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Time Capsule: The Adventures of a FILM Camera

10/3/2014

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Remember this?  A camera, right?  Today, in 2014, it's referred to as a FILM camera.  Distinct from just, well, a camera.  FILM cameras are novelty items acquired in the closets of grandparents and thrift stores.  This is an intergenerational story about the unfolding adventure of a FILM camera.  
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Kate's take on how it began:

This Kodak Instamatic FILM camera belongs to my friend, Reika Goh- my 16 year old neighbor who just moved back to Singapore.  She bought it at a thrift store in San Francisco.  The story of the FILM camera began with one of those milestone moments of adulthood.  It went something like this...

I was driving my two teen neighbors home after our final Hapa-Hafu Kitchen Project (HKP)- a semi-regular time to cook fusion foods that celebrate our mixed heritages. As I drove, I overheard this conversation between the girls sitting in the back:
Reika: "I went thrifting last weekend on Haight St"
Clarissa: "My sister and her friends like to do that, did you get anything?"
Reika: "Yeah! I got a FILM camera!!!"
Clarissa: "Oh, wow, that's cool! I got a FILM camera from my Dad. What kind of FILM camera is it?"
Reika: "A Kodak Instamatic, it's such a COOL FILM camera!"
Clarissa: "Does it work?"
Reika: "I think so, but I have to put new film in it. I'm SO excited to have a FILM camera."

All I could hear was this strange use of the word FILM with camera.  I piped in: "Wait, why are you girls talking about a FILM camera? All cameras use film." Silence... "Oh,...wait,.... right I guess, they're digital now... oh, right, and mobile phones as cameras... Wait, wait, you mean, you girls haven't ever known film in cameras?"  

In the typical, resistant disbelief one experiences in these moments, I said confidently, ardently, "Surely, they still sell cameras that use film in stores; high end cameras use film. Of course, a store like Best Buy also sells cameras with film, not only thrift stores." At that moment, we passed a Best Buy and determined by a haze of denial and curiosity, I bet the girls $1 that Best Buy sold cameras with FILM.  So in we went and wandered around the "camera" section --- all digital cameras--- disbelief!  Thanks to disposable FILM cameras, I didn't lose the $1, but it was humbling.  As we got back into the car, I groveled, "Oh man, I'm officially old now! Thanks for bearing with me through that 'catching up with time' moment."  Laughter erupted!
 
Then I wanted to get into the nitty gritty details, "So, does the camera have undeveloped film in it?"
Reika: "Yes, but it's not recoverable."
Kate: "Why not?"
Reika: "It's in a cartridge and I would have to take it out in pitch dark and I don't think it'll work"
Kate: "Of course, it can be done! And WE HAVE to do it! Imagine what story might be hidden in the film?! Who gives away a camera with film in it?  Pictures tell a story- maybe it's a love story, a mystery to be solved. We have to find out the story inside this camera-- where it's been, to whom it belonged, it'll be a mystery for the HKP to solve..." 
Reika: "I don't think it'll work, it has to be pitch dark and we have to get it out of the cartridge and keep it sealed. And I think the film is really old, kind of like the camera."
Kate: "We can do it! We have to do it!"
 

But of course, the story of the FILM camera begins with Reika. Here's her take:

Reika's on How It Began: 

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“I’m buying it. I don’t care”, I told my friend as I carried the Kodak Instamatic 100 in my hand. During my previous visit to Thrift Town in the Mission, I remember catching a glimpse of the cameras stowed away in the glass cabinet and vowing to visit the area the next time I would return. And when I did, this time round with a friend, I spent about half an hour in that one area, inspecting and observing the details of every camera we had found. My friend and I felt bad for the sales lady who had to keep taking out and putting back every camera we were fiddling around with, but we were being teenagers, glued to our wonderful find of the camera section. Out of all the cameras, the Kodak Instamatic 100 caught my eye. With its boxy and sleek shape, a metallic body with hints of red, it was obvious that I, Reika Goh, wanted it so badly.

I’m not one who buys everything and anything that I like. I’m pretty careful and picky when it comes to spending money, but when precious things like this pop up every once in a while, it’s a no-brainer for me. Plus, there was still film in it! So, with the camera in my hand, along with a few pieces of clothing, my friend and I queued up for the cashier with grins on our faces. I was excited to show my new camera around.

The next day, when I went to hang out with my HKP (Hapa/Hafu Kitchen Project) crew, I told them about my new “vintage” find. While 15 year old Clarissa and I saw the camera as “old” and “vintage”, Kate, on the other hand, did not. This camera did not spark Kate the way it did for Clarissa and I, but instead, made her realize that the things Clarissa and I found “old” was used or seen during her younger days. When I told Kate that I had done some research on an alternative film that the camera could use, she suggested we go to Best Buy to get some. Clarissa and I were both doubtful that Best Buy would sell film, but off we went anyway, with Kate eager on finding film for this camera.

We all hopped out of the car and entered the shop. While Clarissa and I looked at digital cameras, Kate went to ask a salesperson about film. The person made a face and responded, “We don’t sell film here. We have disposable cameras though, if that’s what you’re looking for.” After questioning the salesperson for five minutes, we all left Best Buy and decided that it was best to visit a camera store.

On the way there, Kate told us how weird it was that we were calling objects from her childhood as “vintage” and how “old” she felt. It was an interesting conversation as we all sat in Kate’s car and discussed how rapidly our world was evolving. 

When we arrived at the camera workshop and picked up the film we needed, we drove back home, turned off all lights, shut ourselves in the pitch black bathroom and began to take the film out of the camera. It was my first time being in such a dark environment, and the process of taking the film seemed to have taken hours. The cartridge took forever for us to pull apart. But, with Kate’s strong will, she pulled it apart and even broke a nail during the process. (Go Kate!)

We kept the film safely in a wooden box, and it sat in Kate’s house for months as we were both too busy to find the time to find a place to get it developed. I thought that the film was too old to get developed and that the images would not come out at all.   


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Back to Kate:

So, when we got home that night, I converted my bathroom into a dark room.  We took the cartridge out of the camera and began fiddling with it. Pulling, twisting, pulling, twisting.  It was hard to pull apart. At one point, it seemed that there was no way we could break this plastic without damaging the cartridge (remember this was all in the dark!) Then it "popped" (i.e. we cracked it) and then we worked that crack until it opened.  As I pulled the film out, there was a layer of paper attached to the back of the film.  I rolled it up and placed it into this double sealed wood container.  We put an extra layer of tape on the outside to make sure that it didn't open and expose the film.

I went off to Europe and Africa for work.  Reika moved back to Singapore.  The film canister sat neglected on my desk until the fall when I met Eugene Kim, an avid photographer who posted something on Facebook about film and it reminded me that I wanted to get the film developed.  I asked for a recommendation of a place to get film developed-- realizing that now, getting FILM developed is a novelty.  

Eventually, I took the container to Gasser Photo in San Francisco. I had an excited though mostly incoherent conversation with the very patient, knowledgable employee who listened to my story about the camera.  She endeavored to decipher what kind of camera it was, because I kept referring to the "cartridge" yet said that it was not a Polariod. I didn't remember the make/model of camera or know the type of film.  She opined that it was 110 film and advised me that I needed to be sure what type of film it was before I got it developed.  While that is quite logical, it had entirely slipped my mind.  I had only known 35 mm film and polariods; I didn't realize there were so many different types of film!

I emailed Reika in Singapore to confirm the film type from the cartridge container; 126 film was the reply.  Then began the quest to find a photo lab that could develop 126 film. Thanks to Wikipedia, I learned about different types of film and discovered that Kodak discontinued making 126 film in 2008, so there are very few labs with the chemicals needed to develop this type of film.  On a January trip to LA, I decided to check for photo labs. It's Hollywood- people use film here! Sure enough, I found Simi Valley Photo Lab.  I called the shop and they had the chemicals to develop 126 film though the owner strongly warned me that it was likely that there would be nothing viewable on the film.  While I was wildly enthusiastic about the story that might come from these long lost pictures, I was equally pragmatic to realize that it was likely 30+ year old film, subjected to who knows what conditions and would almost certainly be unreadable. 

When I went to the store to drop off the film, I told the owner about the adventures with the FILM camera that was now in Singapore.  He suggested that I wait while the film was developed since it was likely there wouldn't be anything on it, so that I didn't unnecessarily pay for images to be scanned.  He seemed perplexed by my enthusiasm to develop pictures from a camera that wasn't mine.  I explained that I was following through on the project with my 16 year old friend and I wanted her to have a sense of the joys and wonder from learning the history of "things" - all too forgotten in a highly disposable world.  He commented, "Who do you think are the ones who are using film cameras?  It's almost all teenagers." I left for 30 minutes where I waited for what seemed like an eternity.  It was exactly 1 year since the car conversation that started this whole adventure... what would come of it? 

I drove back to the shop and went in.  The owner emerged from the back with a roll of negatives and a look of disbelief.  "Well, you won't believe it but there are images on here." I ordered scanned images to be emailed.  They arrived a week later.  I was shocked by how well they turned out!  

Reika on the Finale:

Even though I thought that the film was too old to get developed and that the images would not come out at all, I recently received news from Kate that some of this twenty-something-years-old images were appearing!

Now, as I sit in my room in my old home in Singapore, I eagerly wait for Kate to send the scanned images of the developed film. Just when I thought the adventure was coming to an end, it is still ongoing as these images we’ll have, will be our new mystery. No wonder it was instinct for me to buy that camera.  


Finding the Date and the People:

After reviewing the photos with my father, here's what we observed.  The Kodak Instamatic came out in 1963.  From the pictures, we've dated this film to the early/mid 60s. That means the FILM is roughly 50 years old!!  


Please let us know if you spot something in these pictures that would help to date them, and if you recognize the PEOPLE in these pictures, please let them/us know! 

Here are the things that we identified to determine the date:
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  • Drape Style
  • Beehive/Bouffant Hairstyle
  • Skinny Ties
  • Eyeglasses
  • Metal TV tray













  • Stripe Tie
  • Bouffant/Beehive Hairstyle
  • At knee length skirt/dress
  • Reclining Lazy boy








  • Pole Lamp
  • Reclining Lazy-boy Chair
  • Coffee table style











  • Style of Eye Glasses
  • Ties
  • Short sleeve shirts [style]
  • Shirt style on man on left
















  • Type of pot
  • Eyeglasses

































  • Drapes
  • TV Tray
  • Skinny Ties
  • Short sleeve shirts
  • Below/at knee length skirt




Most of all, if you recognize the PEOPLE in these pictures, please let them/us know! 
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Visionaries & Revolutionaries at the Dissident Futures Exhibit at YBCA

21/1/2014

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Recently, I had the opportunity to join an inspired group convened by visionary Bobby Fishkin to plan 
Visionaries & Revolutionaries Day (Saturday, Jan 25) on the closing weekend of the Dissident Futures Exhibit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.  

We generated 100++ ideas in a brainstorm. Refined these into an action packed schedule including scenario planning, climate change meme healing, mapping collages, vision boards, building utopias, a revolution booth, a hold up, performances and more! 

If you can't join in person, you can follow our tumblr of digital artifacts from V&R Day at Dissident Futures at YBCA. 

A call to Visionaries, Revolutionaries & Dissident Futurists
Please join us at Dissident Futures  at YBCA on Saturday, Jan 25


12:00 Kickoff 

“Make your mark, share your vision-- the start a revolution booth” led by Kyle Stewart & Kate Michi Ettinger [Lobby 12 - 6]
  • Utopias: Lost & Found: Co-create the future of Utopias Lost and Found. Collaboratively create the future of society in the lobby of the YCBA. Use your imagination build your Utopia and watch your vision change between entering the show and exiting the building.
  • Share your vision-- start a revolution: Share your vision for humanity and the revolution that will help us get there. In < 5 minutes create and publish your story, share it and find co-conspirators to ignite your revolution


“Break-down Barriers to Break-Out Your Revolution” Booth led by Tara Samiy, Marlena Zahm and Amanda Leitner 
  • Drop in to create vision boards from 12 - 2 in Conf 1


1:00


“Stories of the Future-- a scenario-planning workshop” led by Lina Constantinovici 
  • 2 Hr Workshop in YAAW that will develop vignettes for the 4:30 finale performance

“Hold up for CauseRoot: part of Worldwide Hold Up Day” led by Chris Geraghty & MakeSense Gangsters 
  • 2 hr Workshop in Conf 1 ... More Details: FB Event for the CauseRoot Hold Up 


2:00


“Cut and paste your future: a collage” led by Bobby Fishkin & Maya Belitski 
  • Drop into to collage a map of your future from 2-4ish 

3:00


“Climate Change Meme Healing” led by Lazlo Karafiath (90 minutes) 


“Cut and paste your future: a collage” led by Bobby Fishkin & Maya Belitski (Ongoing drop in 2 - 4:30)



4:00
  • YBCA special performance by Myra Melford and Ian Winters in the Galleries 4-5pm


4:30    Finale Performance: Visions of the Future in the Screening Room
  • The day's public V&R activities will conclude with a performance of Visions of the Future, produced by Lina Constantinovici
  • Followed by a tour of YBCA


Hashtag for the day: #V&RFutures
Follow our Tumblr for digital artifacts: vratybca.tumblr.com

You may RSVP on our FB event, or message an organizer to join the V&R guest list! Please bring co-conspirator friends! 

This public program is organized in conjunction with the group exhibition Dissident Futures which is currently on view at YBCA until February 2, 2014. Dissident Futures is an investigation into possible alternative futures, particularly those that question or overturn conventional notions of innovation in biological, social, environmental, and technological structures.

Visionaries and Revolutionaries is a creative community with members representing a diversity of disciplines, who come together to share the ways in which they solve social problems that they care about in imaginative ways. Through this series, social innovators can explore the intersection of their aspirations for world change and learn from each other's diverse backgrounds in art, science, and technology.

Schedule Confirmed.  For details on the workshops click on Read More.

Read More
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Creating an Aichaku Gift for 40 Days of Joy {prototype}

19/1/2014

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Last January, the effervescent writer and life coach MeiMei Fox published 40 Days of Joy: A Happiness Practice on her inspiring HuffPo blog: The Life Out Loud.  The post went viral as people took up the challenge to cultivate joy in everyday life sharing their adventures on Twitter with #40daysofjoy  Inspired by the idea and reminded of the wisdom that a great year is made up of great days, I decided to make a gift to share the 40 Days of Joy practice with a friend.  I realized that forwarding the post wouldn't be enough to prompt action, so I decided to prototype a gift for 40 Day of Joy. Here's the what/how/why. 
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Step 1:  Find small cards for prompts.  I used these "word cards" that come on a binder clip because they already have a hole punched.  Alternatively a craft hole punch could add a fun touch or cutting paper squares could work as well.  I wanted a sturdier paper and the word cards thickness was ideal. 

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Step 2: Determine the prompts.  I worked from MeiMei's original post and interspersed a few of my own joy prompt ideas. I also made a stash of extras just in case the prompt of the day didn't sit well with my friend. Any action is better than no action when cultivating a new habit. 

The most challenging part of this project was figuring out how to make it "aichaku" (a "love fit" as the brilliant John Maeda explained beautifully in this post), so that participating daily in this practice is easy and enticing.  I wanted to design a beautiful and joyful experience - a ritual action with positive reinforcement and visual feedback so that one wants to do it again and again.  All too often we start these feel good practices, yet they fall by the wayside amidst our busy lives and other pressures.  
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Step 3:  Decide on the means of the daily prompt.  

I found these little clasps with colorful strings and attached one clasp to each prompt card to be pulled off a hook one day at a time, then placed in a jar of joy.  I used a simple glass jar for all the finished prompts.  Since it's clear, it can be a decorative reminder of the joys cultivated and may also serve as a repository for beginning a new 40 day journey. 

Another alternative idea was to cut a small cork board canvas to sit on a miniature easel.  Each day, one pulls a card from a pile, then pins it onto the cork board with colorful pins. I suggest to see what you find around to repurpose or what you discover when you go to the store.  Think about what would engage the recipient most- if they are avid on twitter or facebook, perhaps inviting them to share their joys prompts or activities with the #40daysofjoy community.  I am curious what other ways you hack this gift to meet the recipient's rhythm, so please comment and let me know what you do.

Time will tell if the design works as a love fit for this friend. Today is Day 1 and I've already heard the first joy prompt is "skip" and the first step to any practice is to begin...  

Wish you joy and a skip in your step! 
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5< 5:  Cereal Conversations on SocEntStrategy

30/4/2013

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This post is one in a series of 5<5 posts that document pilot/prototype projects with the format 5 things that I wish someone had told me before I started in <5% of the time spent on the project.   

Cereal conversations was a 5 week pilot project to convene legal practitioners and strategy consultants at the intersection of law and business in the social enterprise sector.   

Background

In March 2011, I ran a HubLab on "For Profit or Not-for-Profit" with Inder Comer, Esq. at HubSOMA.  Intended for social entrepreneurs, the HubLab was also attended by lawyers, who often advised clients through this decision nexus.  Intrigued by this "unexpected" participant group, I kickstarted a "pilot" of breakfast conversations.  "Cereal conversations" gave legal practitioners at this nexus of law and enterprise for social impact a forum to discuss practice experiences and concerns.  Social enterprise law is largely unchartered legal terrain- full of "open" legal issues, which means that a court has not yet 'ruled' to decide the "law" on many issues that are emerging from social innovation.  Legal questions about liability and tax implications in the sharing economy, regulation of food production for microenterprise, employment status and compensation for passion equity, etc.  Typically, good legal advice steers a client away from uncertainty in favor of what is known, what is certain, and what is "settled" in the law.  Uncertainty is risky and potentially very expensive.  However, until people- clients and lawyers- push the edges of "certainty" into these open, untested areas- the status quo in business will not change.  

Cereal conversations brought practitioners together for peer learning and aimed to build a community of legal practitioners who want to push the edges of the law.  Drawing on a model from clinical medicine where clinicians make decisions even amidst uncertain outcomes based upon a bioethical, principled justification, I opined that perhaps a similar values-driven approach to decision making could govern and guide legal practitioners, provided that the involved parties gave fully informed consent to the risks.  My assumption was that if we built a community and developed a shared knowledge base, it would be sufficient to support legal practitioners ready to take this risky step to shift the status quo in how business operates.  My hope was to identify the key 'ingredients' necessary to seed a local legal community pf practice, to design a DIY 'cookbook' that other communities could use to kickstart local chapters globally, and to build a 'recipe' braintrust to which local practice groups could contribute that would inspire innovation in legal practices at the intersection of business for social impact. 

5 Things I Wish I Knew About Community Building Before I Started:
  • 8am is too early for a meeting in San Francisco
  • Building a community takes time.  5 times just gets things started.
  • Meetings need to take place regularly.  To get work done- weekly is effective, to build community- monthly is sufficient. 
  • Get a small group to share the organizing responsibility (2-3 is enough)
  • For niche communities, keep the audience focused in order to maximize value to early participants. Here, it was more productive to have a majority of lawyers with only legally savvy strategy consultants, rather than a meeting with social entrepreneurs who seek information for their specific venture. 

Ultimately, cereal conversations was a prototype of a potential model.  It was a pilot test of assumptions.  The Bay Area group was the inaugural "Lucky Charms" group who pioneered the (ad)venture.  We learned a lot and we hope that the fruits of that learning shared here will strengthen the global community of legal practitioners active in this area. 

Why did we do it?
  • To develop a community of practice to strengthen practice in the legal grey areas of this sector.
  • To develop a format that provided value to satisfy the depth needed by legal eagles and practicality for social entrepreneurs
  • To strengthen the social enterprise community's access to new paradigm approaches by engaging the legal community in conversations with social entrepreneurs, impact investors and business consultants.
  • To kickstart a grassroots community generated knowledge commons on these emerging legal issues.
  • To create a forum for collaboration and knowledge sharing among legal practitioners

Methods

What did we do?
A breakfast club to "Map the Terrain" and build an initial community of legal practitioners. In this 5 week pilot, we met over cereal for conversations to map the legal landscape at the intersection of business and social impact.  The topics that we covered included: the business judgment rule, new CA corporate forms, mapping issues, social enterprise partnerships, and alternative dispute resolution and conflict management in the socent sector.

Our short term aim was to have one concrete, practical project from each pilot.  Proposed projects included:  
  • a model "founders/partnership agreement" for social entrepreneurs 
  • a map/quick guide to identify how/when social impact focus may generate new/different legal issues
  • a tactical considerations guide for the varying corporate forms
  • an article on the role of ADR in social enterprise

Our long term aim was two-fold:
1. To develop a cookbook "how to start a SocEntStrategy community of practice in __(your area)__" 
2. To develop a grassroots, knowledge commons on these issues at the intersection of law, business and social impact

Our core commitment that all resources developed will be provided open access under a creative commons: attribution/non-commercial/share alike.  Any revenue generated from this initiative would be reinvested in the initiative's educational mission.

Who participated?
An open invitation was made to colleagues in this sector. We were generously hosted by HubSOMA. The SocEntStrategy Founding Alliance included:
Kate Michi Ettinger, Chef Converger of Cereal Conversations
Natalia Thurston, Social Venture Law Group 
Tony Lai, Law Gives
Inder Comar, Comar Law
Lina Constantinovici, President, Biomimicry Incubator


How? 
Doors open 7:45 (security can take awhile)
8 - 9 Legal Eagles Hour
30 min: in depth on legal topic + case presentation
20 min: discussion
10 min: map discussion and networking

9 - 9:30 Law for SocEnts
15 min: legal topic presented for Social Entrepreneurs
15 min: discussion

Results
  • Of open invitation to 10 people directly and 10 people indirectly, we had a founding group of 5 people.  
  • We met consistently for 5 weeks.  
  • We shared knowledge, practice experience and developed a shared understanding of open issues within the sector.
  • We identified opportunities for collaboration within the group; those collaborations continue to manifest.
  • We experimented with and learned about technology that could support the group's work.  
  • For details: Weekly Posts: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5  (currently in publication)

Learnings & Opportunities
  1. There is a need for a community of practice among legal practitioners in this area.
  2. The social enterprise ecosystem will benefit from having the legal community that serves it strengthened.
  3. Building a community of practice takes time. Consistency is critical.  
  4. Critical mass generates movement.  Self organization may be overrated. 
  5. Engage one community at a time.  Clarity of purpose helps to respond to the diverse needs of why people show up.  If targeting lawyers, stick with lawyers to keep the focus on issues that yield value to attendees. 
  6. Use the work products of the primary community to engage secondary communities.  
  7. Choose technology that you can manage or have access to tech resources to administer the technology you want. 
  8. 8am is too early for many people and does not accomodate the geographic diversity of SF Bay Area, where traffic prohibits participation by practitioners not in the specific location. 
  9. Ideas take awhile to seed: People are ready now for an idea from 2 years ago that was prototyped 1 year ago.  
  10. Business law and corporate structures are domestic/state law issues.  This invites a creative glocal solution to building this grassroots community. 
  11. The effort to bring Cereal Conversations to Berlin resulted in identifying of a different doorway into the legal issues: case studies of pioneering social enterprises.  These case studies provide a simple framework through which to identify the open issues and to respond with how each could be addressed within one's jurisdiction.  These "Cases" become a common ground of understanding between geographic regions governed by different laws.  We are working to inspire the passion of the university students in law to explore social enterprise and business for social impact. 
  12. The effort to bring Cereal Conversations to London/UK resulted in the idea of a legal "briefhack," by the brilliant Polina Hristova. The IDEA: One weekend at Hubs around the world. Gather local law students, attorneys and social entrepreneurs.  Have students interview social entrepreneurs to identify legal issues at the edges.  Students confer with social enterprise attorneys who review the cases collectively in a panel format.  The law students then "brief" the legal issues raised by the social enterprises.  The net result is law students have the "brief" as a work product to show future employers.  The social entrepreneurs have an understanding of the issues they need to address.  The attorneys deepen their practice around these open issues and contribute to building a the glocal knowledge base.   

Long Term Outcomes 
  • Impact Law Forum, co-founded by Natalia Thurston of Social Venture Law Group and Zoe Hunton of Hunton Law, hosts a monthly meeting with speakers to strengthen the community of legal practitioners who work at the intersection of law and social enterprise. ILF rotates around the Bay Area.  
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Animals of Southern Africa

4/4/2013

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Recently work brought me to Africa for the first time, I took the opportunity for a short trip into the bush in Botswana and Zimbabwe.  Nature is my refuge and the bush in Botswana was deep nature. Magnificent and humbling to be in one's (vulnerable) place in nature's hierarchy.... and exquisite to see these beautiful animals in their element "on their turf."  It was a brilliant place to experience the reminder of how powerful it can be to unplug from all devices for a week and just be where you are.

I feel fortunate to have seen black rhinos that are endangered and risk extinction from brutal poachers who tear their horns off brutally and just leave them to die.  It's horrid.  The rhinos in these pictures had their horns cut deliberately to protect them from poachers and yet they still risk being poached for the small horns that is left.  The International Anti-Poaching Foundation is based in the reserve where I saw these and they are doing great work both to train locals to face poachers and to build sustainable economic opportunities for local people so that the high yield of poaching is not the only option for income. Check out www.iapf.org to learn more about this issue. 

I made this short video with some of the animals that I saw for a friend's 7th birthday... Enjoy!  
(Apologies for the wobble-- still learning how to use the video camera!)

Animals of Southern Africa

Animals of Southern Africa from Kate Ettinger on Vimeo.

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Macroscope Mastermind: The Macroscope Labs Playhouse

13/8/2012

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One of my favorite prototypes from the Macroscope Labs was a tool to organize all of the "activities" one engages in the workplace of the future.  Play. Projects. Ideas. Prototypes. Work. Creative.  The distinctions blur. 
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Macroscope Labs Playhouse
~ producing the future, one play at a time ~


We tossed around the idea that Macroscope Labs would be a theatrical playhouse.  In our mL playhouse,  ideas and projects that we incubated would come to life similar to a play.  Each play has a particular stage of development (from open mike to post production).  Much like a summerstock playhouse, our role might vary on each play, from scriptwriter to actor to set designer to costumer to producer- depending upon what was needed to get the job done or to grow our learning edge.  Each activity requires something different and invites an unique blend of creative collaborators. 

Open Mike

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Idea in incubation: 

you talk about the idea to see whether it gains traction, whether you still like it after a few pitches, what responses you get.  it may be an idea you want to hand off 

Staged Reading

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Idea in exploration:

you find someone else who wants to build with you and you want to see whether its viable.  you delve in to explore what next

Off Off Broadway

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Idea in pilot:

you decide to give it a quick prototype- rough and dirty. You want learning and feedback. Test to decide whether to investment more time and money

Main Stage

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Full steam

you've got money in it and you want a tony. get the best cast/crew, rehearse and execute. everyday is a new day on the stage. 

Post production

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 Wind down:

Close elegantly & move on. Review, learn, celebrate. This may mean the show goes on tour, hand off to new team or document conclusion. Alls well that ends well. 

7 steps:

     1.  Inventory ALL of your projects 
                  - one idea/project per post it
                  - sub-projects for one job = separate post-its
                  - suggestion: color code by theme or by paid/unpaid

     2. Organize the post-its according to the stage of development
                  - follow the stages noted above, I sometimes include an off broadway (between off-off and main stage)


     3. Notice where there is a high concentration of post-its 
                    - the distribution will help you see where you are spending time and energy 
                    - is this distribution congruent with your current needs or are you currently stressed
                    - if self-employed on project work, do you have an appropriate distribution of paid idea/projects
                    - if you have a lead role in more than 2-3 projects on the main stage, you might need a cardio stress test  

     4. Identify what is your role on the projects
                  - is it your idea? are you rallying the team?  are you a first follower? are you the broadcaster? 
                  - does the role play to your strengths? are you on your learning edge?
                  - how does the team on this project feel for you?

     5. Notice your roles
                  - are they always the same? do you feel more energized in some than others?
                  - are you building your craft/skills in each of the different roles?
                  - who do you want to be your mentor for each role?  

    6. Identify all of your current collaborators (cast & crew)
                  - put each by the respective project and identify their role on the project                 
                  - are all of the roles that need to be filled to complete the project full?
                  - is the team well aligned to deliver based on their skill strengths?
                  - what skills do you need to complement your role/skills to get this project to fly?
                  - where can you find people who are smarter than you are at this? do you know them already? 

     7. Fail often, early. Learn. Dive in or move ON!
                  - what is the next action step?  Put that onto whatever project software you use. i like wunderlist and asana*
                  - identify an end point for each stage, so that you know... when to stop and assess? 
                  - check out my 5*5 method posts for a systematic approach to move from idea incubation to explore/pilot 

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Attract the Best Cast & Crew .... and enable excellence in their performance

  • Hire people who are smarter than you are
  • Communicate the vision 
               - on stage, that is a script & blocking,** what does your idea need?
  • Allow the vision to live in dialogue with the creative genius of the team
  • Trust the team to do their magic (you hired people who are smarter than you are)

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IN ACTION: how it looks on the wall.  

You can create your own paper version for your wall.  A digital version,as below, is available for download as well.  You can play with this digital version in powerpoint: import the .png, create text boxes for each of your projects, lasso/copy the people and group each person with a name and move it around until it works for you.  If you have photoshop, it'll be even easier. 

Most of all, have fun! 

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macroscope-playhouse-share.png
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*these are two services that i have used and liked. i have no financial, professional or personal connection to either company. people are very particular about their project management software, enjoy whatever one works best for you to get things done!

** Ingmar Bergman and Creative Leadership by Bo Gyllenpalm, the most influential book I read in 2011. (apologies, I know that it is out of print and have asked Bo to consider republishing it as I find it more relevant than ever).

Dedicated to all those on the journey to be the change through creative lifestyle design, particularly the lovely Joep Kuijper,  Seb Paquet on a 100 day journey into creative economy and Jean Russell, life explorer of creative engagement.  May your project management always allow room for passionate play, creative inspiration and hacking!  

Thought Contributors: Idea developed in collaboration with the enchanting creative  Eddie Harran at a time when I was fascinated by Bo Gyllenpalm's book on the stage leadership of creative director, Ingmar Bergman: what better role model than someone who pulled career best performances from cast/crew night after night for years and imagine, he never returned to the theater after the curtain went up on opening night.).  The creative innovator and the person who turned me onto the power of Mastermind ever-inspiring Do More Great Work guru Michael Bungay Stanier of Box of Crayons.  Digital to wall/post-its thanks to the effervescent creative Loretta Rae. 

Mash it up. Hack it. Please share your hacks! 

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Global Culture Kids

11/8/2012

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Have you ever experienced the confusion or frustration of having someone else define your identity for you?  Well, Global Culture Kids is a playground for you. 

Vision 
a playground for global culture kids! 

a place to play, learn, celebrate, explore...
a place to champion the awesome work by global culture kids!
... and whatever else emerges... 


It might unfold to look like a digital version of this... 

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Some ideas could be....
Sandbox for community building sandcastles... 
Slides to champion projects by GCKs...
Swings to see a gallery of GCK work and projects... 
Teeter-totter for tips...
Picnic tables for parties ... 
......

... what would you like to bring to life in the GCK playground? 

The domain is bought... www.globalculturekids.org  ... would be great to get a real graphic artist on the team early, right?!  Who's on board to build a playground? 

Attribution this idea is a lifetime in the making, with countless people along the way who touched, inspired, healed and shared the journey... special shout out to my grandpa, Peter Maker, Eduardo Gonzalez, E Nathaniel Gates, Rhonda Magee, Marnie Keator, Sheila McKibben, Megumi Nishikura and the Hafu Film Project team, Edward Harren, Daniela Franchi, the poc community, the Plum Village community & Clarissa/Reika & the Hapa-Hafu Kitchen Project crew....  special kudos to awesomeness amplifier and web designer Morgan Sully for the nudge to action on this initiative. 
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8-i SF for InSTEDD

30/4/2012

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On March 30, 2012... in cities around the world, designers and creatives met in teams to donate 8 hours overtime for a good cause as part of 8-i, a self-organizing event kickstarted by New Guard designers in the NLs in 2004... learn more about 8-i

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We joined teams of creatives all over the world (Netherlands, Berlin, London, Vienna, New York, Rio) ... in an 8 hour sprint to solve a communications challenge.  San Francisco participated for the first time. Live from Studio 305 in the Best Foods Building, a team of creatives solved a communications challenge for the non-profit, InSTEDD (innovative support technologies for emergencies, disease and disaster). Learn more about InSTEDD's amazing tool suite at instedd.org


This short video shares our design process and the storyboard that we created for InSTEDD- enjoy! 

  

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Thanks to rockstar SF Creative Team!

Betty Chen
Lina Constantinovici
Kinnari Desai
Brooke Estin (InSTEDD)
Kate Ettinger
Taema Mahinui
Benjamin Packard (Retainer Media)
Aviva Raskin (Bloxes)

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Special Event Advent Calendar {Idea Post}

11/12/2011

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A dear friend is retiring at the end of the month. I decided to take a twist on the season's advent calendar to commemorate her life's work by making a retirement advent calendar, "A Bouquet of Memories from Natural History."  

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I took the calendar and stripped it down to it's base so that I had a sturdy cardboard backing and an easy hook at the top for the calendar to hang on.


Then, I cut velcro squares into quads. (Twice as many needed for the receiving side.)  I arranged those quads on the top of the calendar. Around each piece of velcro I wrote a little "happy memory prompt" ... this is a retiring attorney so things like "best court moment," "truth stranger than fiction," "best  argument"... 


Then, I cut and taped the calendar for December 2011 to the base. 

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For this project, I used the page on the calendar where it gives you a "preview" of all the pictures.  I cut each of those mini-pictures around its edges to make small "advent cards."



I took each advent card and put a small piece of velcro for the attaching side on the back and covered the prompts. 


Then, on the front page of the calendar, I attached the second set of receiving velcro at the bottom of the full size picture.

The front page was attached to the backboard with clips and ribbons. And voila! 

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By the end of the month, as she takes one flower from the top and places it onto the bottom, she will create a bouquet and each day, she'll have a new prompt of happy memories to make the last few weeks fun. 



This is a great recycling/reuse project for calendars, which are also abundant at this time of year.  I usually cut the gorgeous prints and (re)use them for cards, wrapping paper or wall hangings.  

This is a new and exciting use and a fun way to build anticipation for a special occasion! 





It would be cool to make this a scalable project.  I enjoyed the physicality of playing with the calendar, but one could imagine a template in iphoto or a calendar service where one could select the advent card icons and write the text for the prompts and then send it to someone as a printable or virtual special event advent calendar.... ooh, possibilities!
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Learning Journey Report: A Visit to the Scotland Project of the International Futures Forum

14/3/2011

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In January 2011, after a journey that included an adventure into New York City after Newark had a power outage and closed all flights amidst a snowstorm, I arrived in Scotland for the first time. I spent two fascinating weeks learning about the various Scotland Projects of the International Futures Forum.  The full report is included here.  A series of posts featuring each individual project precedes this post.  Comments and feedback welcome! 


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