Uploading...Innovation

I'm really excited about today's Uploading...Innovation event at NESTA. We have a great group of people coming from all kinds of different backgrounds, the commonality being that they are all building innovation communities on the web. To get things moving we have invited a number of people to deliver short sharp provocations and host the conversations that flow from them – maximum three minutes long – and the following people have accepted this challenge:

• Charles Leadbeater on the ideas behind his new book We Think
• Mark Earls on our herding instincts 
• Molly Webb on the insights emerging from the DEMOS project The Atlas of Ideas
• Dan McQuillan from Amnesty on using social media in campaigning
• Johnnie Moore and James Cherkoff will invite you to come together to co-create
• Mark Vanderbeeken from Experientia on a distinctive European approach to user centred innovation
• Jeremy Ettinghausen from Penguin on the crowdsourcing novel www.amillionpenguins.com

Otherwise, the event is open and democratic and anybody can suggest a topic of conversation, but with the group of people we have coming I don't think we'll be short of opinions. I'll post again during or after the event with an update, otherwise keep an eye on the event site here for pictures, posts and video clips.

Comments

[Roland Harwood]

Just ducked out of the drinks networking after Uploading...Innovation which is still going strong with 80 or so people talking away. Things I have learned or observed today:

1. People love to talk - they really do - let them.
2. Disagreement can be more productive than concensus.
3. Go where the buzz is and see what happens.
4. Engagement is more powerful than control.
5. Our air conditioning can't cope with 150 opinionated people.

Great event - thanks to all who came. In particular Steve Moore for acting as a connector extrodinaire and Darren for being the unsung hero of the whole day.

Where do we go from here? To be honest, I'm not sure, but we've got loads of ideas and I am confident they will crystallise into something special. Watch this space...

[Miko Coffey]

Rol- I think you might like to have a look at Dan's notes from his session:
http://www.internetartizans.co.uk/my_3_minutes_at_nesta_uploading

I attended and it was a really interesting discussion about human rights & new media... worth having a look at the work of Gemin-i, who have used the medium to help empowerment of the 'un'citizens of Africa:
http://www.planidproject.net/

Also for the dark side of this new connected world, worth looking at the Belarus ice cream story:
http://www.andycarvin.com/archives/2006/05/belarus_flash_mobs_a.html

Thanks to all who participated in the session - a real eye opener.