Thinking Digital - Notes from Wednesday
Apologies in advance for the length of this post but it's got some pretty pictures so it's worth sticking with it.
I went along to Thinking Digital in Gateshead yesterday (Wednesday 30th May). It was a great day, I didn't tweet my way through the talks, instead I chose to sit, listen and take notes. I didn't take notes of every talk either so the pages of notes I liked have been recorded in this blog post along with some brief notes of my thoughts and how you find out more about each speaker.
Given that the conference is called Thinking Digital there was more 'Thinking' than 'Digital' but that was definitely a good thing in my book. I really enjoyed the opportunity and time looking at other sectors and see some disruptive ideas.
There are already lots of blogs about Thinking Digital springing up and if you want to find out more the conference then the Thinking Digital twitter stream is a really good place to start
Tom touched on a growing trend I'm seeing to 'unplug'. He didn't prescribe how or when but he did talk about how we should become more discerning in our choice of technology and tools. Tom has a book out right now called How to Thrive in the Digital Age. He posed the question 'Is Email Evil' which everyone found amusing but it got a resounding 'Yes' from the audience.
This was the only talk where the word 'Gamification' was used and you can't knock it when it's used alongside the word Neuroscience! So Sebastian is looking to leverage our love of gaming to help map the wiring in the brain. Check out eyewire.org and get involved.
Mikko was able to talk about cyber crime and security and make it really understandable and interesting - a talented man! My notes sum up Mikko's talk pretty well but you can find links to Mikko on his site here http://mikko.hypponen.com.
Pam talked about Incredible Edible which started in Todmorden. They've started a revolution and she gave a rousing talk which was all about getting on and doing.
You can find out about what Incredible Edible is all about in case you can't figure it out from my notes http://www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk.
I had the privelege of having dinner with Zach and sharing stories and experiences. He has some brilliant and awe-inspiring projects and I urge you check them out. He's currently working on a cultural olympiad project along Hadrian's Wall - it sounds like it's going to be amazing.
You can find out more about Zach's work http://thesystemis.com/.
Sugata talked about learning, an area I'm really interested in because I have children in primary school. He was witty and very very smart. I tested out his 'teaching' method of saying 'I don't know' and walking away today but my 5 year old ran after me with iPad as I walked away.
Sugata blogs at http://www.sugatam.blogspot.co.uk.
