Tuesday Nov 20th 2012, I'm doing a Trade School session called "Finding Your Way in a Rapidly Changing World" (from 6:00pm to 7:00pm at 1st floor, New Zealand House, London)
I've just been reminding myself exactly what I plan to cover - and also discovering what the participants are offering me in return. I have no idea who the participants are and I had forgotten what I'd asked for. Reading the list of "trades" I've felt like a child handling a bumpy Christmas stocking - getting a good idea of what's there - soon to take a closer look and full of excited anticipation.
Hub Westminster is hosting., so I've got no worries about the space - and I've even been allocated someone special to sort us out some tea and bickies and generally provide a welcome All I have to do is turn up, run the session - and enjoy it, as I hope everyone will do.
The session notes say
You are experiencing (or about to experience) some kind of change (trivial or massive) and are needing to map out your future in some way. But the future seems uncertain. The present is not quite the present that you were expecting it to be when you laid plans and made decisions a few years back. It's not just the ubiquitous i-phones and tablets, or the unemployment figures. You know something deeper is going on – and you-'re right. There is a whole Landscape of Change. This session is like a helicopter trip. It flies high over some parts of the Landscape of Change to give you a wide view, hovers over areas of particular interest, and lands now and again to explore a particular area in detail. Stopping points will be influenced by the interests of the people sharing the journey, and we'll develop some rough maps and diagrams along the way. At the end you should have a clearer idea of how your situation fits into the wider Landscape of Change. It's not a session to give you easy answers, but it will give you a new perspective for considering the questions. There will be ways to stay in touch afterwards should you so wish.
"About the teacher" says
I'm a systems thinker who works on a wide variety of practical projects. I do innovative work, usually in collaboration with others, and have been doing so since the late 1970's. Much of my work since 2000 relates to the Internet and how that alters the way individuals and institutions go about things, but my focus is on the "people" side of things, not the gadgets. To sample my thinking see "The Invisible Revolution" http://www.appropedia.org/User:Dougald/NPT1PamelaMcLean My collaborative projects seem completely unrelated, but change and collaboration are usually in evidence. UK examples are Collage-network: Age of Collaboration with Nikki Fishman http://collage-network.co.uk/ and safe2smile zones with Andy of FocalLocal http://dadamac.posterous.com/safe2smile-zones-london-sunday-september-23rd. Some long-term projects in rural Africa and online are at Dadamac http://www.dadamac.net
The trades I have been offered - and one that I haven't are:
- Support in using more of my phone's features (2 are bringing) - I need that!
- Shoulder massage (3 are bringing) - Mmm, Bliss
- Sense of urgency/support to help me get on with the vacuum cleaning (0 are bringing)- so I'mnot the only one with little in the way of motivation here.
- Pair of dangly wooden ear-rings (2 are bringing) - Longng to try them.
- Manicure (1 are bringing) - I have never had a manicure.
- Inspiration to help me de-clutter (2 are bringing) - I wonder what they will bring - maybe bin bags!
- Help to sort some video clips from Africa (2 are bringing) . Help to sort some photos from Africa (2 are bringing) Help to share stuff on twitter and face book (2 are bringing). Help to put some spoken ideas and anecdotes into written words (3 are bringing) Help to get some stuff on youtube (4 are bringing). Help to digitise a diagram or two. (3 are bringing) Help to create new pictures and diagrams (2 are bringing).- I'm not sure How I collect those trades - but I could most certainly use them.
- Clothes alterations - lengthen some short trousers, shorten some long trousers or take in the waist band of a skirt. (1 are bringing) - Wonderful, Which will it be?.
- Any chance to dance (3 are bringing) - I wonder if that happens before or after - and what will it be?
- Adapter so I can put two-pin plug in three-pin socket (2 are bringing) - I need teh adapter so I can charge my "One Laptop Per Child". It won it when I joined other ICT innovators to tell our stories at "Fail Faire" - and was awareded becaue I was the most outstanding failure. Recognition indeed! Howeverbut it's a USA model and so far I am, appropriately, failing to charge it.
I love this list. Much more fun than money!