Busy week this week, but will hopefully get to a round-up later. In passing, worth drawing attention to some audio-visual material. New(ish) podcasts:
– The BeBold podcast which is from US social entrepreneur support organisation Echoing Green, co-hosted by prolific non-profit blogger Britt Bravo
– Also the PRI social entrepreneurship programmes (19 of these), as funded by the Skoll Foundation, are now also available through iTunes; worth noting the Skoll Foundation blog (see previous link) where I got that news from….
Over on the other side of the pond, the big recent news (apart from that little McCain-Obama stuff) has been the SoCap 08 conference. There is something about the language (SoCap, "at the intersection of money and meaning") which slightly jars with a UK sensibility, but there's been some interesting content. And much of it has been blogged about or can be viewed online: see Matthew Bishop's keynote on his new book Philanthrocapitalism below for example (you can find the book in the SSE store, though it's not released here till mid-November, presumably to tie in with Global Entrepreneurship Week; I've added Just Another Emperor? The Myths and Realities of Philanthrocapitalism for balance)….Worth digging around the blogosphere to find more nuggets.See if you agree with Bishop's optimistic view of the current financial situation…and about the relationship between business and the social sphere.
SSE attended the Enterprising Solutions Awards last night at the V&A Museum, and despite our esteemed CEO being on the judging panel, we had no idea about the winners. Click on the previous link or read this article to see the full list. I was delighted to see Sunlight win an award (for best new SE), as I think they are a really credible organisation that delivers and has its values written through it; and was great to see lots of them enjoying the ceremony and the event to the full. The main winner, presented by new Minister for the Third Sector Kevin Brennan, was Phone Co-op, which is well deserved. I remember switching our broadband to them about 3 years ago, and they have our business on customer service and price as well as the added social value.
Most people around me were particularly taken with NMC Design and Print (check out the site) and they showed their entrepreneurial spirit by promoting themselves and their services wholeheartedly in the networking afterwards. Well done to Dan and Alan (who I chatted to for a while) and the rest of their team. They’re on our list for our next design and print job.
And, of course, well done to the team at SEC, especially Mamoona Shah who looked somewhat frenzied when we arrived (as is the nature of these things), but pleased and relaxed later on. The event went without a hitch pretty much, and there was a very good buzz at the networking afterwards. Difficult to get a dynamic energy going in such a grand, enormous hall, but the networking cut through the church-like atmosphere and the enjoyment took off from there (NB – this may be connected to alcohol consumption). I stumbled across 3 SSE Fellows chatting away (and monopolising the hamburger canapes), chatted to the good people from the Westminster Children’s Society, and chewed the fat with several of the nominees and award winners. Also had great chats with Alex Bellinger of SmallBizPod and with Caryl and Vandna from Voice4Change.
Gossip was thin on the ground (though perhaps the after-party might have been more fruitful in that respect), but I was thoroughly delighted to be barely recognised by Liz from the OTS because I was wearing a suit…a definite compliment, I think.
So, the final residential blog post for another year….and it was quite a finale, with each of the ‘Dartington sets’ (groups made up of students from across different programmes and schools) doing a presentation based on their SSE, residential and own project experiences. It was a fantastic display of creativity, teamwork and lots of laughs….and I’ll try and get some video highlights up as soon as possible. The exercise is much more about the working together with new people, coming to consensus, allowing everyone to contribute etc. but the end products were great as well, with the winning presentation giving a unique SSE-themed twist to a classic formula (Dragon’s Den). Congrats to all for entering into it with such gusto.
The night before was open mic night and disco, and once the students had recovered from the horrific sight of some of the staff’s dance moves, it was a great evening. It’s always pretty inspiring to get a sense of the amazing talent people have, be it Liverpool’s choir (ably directed by Bernadette), or London’s acapella and dancing efforts. This could well become a fixture at future residentials….although the bar has now been set pretty high.
Personally speaking, as I mentioned briefly before, the highlight for me was the conversation with the set I was facilitating following Vaughan’s witness session. The points they were raising after having heard Tim Smit and Vaughan speak, and from learning from each other’s projects, demonstrated clearly to me the effectiveness of the expert witness approach. Each had taken something different that was relevant to them personally or to their organisation, and the respect they showed each other in listening and building on each other’s ideas left me on an absolute high. A slug of inspiration to see me through the policy documents that await!
Here’s a slideset of photos that tell a bit of the story of the SSE Residential 2008, and below that a video from the first night where each person says one word that defines social entrepreneurship for them.
So SSE attended the launch of the Hub’s new building in King’s Cross last night, which was great. As you can see from the website photos, the building’s a really beautiful open space (from floor to ceiling), and has a great vibe to it. It’s intended to be different from the first Hub: less hot-desking / shared office, and more event, bar, cafe, meetings type of space. And, arguably, more aspirational and ambitious in feel.
Which fitted well with founder Jonathan Robinson’s address, which focused on the possibilities for social innovation, social business and social entrepreneurship that are opening up as a result of what he called "system failure" in the commercial world. I’m a born cynic to Jonathan’s idealist, but it was inspiring to hear him speak with such passion and purpose. Particularly, as I remember working with him in the pre-Hub days, and remember visiting it when the floor was being sanded down……to see the development since then is amazing, and I know that SSE will be keen to use the space, informally and formally. And the next Hub, and the one after that. Indeed, I may be heading out to Canada soon, and intend to meet up with the people from the Toronto version (the Center for Social Innovation, aka CSI).
A big congratulations to Jonathan and his team, and a big hello to all those I was chatting to last night (including Nick Aldridge, whose name label ingeniously just read ‘CEO’: there’s a man unafraid of responsibility above and beyond MissionFish; Richard (Alderson) and Pooja, who run UnLtd India and Careershifters; Alex Bellinger from SmallBizPod; Jason and Dave from SE2; Ceri from SEC et al).
OK, so this was meant to be a Friday round-up, but Capacitybuilders expressions of interest defeated me. And what a sunny weekend it was, unless you work at a bank / building society, or use one….or prefer watching telly.
– And starting on that subject, after mycontributions, a cavalcade of apocalyptic now-is-the-chance-for-social-enterprise-in-this-time-of-capitalist-collapse articles and posts from the social entrepreneur blogerati: Craig Dearden-Phillips, Rob Greenland and Rod Schwartz; would love to hear your views on whether this is challenge / opportunity….
– In connected (ish) news, the European Venture Philanthropy Association had its fourth conference in Frankfurt last week. Philanthropy UK’s report included a call for philanthropists to "keep the faith", and the interesting comment that "In the current economic climate venture philanthropists may need to
help charities merely to survive rather than to grow or replicate"
– ECT update news from TheLawyer.com (a first for this blog) from the law firm who helped dispose of its various subsidiaries, after what they call a "disastrous diversification". Ouch
– Can the effectiveness of third sector organisations be measured and compared? It’s an old chestnut, but that doesn’t mean people will stop trying to crack it….see Intelligent Giving’s take on a new US initiative, the excitingly-monickered Portfolio Data Management System.
– Social Enterprise Ambassador news: Daniel Heery of Cybermoor fame is also heavily involved in using technology to improve healthcare in Cumbria with some really innovative practice. See this piece on Alston Healthcare
– Every blog in the world is covering this, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t: Google’s 10 to the 100th, a call for ideas to change the world
– Co-operatives UK have released a new publication on community investment by sector expert Jim Brown; it is, the blurb tells us, "The most comprehensive guide to undertaking community share issues to date"
– FOOTSEY no. 7 is taking place in Yorkshire this October 16th. Promises to be the biggest ever and, based on last year’s event, I’d say it’s well worth a visit. Unfortunately, it coincides with SSE’s residential, but I’d encourage all those in the area (and outside) to attend.
– How is social enterprise like a mammoth with no memory? Because it’s "woolly and confused", of course, according to the sector press’ take on the OTS research I reported on previously. There may be momentum building behind the South West’s Social Enterprise Mark….though SEC has started its own identity project. No mammoths involved as yet.
– And finally, following Alex Bellinger of SmallBizPod calling Shine 08 "one of the best entrepreneurship conferences I’ve been to all year" and exhorting people to attend Shine 09 (now being planned), there are also some more photos and videos emerging from the event.
More Shine 2008 Flickr photos:
And check out the Dutch Kaos Pilots video of their trip over….
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