allthatkatydid's posterous

That Inward Eye: What If?

My grey-blue eyes absorb his of light blue
Mirrors of the tranquil sky and sea
Reaching high and reaching far
A calming effect on my consciousness
Though rationality makes way for emotions
Washing furiously over me like a tropical storm
I can see his blue but am feeling the red
Of passion or a warning of disaster
The pressure of confusion
Desperately travelling to the surface
Effervescence and release
What if

I wrote this poem at the request of a friend who asked for a spontaneous response - a stolen half hour - to the following memory (which belongs to someone I’ve not met):

My memory was of the blue of the eyes of my soul mate that I lost in 2005!!  The stone I touched was streaked with blue and on a white stone.  This was very powerful.

The island of Crete, 4.30am, the sun is rising.  I am on a beach with a photographer who is also my boss.  We are taking pictures of the beautiful surroundings, rocks, waves, clouds, the streaked red sky, each other.  He moves closer, the sexual tension is too much.  I have a boyfriend and he is my CEO.  Nothing ever happened that balmy morning, even though the wind was in our hair and the salt stained our skin, one of the most romantic moments.  Makes me wonder what if …??  (2009, summer)

This is for a project called That Inward Eye. Find - and share - more memories here: http://www.thatinwardeye.tumblr.com/

"The best fashion show is on the streets. Always has been and always will be."

Bill Cunningham New York is a superb documentary that invites us into the life of the legendary street-style photographer and New York Times fashion columnist. Bill is now 84 and still living a simple life, riding his bike armed with his camera, his disposable rain poncho and his unfaltering enthusiasm for his art: capturing the people and the fashion on the streets and at the society events of New York - from SoHo to the Upper East Side - although he doesn't regard himself as an artist, even if Anna Wintour et al do! 

It's clear that Bill is a compassionate and generous-hearted person who, despite his modest way of living, is the real style star. He sees beauty in simplicity as well as in the outlandish. When someone's creativity to work a look catches his eye - whether it's a high society woman or the girl on the street - it's as if he's been blessed by the presence of an angel. 

Bill has shown me that it's more important than ever to celebrate individuality and personal style. Well-chosen and well-designed things that are right for each of us are even more necessary in the recession-hit world of mass-production and consumption in which we live, and with which I have a hate/love relationship. Freedom of expression and escapism are also important in order to get by; as Bill says: "fashion is the armor to survive the reality of every day life."

If you're not watching Bill Cunningham New York at the Ritzy maybe I'll see you in Brixton Village and the local charity shops finding some interesting pieces to make your own and turn some heads. 

"He who seeks beauty will find it." Bill Cunningham, I salute you.

For further reading, a beautiful, heartfelt blog piece by Hugh Garry on the Bill and the documentary can be found here: http://hughgarry.typepad.com/hugh_garry/2012/03/he-who-seeks-beauty-will-find-it.html

This blog post was written for the Brixton Blog on 22 March 2012: 

Older and wiser?

I read this Tweet last night:

umairh umair haque So, I wish there three things I knew about life when I was trying to figure out what the hell to do with mine (ie, around 25ish or so).

and remembered I'd asked my colleagues, friends and family a not too dissimilar question earlier this year (we were talking advice for your 18 year old self). This is the email I sent:

I’m helping a friend with some ideas for a coaching workshop he’s doing with some school/college leavers. I thought it might be interesting to share with them some thoughts from “us oldies”. So to you I am posing this question (albeit in a rather Yoda-esque style): If you could go back in time to impart one piece of advice to your 18 year old self, what would it be? Thanks

I simply texted most of my friends with the question: If you could go back in time to impart one piece of advice to your 18 year old self, what would it be? Some were suspicious of my intentions and questioned my motivation for asking the question, some didn't know how to respond and treated the question as one of the toughest they've ever been asked.

But we got there in the end and I put the responses into a graphic. Enjoy.

Advice_for_your_18_year_old_self

Rather excitingly the graphic made it into today's Guardian Society Daily!

Oh, and the #3lessons that came to my mind mind last night: 

allthatkatydid Katy Robinson @umairh #3lessons Don't sweat the small stuff. Have confidence in yourself. Listen to others but make decisions yourself.

As for the #3lessons from the originator of last night's conversation:

umairh umair haque My (shorter) #3lessons 1. Never settle for the trivial, tedious, or mediocre. 2. Dream laughably big. 3. Take an improbable journey.

umairh umair haque 4. (bonus lesson). a good life arcs towards significance. work and live stuff that matters. meaninglessness drains the biggest success.

umairh umair haque 3. the higher the stakes, the less you risk. so take big risks when you're young. bet the farm before it's a ranch. it'll be worth it :)

umairh umair haque 2. a good life isn't one where your personal life is a smoking wreck. invest in people. remember fromm's conclusion. bit.ly/t9HGX1

umairh umair haque 1. choose fulfillment and passion over "money" and "success". the latter follow the former. without the former, the latter are empty.

Check out, follow or join the whole conversation here: #3lessons

Give and get

Christmas is a time of giving, through gifts of goods, money or time. But not all good deeds are purely altruistic. Does it matter if people help causes and communities because of enlightened self-interest – which, according to Wikipedia, is “a philosophy in ethics which states that persons who act to further the interests of others (or the interests of the group or groups to which they belong), ultimately serve their own self-interest”?

I spend some of my time outside of work volunteering for local community projects that matter to me. It’s great to share my professional skills and experience for good causes that can’t afford to pay for this kind of support. And it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, which is a lovely feeling to have!

Incentivised campaigns

Moving on from this example of real life engagement we turn to engagement of an online nature. Although six out of 10 Britons don’t want to engage with brands through social media, 90% of consumers are actually happy to interact with incentivised campaigns and 48%, while they may initially opt-in to a brand for the incentive, end up staying to pay attention to the brand message. Consumers will engage with brands on social media providing the brand gives something back to them in return.

Are the commercial and NFP sectors that different?

I’m not much of a consumer, and don’t often engage with consumer brands, but I do like to support good causes and realise that the learnings from the commercial world I’ve noted above can be applied to the NFP (not for profit) sector to great effect. This month alone I have supported:

UNICEF: Own a colour and help save a child’s life. This campaign started with a simple but BIG idea. Sell the 16.77 million colours that exist in a computer display to help save children’s lives around the world. I found the favourite colour of my youth, and now I own it. Colour #5110a2. On the day the campaign launched around £50,000 was raised. This figure has now topped £85,000.

UNICEF: Own a colour and help save a child’s life.

The Royal British Legion: Shoulder to shoulder with all who serve. The Poppy Appeal raises funds to provide care and support to all members of the British Army. I wanted to show my support and wear a poppy but as a cyclist I didn’t pass the usual collectors in London’s train stations. Instead I bought a virtual poppy and stood shoulder to shoulder with thousands of other supporters, and spread the word via Facebook and Twitter. So far the 2011 Appeal has raised £16,680,450.

The Royal British Legion: Shoulder to shoulder with all who serve.

50/50 – Make or Break: #fuckfamine Swear Jar. One of the 50 projects created in 50 days to raise £1 million for famine relief in East Africa. Track your swearing on Twitter and raise funds for UNICEF. I’ve been swearing on Twitter because it’s all for a good cause! £885 raised so far.

Swear Jar: Track your swearing on Twitter and raise funds for UNICEF for the East African famine.

Digital innovation

Yes I care about the causes I donated to, but I was initially drawn to these digital campaigns because of the innovative interfaces with which I able to interact. I now own a winning colour which I named Cosy Nostalgia. I wore my poppy with pride, albeit online rather than IRL (in real life). I was even granted permission to f***cking swear on Twitter!

Social pull

In our ever evolving digital world charities, as well as consumer brands, are using the traditional marketing pull concept in a new way for social media marketing. They have found a pull, or a reason, for an individual to go to their site or online channel. I discovered Own a Colour, Shoulder to Shoulder and Swear Jar through Twitter, and duly tweeted them forward and shared them on Facebook. A year ago I wouldn’t have believed I’d behave in this way. But hey, this is bold new behaviour for a brave new online world.

They say it’s better to give than to receive but I think we can have it all.

P.S.

I owe £3 to my swear jar for tweeting “awesome” which, along with “synergy” and “epic”, has been added to the Swear Jar for those not so keen on swearing in their tweets!

Sources

Majority of Britons do not want to engage with brands via social media, Thu 10 Nov 2011

Incentives aid social media engagement, Thu 17 Nov 2011

Rethinking value exchange: Consumers trust us with their data – how do we repay them? Fri 18 Nov 2011

Links

http://ownacolour.com

http://shouldertoshoulder.org.uk

http://swearjar.cc

This post was published in vinspired's blog on Mon 4 Dec 2011

http://vorg.vinspired.com/give-and-get

Advice for moving into the NFP/third sector

Firstly, all experience is good experience. Have faith in yourself and your abilities - what you can bring to the table. E.g. you can apply past experience in commercial and corporates to a new setting, i.e. the NFP/third sector.

Sales + biz dev = fundraising + corporate partnerships. Making profit is the same as bringing in funds. 

Through relationships and partnerships formed in commercial organisations you have the ability to liaise with a wide variety of different people across sectors, geographical regions and levels. You know how to package important messages for different key audiences and stakeholders.

I always seem to bang on about long term sustainability and long term strategic change. The NFP sector need to employ more business skills to really plan for the future.

What specific causes matter to you? For example, I believe young people and the elderly are the most marginalised groups in society in the UK so that really matters to me.

Check out a charity's website, facebook, twitter, annual report (including mission, vision, values), articles of association (if you have these in the US), recent campaigns, ambassadors. What's good, what's not so good, advice you would give the charity, highlight any advantages and disadvantages around some of the programmes of work or campaigns they have run.

Have you helped in your CSR (corporate social responsibility) programme. Does your corporate encourage employee volunteering? What's your organisation's SROI (social return on investment)?

Rebrand yourself. Volunteer. Do something. Then write about it in your CV/resume and on LinkedIn (which now has a special section for voluntary work).

An entire nation's responsibility.

A friend has said this, which I wholeheartedly agree with: “There are many parents in UK who should be hugely ashamed, they have failed their kids, eleven year olds should not be on the streets looting. That is not just society's fault, it's their responsibility... Obviously there's a poverty cycle that it is very sadly hard for these kids to break out of. That and making some parents feel responsible for instilling a sense of worth, respect and morality in their kids are tough problems to solve...”

Some people are shouting about the “chav scum” on our streets but, regardless of whether that is true or not, we need to look to the future and think about potential solutions, not further divisions, in order to mend our society.

The riots have highlighted the UK's long-failing education system, and our nation's inability to communicate with one another. The parents of the rioters seem unwilling to intervene, or perhaps they've tried but no-one's listening. The police, and others in authority, are unsure how to communicate effectively with those they've tried so little to understand. It's interesting how the bankers and the rioters are in some ways poles apart yet have both contributed to the downfall of our society. Improve the quality of education for all, including adult education - not all the rioters are kids.