AIDS. In three weeks I visited social service centers, a camp for kids and families and a residential living center that makes its own clothing, bread, art and goods to sell that supports a village of 40 residents. There are many inspiring stories out there of what it means to love oneself and others through positive action – this is just a glimpse at a few of the people who have inspired me along the way.

A big thank you to Lars Hasselblad Torres and the Global PeaceTiles Project for making this journey possible, along with all of my extraordinary colleagues featured in this short. This was very early in my video production career and was all self-produced and edited – thankfully I can hire editors now to help me. It’s good to know our strengths – and hire others in our community to create more beautiful things together.

Please leave a comment and tell me what’s inspiring you to action – and let me know how we can create beauty together.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=9212315598638441881&hl=en&fs=true

Becoming an Embodied Collaborator

There’s a new dance I’ve been mastering this year, one that many entrepreneurial moms and community leaders can relate to. Now sitting on the board, advising, teaching, consulting or partnering with hundreds of people and organizations the precious resource of time is stretched on a daily basis.

Mastery – and mystery – require a different dance with time, agreements, collaboration and clarity in all communications that I take on. This year on my creative plate I have two startups, two nonprofits, a handful of clients and a fair amount of inquiry, two writing projects, coursework and design of a new home. Tomorrow I produce a one hour talk show on Collaboration for the fifth month of Nonprofits Live, an interactive talk show series answering your questions on how to work together better.

Everything is moving very quickly for Be Embodied, now taking half of my work time to design through this birthing process. We have a big event coming up for solstice (more details to come) and a booth this weekend with TheHUBLA Partner Lounge where we will be hosting conversations on open source ecology, agile transformation and embodied presence in collaboration at noon each day. Join us at the LA Convention Center!

Creatively I am excited and a little exhausted. Sleep is a precious commodity along with time with my handsome husband of Toyshoppe Systems fame. He’s being battered by a bat every day while wizarding on the Dark Knight Rises, and it sounds like he’s living up to his wizard title this year and earning those white hairs of wisdom at Chris Nolan’s side. Amazing work all around us and astonishing colleagues cheering us on to do our very best work all around.

Learning to juggle this dance of being advisor, business leader, founder, creative designer, producer, friend and love is a beautiful challenge that is stretching me to become more than I imagined possible. The collective feels to be dreaming bigger now, looking ahead to a world where anything is possible, where visions come true quite quickly and the flow between us is getting much easier to surf. Communication is clear and exactly as it can be.

At the end of the day the dance is as graceful as I am available to be present, loving, on my most beautiful path in every moment. Giving and sharing what I can while giving the sweet care of a curate to myself in the process. Grateful for the role many of you have played in this growth. Thank you for your love in this process.

In Russia they write songs about it…

Amoration now has an anthem Check out these clips to see Round Hills from Russia in action!

текст песни Round Hills – Amoration

Lyrics:
In My Head I Have Found Dryness
And I Do Not Want To Shout
I’m Afraid Of Hearing Truth
It Is Really Terrible

I Have Skills In Meditation
But It’s Only Self-belief
I Need What I Have Achieved
Then My World Becomes Real

When Amoration Will Be A Norm
When Amoration Will Open The Door
When I At Last Become Very Wise
I’ll Be Able To Prove It All, It Will Be A Surprise

Whose Ideals Are Closer To Me?
That I Want To Understand
But Who Will Help Me This Time?
I Think Nobody Would Agree

Everyone Can See The Future
But Don’t Forget The Main Thing
Just Ask Yourself If You Want It
‘Cause You May Not Like It

When Amoration Will Be A Norm
When Amoration Will Open The Door
When I At Last Become Very Wise
I’ll Be Able To Prove It All, It Will Be A Surprise

Sharing your BEST at Events

1.  Be funny & clever

This can be as simple as showing up with little stickers to put on name badges or baking cookies in the shape of cookie monster the night before.  Think of doing one little thing that relates to your favorite interests and helps your unique identity stick in the minds of the new people you meet. Remember the difference between funny and creepy:  carrying a beaver puppet and only speaking thru your puppet will probably not win you new clients but giving them something simple & unique will help them remember you when you call back later.

2.  Do something different

People will remember the one unique thing you did at that conference that no one else dared to do.  Did you sing a tribute song to the conference organizer or maraud through the convention center dressed as a unicorn?  I still find that people remember Erin @queenofspain from last year’s Gov 2.0 event because she was handing out bumper stickers that say #SUCKIT.

3.  Prepare an unconference conversation topic that bridges your work with others (AKA DON’T BE A SHILL!)

Unconferences and open space gatherings can be fun for the wide open opportunities to offer a unique conversation or topic that rarely gets discussed. Don’t waste this opportunity by boring us with the details of your company and chasing everyone out of the room. Host a CONVERSATION, a real dialogue about topics that engages people in the process instead of telling them why you have the solution to all of their problems. People walk out of the shill room almost immediately but will stick around if you’re hosting a meaningful time to talk.

4.  Come prepared to rock their socks off

Sleep well the night before, try to avoid the cocktail party hangover and wear something comfortable so you’re ready to run around the room and take on the whole event!  People notice when you’re one of the most energetic people in the room and that charisma will carry you far after the event.

5.  Bring an example!

Maybe your new DIY cold fusion machine can’t travel — then bring a video of it in action.  Anything you can share via smartphone is a start, but remember that people love to get their hands on things and try them out whenever possible.  Take time to demonstrate your awesomeness.

Upcoming Events I’m Looking Forward to in California:

• Gov 2.0 LA:  February 11-13, Santa Monica
• BarCampLA:  February 19-20, Mt. Washington LA
• Digital Storytelling Event:  February 23, San Francisco
• Wisdom 2.0 Conference:  February 25-27, Mountain View & Silicon Valley  (almost sold out)
• BIL Conference:  March 5-6, Long Beach

I hope to see you around and out there sharing your best at these events!  I’ll be sharing a talk at SXSW as well on Causebuilding Games and encourage all of you interested in gaming, social action, education and the more serious aspects of why we create games to join us on 3/12 in Austin, TX at SXSWi.

SocialGOV: Learning from Leaders at Social Media Week Los Angeles

Social Media is a fantastic evolution of human communication. It allows us access from afar and participation, even when sick.

On Monday I was lucky to host the SocialGOV panel in the beautiful Bradley room atop City Hall here in Los Angeles. We had a great panel of special guests: Alan Silberberg moderated with Christina Gagnier, Jim Gilliam, Heidi Nel and special guest Eric Garcetti joined the conversation.

Eric Garcetti, Alan Silberberg, Christina Gagnier, Jim Gilliam and Heidi Nel discussing government engagement & social media, hosted by Evonne Heyning

We learned a handful of useful skillsets when juggling multiple accounts, constituencies and engagement needs across diverse communities. Eric Garcetti talked about his dream dashboard for municipal engagement about 7 minutes in to this 90 minute event, along with talk on listening tools, finding the right mix of skills and voice for social media interaction, being willing to step in on difficult situations with openness, transparency, care for people in a very human way. All of our speakers spoke to both the technologies they use and the human skills they rely on to make online communication efficient for everyone.

What did I learn from these leaders? The *8 Tweets A Day* engagement standard seems to keep people going with enough information without overloading your social media channels. Jim Gilliam has a new tool launching next month that will allow for much more robust campaign management for activists and organizers. CitySourced has proven useful in Los Angeles along with Google Moderator, but Eric Garcetti still prefers Twitter for conversational engagement. OpenGov is growing as local agencies and departments embrace the localized news potential of tools like Twitter, Facebook, video tools and policy engagement Q&A spaces including the free Google tools used by LA government.

Beautiful photos can be seen at Flickr and you can watch the stream starting here at UStream for Social Media Week Los Angeles. Here’s a taste:

http://www.ustream.tv/flash/viewer.swf?vid=9717005

FroggOil

PLAY FROGGOIL HERE

Not sure why I felt compelled to make a Frog-Oil Spill game but now you can help our favorite little friend rescue his fellow animals before getting too close to the oil slicks, dispersants and other dangers in the gulf. Some of the research on this is coming from http://www.tedxoilspill.com – an amazing amalgam of activists, scientists and leaders exploring oil spill solutions.

This game is in early beta testing and all comments, ideas and solutions are welcome as we add to it. Thanks!

#COCOAstories

Help us fund our new endeavor the Sweet Saga #cocoastories!

http://www.refresheverything.com/chocolate

International Architecture is Here

Is it possible to be efficient as both a local and global creator?  Virtual vocations create an opportunity for international collaboration that is unparalleled — have we learned to work efficiently together across boundaries?

International Architecture

The architects of today’s International Architecture in Virtual Worlds panel hosted by the US Department of State in Second Life explored both the global and local implications of their shift to Second Life as a tool for professional design and education.  Judy Cockeram, Amr Attia, David Denton and Jon Brouchoud (also known as JudyArx Scribe, Archi Vita, DB Bailey and Keystone Bouchard) took an hour to join participants inSL for a streamed discussion followed by a tour of their key architectural builds.  Students and designers were given time to explore open source 3D design solutions like the Wiki Tree and Studio Wikitecture along with the gorgeous landscape of reimagined Cairo being built with the collaborative design team led by Amr and David.

International Architecture

After years of producing mixed reality events it still astonishes me when we can beam multiple speakers from around the world through space and time to join us in one place.  Synchronous collaboration still has its challenges (try finding one time zone that works for Egypt, New Zealand and the US) but we were able to gather 70 people from over a dozen countries in one place to share a conversation about architecture and international partnerships that may prove fruitful for a burgeoning new industry.

International Architecture

As the 3D web and our collective design desk radically evolves we are wise to make the best use of the tools in front of us, not only the Wiki Tree and www.archvirtual.com for Architectural design community but also the rich global community we share inworld at these panels, conversations and events.  Together we are asking questions, exploring potential, offering perspectives and hopefully opening a few eyes and ears along the way.

International Architecture

I am grateful for the professionals working virtually to share their work with a larger global audience and learn something new from people half a world away.  Their willingness to explore new methods is what gives us a rich landscape to explore and build on together, scripting new doors where none existed before.  Whether we work in architecture or public diplomacy, we  have this amazing time and space to share together and explore what our world could be like if we could take the best of our cultures and bring them together.  The virtual landscape is a dreamlike media where worlds can mingle and merge, much like our real world malls and living spaces where cultures collide, and I am grateful for the builders, creators and trailblazers who are making these worlds worth living in.

Thank you to Any1 Gynoid for this CNN iReport; take a few minutes to see more of the photos and videos shared at this event tagged #intlarchitecture.