Facilitating Change

10. December 2009

Research Briefs: Simple tools to link research to practice

Briefs are important communication tools for linking research findings to policy and practice — and ultimately affecting change. Because face it: in the attention economy no one has time to read the full report. Here’s the format we’ve developed at the Technology & Social Change Group for writing a research brief.

6. December 2009

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Littlest Birds

Song of the day. Sammy Parton/Jolie Holland/Syd Barrett’s Littlest Birds, as sung by The Be Good Tanyas. Photo by John Haslam.

23. November 2009

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Germaine Martin, 1937

I hate Facebook. And yet I love Facebook. Because some distant cousin sent my mom several photos of my grandmother, Germain Martin, from the late 30s. This one is my favorite. It was taken in Clarence Creek, Ontario, in 1937. She was about 19.

20. November 2009

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Rite of passage for Liam as he turns 13

So many of us now are hybrids. In between. With that comes freedom. But also the loss of a sense of connection to something bigger and that can contain us in a comforting way. Like a parent’s embrace. The rituals that marked passage and grounded and gathered communities are fading away. I believe that acknowledging and celebrating the milestones in our lives is important and can help us transition and accept change.

18. November 2009

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Porte Parole at Pecha Kucha

Annabel Soutar, co-founder of the amazing Porte Parole, will present at Pecha Kucha Montreal tonight. Care about democracy? Citizen engagement? Clear your schedule and be there!

16. November 2009

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L’accompagnement

What’s important is the ability to gather with others and the possibility to be accompanied in your work. To be able to ask questions and bounce around ideas. I’ve been thinking for some time that public-access venues and coworking spaces are connected. This is why. They provide access to helpful people — librarians, dinamizador@s, infomediaries, the-guy-sitting-across-the-table-from-you.

19. October 2009

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Naada Yoga: Something for my nothing

So somewhere in June everything fell apart. I was falling and falling. Shattered. Scattered. Lost. Yes, that’s the main feeling: loss. Layers upon layers of it — some new, some old. Accompanied by self-loathing, deep deep sadness, hopelessness, and rage. All combining into a perfect dizzying downward spiral.

6. September 2009

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The getting of knowledge should be smelly

Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a-a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and-and-and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is a – it, uh, it has no-no texture, no-no context. It’s-it’s there and then it’s gone. If it’s to last, then-then the getting of knowledge should be, uh, tangible, it should be, um, smelly.

31. July 2009

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Communications: Thinking about a better way

“We do so much but no one knows about it. We have to do a better job of telling our story.” I’ve heard this again and again. So, why’s it so hard? I’ve come to suspect that part of it has to do with the structure of communications within organizations. The centralized structure is a problem. We need to figure out how to make a distributed model work.

30. July 2009

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Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

This stuff tastes like flowers, but it’s not sweet. Their website describes it this way: “Lifted aromatics of tropical fruits combined with the traditional nettle and herbaceous aromas of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.” Yeah whatever. Blah, blah, blah. Flowers, I tell you!

21. July 2009

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Tim Hwang at Participation Camp: Can computer games increase citizen engagement?

Tim Hwang looks like a super cool guy. And he’s not just cool because Joi Ito took his portrait. Nope. Most important? He founded ROFLCon, the internet celebrity conference. Or maybe it’s his work at Harvard. Or maybe this awesome talk on video games and citizen engagement. Hmmmm, hard to decide!

Research Briefs: Simple tools to link research to practice

Littlest Birds

Germaine Martin, 1937

Rite of passage for Liam as he turns 13

Porte Parole at Pecha Kucha

L’accompagnement

Naada Yoga: Something for my nothing

The getting of knowledge should be smelly

Communications: Thinking about a better way

Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

Tim Hwang at Participation Camp: Can computer games increase citizen engagement?

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