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.
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.
In case you missed it, watch Bilodeau’s gold medal run in the men’s moguls here.
I even went as far as giving in and buying a Vancouver 2010 sweatshirt at the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto earlier this afternoon. Im glad that I did however, because the Olympic Torch was on display at the Eaton Centre and I was able to get a photo with it. I have to admit, a part of me was disappointed when I missed the Olympic Torch relay when it passed through the Toronto/Kitchener-Waterloo area at the end of December (I was out west in Cranbrook, BC for the holidays then), and I missed it again when it passed through Cranbrook, BC at the end of January (I was back in Waterloo already).
GO TEAM CANADA!!!
Of course, I would also like to express my heartfelt condolences and prayers to the friends and family of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the luger from Georgia who died in that horrific Olympic training crash just hours prior to the start of the opening ceremonies. Shame on CTV for needlessly showcasing video footage of the horrific crash, sensational journalism at its worst.
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Photos Courtesy of the Toronto Star
This blog post originally appeared on SiG@Waterloo’s blog on February 2, serving as a quick recap to the Waterloo Lecture on Social Innovation. David Yoon and Hilary Abel also have their take on the evening. Feel free to leave other blog post recaps of the Waterloo Lecture in the comments section. That said, the video of the Waterloo Lecture on Social Innovation featuring Adam Kahane is now online and I have re-posted it from the SiG@Waterloo website below.
I am currently reading Adam’s book, “Power & Love: A Theory & Practice of Social Change”, and will post a book review and my thoughts when I am done. My review of his first book, “Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities”, can be found here.
On Wednesday January 27, over 200 people gathered in the packed atrium of the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ontario, for the Waterloo Lecture on Social Innovation featuring Adam Kahane. A further 150 people were able to join us online for the live webcast of the Waterloo Lecture.
A social innovator, once praised by South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, we were pleased to have Adam Kahane join us to deliver the Waterloo Lecture on Social Innovation and to launch his new book, “Power & Love: A Theory & Practice of Social Change”.
As a partner with Reos Partners, an international organization dedicated to supporting and building capacity for innovative collective action in complex social systems, Adam has worked with a diverse range of colleagues and organizations in more than fifty countries on a variety of challenges all over the world. Some of these challenges include addressing critical developmental issues in the transition from apartheid in South Africa; implementing the peace accords that ended the civil war in Guatemala; reducing child malnutrition in India; unblocking political stalemate in the Philippines; as well as accelerating the shift to a low-carbon economy in Canada.
At the Waterloo Lecture on Social Innovation, Adam drew on his experience with leading multi-stakeholder change processes to offer practical guidance for effectively balancing power and love, two-always present, usually polarized, often undiscussable-drives.
All tweets with the #waterloolecture hashtag can be found here
Photos from the Waterloo Lecture on Social Innovation can be found below.
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.
Im definitely getting the 
