Oh I come from a land, from a faraway place
Where the caravan camels roam
Where they cut off your ear
If they don’t like your face
It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home
When the wind’s from the east
And the sun’s from the west
And the sand in the glass is right
Come on down
Stop on by
Hop a carpet and fly
To another Arabian night
Use concrete language. Check out this mission statement from SonicBids, a fast-growing small business: “We want to help musicians get gigs, and promoters book the right bands. … We’re a bunch of people who think that music can truly change the world and make it smaller and better. … We believe that independent music belongs everywhere: on festival stages; in video game consoles; on film screens; in college theaters; on the radio; in advertisements; on club stages and at sporting events.” Wow. It gives you a picture of what they do and tells you why it’s worth doing.
Talk about the why. Most mission statements are all statement and no mission. The whole point is to say why you’re doing what you’re doing. What makes you care? Look at the start of Johnson & Johson’s famous credo: “Our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses, and patients, mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services.” Well, okay, that’s worth getting out of bed for. Compare that with ExxonMobil’s. Did you feel that? A little part of your soul just died, reading that.
These games certainly united the country, with yesterday’s Team Canada gold medal win over the United States bringing the country to a fever pitch. Yonge and Dundas in downtown Toronto was awash in a sea of humanity last night, with people out on the streets screaming, dancing and celebrating with one another. It also helped that with Team Canada’s victory in hockey last night, our total gold medal count came to 14, meaning we now hold the record for most gold medal wins by any country throughout the 86-year history of the Winter Games.
For a moment in time, it was amazing to be a part of something much larger than our individual selves.
After months of hard work, we’re coming down to the wire with the organization for TEDxWaterloo, finally happening next week on February 25 at the Gig Music Hall in downtown Kitchener – and we’re definitely super excited!!!
On a personal note, it’s been quite the journey for me from my initial blog post on a possible TEDxWaterloo event last summer, to opportune meetings with an amazing group of people who are equally as passionate about ideas worth spreading. Credit for putting TEDxWaterloo together really has to go to the entire team of volunteers behind the event, who have collectively given hundreds of hours of their time, energy and commitment towards making TEDxWaterloo a success.
Our diverse range of speakers, all of whom are well recognized and respected in their fields, are also giving us their time and energy because they truly believe in sharing their ideas and experiences with the broader community.
We will be live webstreaming the entire event beginning 2pm EST on February 25 at www.tedxwaterloo.com. All of the TEDxWaterloo Talks will be made available online after the event.
Terry O’Reilly – Advertising visionary and host of the CBC award-winning radio series “The Age of Persuasion“.
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Philip Beesley – Professor at Waterloo Architecture creating vastly complex ‘living’ environments that can breathe and feel.
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Raymond LaFlamme – Founding Director of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing whose insight changed Stephen Hawking’s mind and theories about our universe.
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Paul Saltzman – Beatles photographer and two-time Emmy Award winning film & television producer-director.
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Caroline Disler – A master of translation with working knowledge of ancient languages including Sumerian, Akkadian, Edomite, Ancient Hebrew, Egyptian, Sanskrit, Latin and Greek.
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Madhur Anand – Internationally recognized scientist, poet, and professor of Global Ecological Change at the University of Guelph.
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Michael Sacco – Chocolatier and social entrepreneur promoting the diversity of production of organic cacao through a structure defined as “horizontal trade”.
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Darren Wershler – Canadian experimental poet, non-fiction writer and cultural critic.
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Marty Avery – A connector and catalyst whose strategic approach offers remarkable insight into the human side of business.
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Amy Krouse Rosenthal – New York Times best-selling children’s author, radio host and creative filmmaker.
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Below is a video segment of Jaclyn and I discussing TEDxWaterloo that appeared on the Waterloo Region Record website, courtesy of Philip Bast.
The full interview with Chris Meidell of Waterloo Tech TV can be found here.
I am a 20-something young person keenly interested in learning how transformative social change happens, and passionate about building resilient communities. I also have a strong background in student and youth engagement, and I am convinced that young people have the power and opportunities like never before to affect positive change in the world.
