Servant of Chaos -

Time for a U-Turn?

The 2012 season of Vibewire’s #fastBREAK series gets underway on February 24 – with the topic U-Turn.

fastBREAK is a monthly series of rapid-fire interactive talks held on the last Friday of each month from 7:45-9:00am at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum. Each event has five young industry leaders from various sectors exploring the question or topic of the month. These five minute responses circle around the themes of creativity, commercialisation, collaboration, connections and conversation. You can join the fastBREAK meetup community here.

This month’s speakers include:

Robert Beson is the director of AR-MA. Educated in the United States and Australia, Robert holds degrees in literature, classics and architecture.As an architect, Robert has worked in Europe, the United States and Australia with a number of internationally recognised practices and institutions. His work has been exhibited at the Prague Quadrennial, Gwangju Biennial, and the Venice Biennale.In 2010, Robert was awarded the Byera Hadley Traveling scholarship for research on digital fabrication and production of complex structures. Robert has acted as art director and curator for academic institutions, and lectures at UTS and the University of Sydney.

Ralph Hobbs is Art Equity’s Art Director, Ralph Hobbs has a wealth of experience as an artist, art educator and consultant to art institutions. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Art, Diploma of Education and a Masters in Fine Art and Design. His ongoing studies and life-long passion for art has positioned him as an authority in the industry. Highly regarded for his eye for exceptional art and understanding of what makes an artwork both collectible and valuable is an inherent skill that Art Equity clients have appreciated for many years.

Philip Gomes is an Editor and Journalist for SBS and Cycling News, who started his career as a Tennis Player/ coach. He migrated to Australia from Canada and in that time changed his preferred sports to cycling and triathlons. He is now fulfilling a life long dream to become a writer and journalist by converting online publishing into a full-time career as a journalist and online editor at SBS.

Katherine Tu is an Arts/Law student currently studying at the University of Sydney. She is also the Australian Youth Climate Coalition’s NSW State Co-Coordinator. She is passionate about acting on climate change because she wants to see a cleaner, fairer and more just world. Katherine is also active in social justice issues in general, she has previously volunteered for the Australian Red Cross on International Humanitarian Law, Young UNIFEM, and she is currently volunteering with the Aboriginal Legal Service. In her spare time, she likes to read, travel and try and play the ukulele (but isn’t very good at it).

Don’t forget to book your tickets here.

Are You Young, Wise or Undiscovered?

Conferences

Unless you’ve been hiding under a non-wi-fi-enabled rock for the last six years, then you will have seen or heard of a TED Talk. This famous conference event has hosted some of the most talked about, viewed and imitated presentations ever seen – covering a wide range of topics and ideas, inspiring millions of people around the world.

But how are the speakers selected? How do you attract the all seeing eye of Chris Anderson?

Well, it seems that TED are putting the crowd to work in an innovative new way – to uncover new talents, voices and ideas that “the world needs to hear”.

To apply, you will need to produce a short video of yourself. Thirty of the best applicants will be invited to audition. You can find out more here.

What/who are TED looking for?

Here’s what they say on their website.

Anyone can apply to audition, so long as you have not spoken at a TED Conference, TEDGlobal or TEDActive, and do not have a talk posted on TED.com/talks. We're especially looking for:

THE INVENTOR … sharing an innovation with world-changing potential

THE TEACHER … sharing valuable knowledge in a memorable way to teenagers or adults

THE PRODIGY … young talent ready to break out

THE ARTIST … who can showcase their work in a compelling, new way (Don't just talk about it. Show us your work!)

THE PERFORMER … music, dance, comedy, drama … or something entirely different

THE SAGE … wisdom the world needs from those who have learned it the hard way

THE ENTHUSIAST … with an infectious passion about a topic they can share

THE CHANGE AGENT … helping shape the world's future with work that matters

THE STORYTELLER … vivid, original, meaningful … with a talent for connection

THE SPARK … with a powerful idea worth spreading

So if you’ve got an idea worth spreading, the auditions for Australia take place in Sydney on May 27. BUT you have to apply between March 19 and April 8. Check out the audition FAQ here and start getting your story straight – because time is running out!

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

5 Must-Read Posts

Some weeks I feel like we are actually swimming in information – people are sharing and resharing information, knowledge and ideas, and in doing so, building the wave of information that threatens to overwhelm our meagre senses.

But if you have a good, strong network of clever people – people that you trust, have expertise and are willing to share it – then it becomes easier to wade through the torrent. It is in the curating of content that the rough diamond of an idea can be polished and revealed as a gem. Hope you enjoy these five jewels!

When we think about social recommendation – the way in which curated content impacts an audience, it’s important to think about the way in which you construct your recommendation. Rachel Beaney shares her thoughts on high click rates and social recommendation.
By now, I just presume that anyone who is interested in blogging or social media has ProBlogger on their reading list. In case you missed this one – here is a Four-Point Formula for Developing Irresistable Content.
And speaking of “content”, Trevor Young shares this infographic on the Content Marketing Explosion. Did you know that 62% of companies outsource their content marketing? That’s big business.
Olivier Blanchard reminds us of 10 things we still need to know about social media / social business. We should probably write this on the wall in front of us.
Now that we are well and truly into the swing of 2012, Drew McLellan shares five things that will derail your marketing in 2012. Watch out!

Facebook for the Troubled Teen

Cup of Chaos, Videos

Having some trouble with your teenager? See how one parent turned the tables in his teenage daughter.

Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

5 Must-Read Posts

Sometimes the week takes off without us holding tightly. So that makes it already Tuesday where I live – and I’m yet to catch up with my long list of Monday to-do items. And I am sure I am not alone, right?

I hope that these five great posts from last week help you catch up with your busy life!

I’ve often thought that blogs (and all the other social media sites, content and interactions that we produce) – when taken collectively – say more about our lives and reputations than we’d like to admit. Jen Stumbles calls this out explaining just how recruitment is changing right beneath our feet.
You’ve probably heard the term “gamification” bandied about, right? Well, Tac Anderson takes a deep dive into one of the hot topics to determine the truth, lies and promises of gamification.
It’s the curse of the Twittering class … the hacked account which then starts spamming all your followers. In can happen to anyone (well, anyone with a less than rock-solid password), and you won’t know it’s happening until it’s too late. Gavin Costello shares some tips for cleaning up the mess.
Great, personal article by Richard Bell on the Vibewire blog – The Mental Health Pilgrimage brings religion into the scientific conversation.
There are going to be words and connected thoughts that may rate as NSFW, but there is no doubt you’ll gasp (with shock or delight) with Annik Skelton’s reviews of books she stopped reading because they are so bad.