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This might seem a little late in the game to only be posting about now…but I realize that while I live, breathe and work this methodology and practice, not everyone does but then there are some that do too!  This week, I was in a meeting where I explained what we do, the process, the method to our madness, the outcome we are trying to achieve by working with design processes and tools to start a conversation with community and to identify the underlying and unseen landscape. And then she asked, “so who are competitors?” I rattled off a few organizations that do work like ours. The next day, I was sitting at a table with some of these competitors and they are seriously awesome. Our competitors are our partners in a movement, we are partners in using design as a tool to address some wicked issues.

While the intersection is common to Exhibit Change and many fellow design driven community engagement organizations,  we need to elevate what we do. I want what we do to be as known as when you walk into a coffee shop or hire an accountant. Yes, there is competition, but there is also a community. A community of support, a collective of resources and a powerful commitment to the work. 

Inspire Yourself!

Jenn

We launched a Makers program a few weeks ago, and we are OVER the moon with excitement to announce our 4 new Makers.

The Makers program is our way of getting brilliant people to help us out (heehee sneaky!) Our Makers will be doing a blog a month on something that inspires their curiosity, peaked their concerns or just something they wanted to share; they will be working on at least one of our projects and the best part of all, giving us their brains for brainstorming every 6 weeks or so.

Next week we will be having our first brainstorming session, I can’t really express just how excited I am. All I know is that this is going to be an adventure, and one you can follow.

Feel free to check out our Makers Bios and to send them a tweet. Welcome Kathryn, Alex, Colin and Terrence to our team!!!!

Check back soon for their blogs 🙂

Jenn

Last weekend, was the 4th Random Hacks of Kindness in Toronto, and the 5th around the world! Kathryn and I went to RHoKTO as “idea hackers” to work on a project called WorldVUZE. WorldVUZE is a platform connecting students across the world from their classrooms to gain perspectives and stories beyond their assumptions. It is sort of like a hybrid of Facebook and Google Docs with searchable data and added security to be used in the education system.

As opposed to Global Service Jam, where all the ideas came from the participants on Friday. At RHoKTO, all the project ideas had been pre-pitched and approved by the committee before we arrived on Friday night. This meant that someone carried the ownership of the idea and held a vision of where they wanted it to go. As “Idea Hackers” we got to choose which project we wanted to work on and hoped that we had enough developers to really push the idea forward.

Our WorldVUZE team at RHoKTO ended up being, 11 strong – 2 from the organization, us 2 idea hackers, and 7 developers! I have never been to a technology based hack-a-thon like this before, so I was blown away by the commitment that the developers had. They worked through dinner and beers on Saturday and on Sunday by the presentation, they were disappointed they didn’t have more time to complete more.

My favourite part of the weekend, was watching the design and collaboration process unfold. As an idea hacker, I could only translate the vision so much, it was really up to the organization to try and convey what they wanted to the developers. I have seen this process not work out well and certainly not as quickly or seamlessly as this time. I wish there was a video of it, so that I could clearly map out how it worked and how quickly. There was a vision, an inquiry session, clarification, digestion, a check in of understanding, a consensus and then a distribution of skills before it was off to the races. From then on, we were mostly hands off for the coding part and could work on developing a business strategy and pitch coaching.

The projects left with so much ammunition for how to move forward, it is up to them to take that positive momentum and keep it going. Overall, it was a brain drain, but in the best way.

Inspire Yourself!

Jenn

Ever wish you had 50 desks? What could you use them for? Sitting at? Standing on? Tearing apart? Envision an arts installation of 50 desks in a park? You are only limited by your imagination!

50 desks, varying sizes, varying colours, ALL available.

You can have them for a donation, charitable receipt or letters of appreciation. Pick up is mandatory.

These desks are not in our future plans, but maybe they are just the key piece you have been missing.

Send a message if you have any questions. [email protected]

Ok, enough is enough. I took a nice long break from my everyday routine to travel Asia for nearly 4 months. It was magical, inspiring and ultimately life changing. I got to explore and wander new cultures, foods and streets; which is pretty awesome! My outlook and perspective was challenged in doing things out of my norm, in testing my adventurer and facing fears. Through it all, I really missed my work.

So, last Monday, the team got back in the saddle.

I am very excited to get back to it and to start getting to work on the amazing projects we have lined up. And even more exciting, is all the new partners who want to collaborate and share ideas with us. In the next little while, we are launching an intern program, rolling out a few projects and delivering a few training workshops. (So, I promise the newsletter will be coming your way again)

Inspire Yourself!

Jenn

Having just come back from a 4 month travelling adventure, I was starting to feel like there was more happening out there in the world than right here. And then Toronto sent me an invitation to my Welcome Home party. In one weekend, Toronto completely reminded me how much greatness is right outside my front door.

Jane’s Walk, TCAF, Hot Docs, Contact, MayWorks…and these are just the things I know about. I felt like Toronto was throwing me a Welcome Home party, just to remind me how awesome this city is.

Well Toronto, it worked! Thank you.

Jenn