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Toronto Through My Lens

Posted on by Jenn Chan

 

Every community is made up of diverse individuals, each of whom has a unique experience of the city in which we live. These experiences often stay close to us, only loosely making connections with the stories of others who call the same city home. The mission of Through My Lens is not only to document life in the city just as it is, but also to bring all these unique stories together in one place, to ignite connections to our spaces and each other and to inspire positive action within our communities.

Starting on September 10th, people of all ages from all parts of the city will be embarking on a photo-taking adventure. We hope to give a voice to those who normally do not speak up for change, and through this project foster a stronger sense of community within our cities.

Each day during the project, participants will be given a different theme as the subject of their inspiration, ranging from people to potential to food. They will then submit one photo for each day, totaling 10 photos at the end of the project. We encourage participants to walk new paths, look in different directions, to promote creativity and to inspire themselves and others along the way. Our goal is to reach over 1000 people throughout the project, at least 50 of whom participate fully in the photo-voices collection.

These photos will be collected for online exposure, and a selection of them will be displayed together on October 1 as a photography exhibit. The images in this exhibit will serve as the centerpiece of dynamic community conversation. Together, we will discover new connections to our stories and develop new perspectives. Following the project, our goal is to use these stories to spearhead five city-building proposals that will positively impact community members.

We are passionate about our cities. We get energy from people. We are curious about the millions of stories that live where we live. We are looking to encapsulate the essence of city life from the people who live here and to share all our stories to promote creativity, civic engagement and a collective voice for change. We interact with others every day, and together we continue to weave the narrative that makes our community what it is today. We all have a story to tell – and Through My Lens is our chance to tell it.

Global Service Jam Toronto

Posted on by Jenn Chan

On March 11, fellow design thinkers gathered for a weekend adventure into the Global Service Jam. People came with multiple interests, experiences and curiosities. We hosted an evening of icebreakers and conversation about “Superheroes”.

There were 50 cities across the world, 1263 jammers, 203 projects and over 50,000 hours spent in one weekend!

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I was impressed with the passion and enthusiasm people brought to the table. The idea brainstorming really got ideas flowing and the theme was easy to discuss and great fun. It is pretty hard not to have fun talking about Superheroes and to come up with hundreds of stories, situations, businesses, projects and ideas framed around superheroes and villains. Villains are proactive, they are always one step ahead and they always want to be on top; whereas Superheroes are reactive, well intentioned, but often conflicted in their ethical dilemmas. Save the one you love, or the bus of children…one of the best lines of the night, “Act like a Villain, Think like a Superhero”. The evening was full of wonderful discussion as people suggested tons of projects and narrowed them down and then broke into smaller groups to further discuss the details and to decide on a team for the weekend. By the end of Friday evening, we were excited to see what was going to unfold for the rest of the weekend.

We learned:

  • Work hard, overcome the deadline, design something kickass!
  • Appreciate that good design is seamless
  • Be curious, but trust the process
  • Come together with strangers for a common goal

So, where does all this madness and creativity lead us? Well that is up to you, you are the Superheroes here….we merely brought you together! See all the fun we had and what we created.

Busy Bees

Posted on by Jenn Chan

I have been so busy since the Global Service Jam, it has been amazing! I think it was all the creative juices that flowed through me that weekend has brought forward projects, ideas and opportunities have just sky rocketed.

Global Service Jam was a risky move that definitely paid off. We took a leap of faith when we decided to plan a 3 day conference on an unproven idea, but I feel like that is what we do most of the time and the reason I keep doing this stuff everyday. I will post a more indepth blog about GSJ shortly. (even though it is already WAY overdue, eek)
Shortly after GSJ, I co-facilitated a 2 day work retreat for Skills for Change. They asked that we talk to their interns about getting a job and networking. Well, this is an area that I really enjoy working in, this gives us a chance to talk about passion and purpose and why are we going to our jobs everyday, other than for the money. We spent the two days talking about ideal workplaces, everything from your commute to work, to your desk, to your staff, to your boss, to the way you get coffee or have breaks. This opened up a discussion about creativity and innovation and the way our company culture can dictate our moods and our perspectives. I also got to think about how much I love what I do and that I am truly lucky.

In addition, I am also co-creating 2 projects this upcoming year and doing volunteer management for 2 conferences. And all I can think about is, it is only April….keep the good stuff coming!

Exhibit Change Jammers!

Posted on by Jenn Chan

Meet our wonderful team of Jammers! These are the people that are making this all possible.

Andrea Yip, Event Lead

Andrea is a health promoter, aspiring documentary filmmaker, and scientist at heart. She is interested in applying a designer’s lens in addressing social problems in order to promote better health and wellbeing for our communities. Andrea is particularly interested in using multimedia and the arts — including photography, social media, and film — to understand and tell stories around health issues. In her spare time, she enjoys good documentaries, dog walking, and eating strawberry jam.

Continue reading Exhibit Change Jammers!

2010 Wrap up

Posted on by Jenn Chan

I have seen a few blogs outlining the year in a one word wrap up and I really like that idea.

So, my single word for 2010 is exploration.

Exploration of ideas, of networks, of knowledge, of market, of resources, of mentorship and of self.

So, what happened in 2010. Here is a breakdown of an amazing year. There were events, there were programs, there were conferences, there were coalitions, there were meetings. In the year, I attended 40 professional development events or course, I went to over 100 meetings, I hosted 4 events and 1 camp. Now there are tons of ideas and tons of excitement.

I got to design, create, facilitate, met, schmooze, learn, discover and ultimately grow.

Starting 2011, I am going to make a prediction that this year is going to be really busy and really foundational – according to the lunar calendar, it is the year of the rabbit and as a dog, I am told it means that there is good energy coming my way.

I wish I had a beautiful picture to capture this with…

Let it Snow!

Posted on by Jenn Chan

Happy Holidays!

I am so inspired by everyone I have met this year and I am looking forward to drawing on your advice, kind words and friendly faces again in the coming year. Exhibit Change has grown this year and can only continue getting stronger and that will happen because of the amazing connections that have been made this year.

It is that time of year; take some time for reflection, inspiration and creativity. I recommend with a marker and sketch book if possible.

Much like snowflakes, I love the way we are beautiful and unique on our own but together we can prove our weight, we make the world seem brighter and change everything in an instant.

Jenn

“do what you love & success will follow” – behance

Global Service Jam

Posted on by Jenn Chan

We are excited to announce that we will be hosting the Global Service Jam. It happens the weekend of March 11 2010. It is soon. We are ready for a few months of hard work and we are looking for dedicated volunteers to be part of the core team. Stay tuned for very amazing news.

Just 48 Hours

On 11 March, 2011, people interested in service and customer experience will meet at locations all over the globe.

They will be designers, students, academics, business people, and customers.

In a spirit of experimentation, innovation, co-operation and friendly competition, teams will have less than 48 hours to develop and prototype completely new services inspired by a shared theme.  At the end of the weekend, their collection of brand new services will be published to the world.

Join us at the Global Service Jam 2010.

www.globalservicejam.com

Black Daddies Club – “How do you Exhibit Change?”

Posted on by Jenn Chan

“How do you Exhibit Change?” is a mindset, a culture and a campaign. Exhibit Change is seeing something and making a decision to change it. Everyday we are surrounded by design and we are the ones that get to design our future.

The Black Daddies Club exemplifies “How do you Exhibit Change?” I had the pleasure of meeting Brandon Hay, the Founder and Executive Director of Black Daddies Club. Brandon is genuine and warm and is doing amazing work for his community and for his children.

Thank you Brandon for sharing this with me.  “The New Generation of Fathers who were Raised by Single Mothers”

This is the beginning of the “How do you Exhibit Change?” series.

Movember!

Posted on by Jenn Chan

Movember challenges men to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a moustache. The rules are simple, start Movember 1st clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month.  The moustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for prostate cancer.  Much like the commitment to run or walk for charity, the men of Movember commit to growing a moustache for 30 days.

As many men work up the courage to go to the doctor and get their prostate exams, this month many men worked up the courage to grow a mustache. It is an honorable task and I found it quite humourous the conversations that I have had this month about mustaches and mustache care. I want to take the time to give a high five to all the men who ventured to try something new, to look a little silly and to speak out about change. I especially appreciate the guys who have gone out to “exhibit change” this month on their face!

Here is a quote from my wonderful husband, that has made me really love this whole Movember experience.

“So as we come to the end of Movember, I would like to share my experience. As most Asian’s may think that it is unpossible to grow any type of facial hair, I would hope that we all try our best to help to encourage awareness for this great cause! As the month passes by I notice so many awesome ‘staches that makes me think that everyone should try. Even us Asian’s that only are able to grow only a small patch of hair should help with the cause. Prostate cancer affect’s all of us guys so do your duty and grow that facial hair!” ~ Ed