Amp08 – unfocussed overview

I struggled a bit to find the focus to write about last Thursday's Amp08 event at NESTA. Ironically, that's perhaps the most appropriate thing I could find to say about it, as the event seemed to lack a little focus itself.

A lack of focus was to be expected, though, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it was being run along the unconference principle, which can be more erratic than conventional events — "organising without organisations" as Clay Shirky put it. Secondly, and perhaps more important to remember, it was only the very first event of an ongoing social experiment (for want of a better term), where one of the main principles is to learn from mistakes and find new ways to do things.

That willingness to be open to making mistakes in order to learn from them is kind of fun and exciting to be a part of, anyway. I know some people find that a lack of distinct focus can be frustrating (myself included, actually), but it also means that there is more of a chance for some brilliant idea to come completely out of the blue and sweep us all off our feet, as they're not all trying to cram through one tiny gateway¹. As one of the organisers, Toby Moores, said, "We are becoming agents of change. We are the ones that can make it happen."²

Or, to put in another way, coming out of the "Less Talk, More Play" session run by Johnnie Moore (reviewed in a bit), and paraphrased by me in this twitterpost: "an activity which seems inconsequential can be important because it's all about relationships and roles, and mixing it up for new ideas."

A "Network of Networks" event like this, which brought together over 40 UK networks and social groups into one place — not to mention all the people from around the world who followed it online — is certainly going to be a useful one for mixing it up and getting new ideas.

I know there's been quite a lot of feedback (mostly via Twitter or on the wiki) from people complaining that the lack of focus was frustrating in the sessions because it seems as though nothing is going to actually get done, but I think you have to remember that throughout history some of the greatest ideas have been the ones started outside of official parameters, the ones that start in the bar after the main event is all over. As James Whatley noted, the most useful sessions can often be the ones that pop up outside the prearranged parameters. I think there are going to be lots of great ideas coming from all of these interesting people and we're not going to know about all of them to start with because they're not all going to be recorded on video for people to watch online. That's always how it works.

I think, too, that most of those who attended Amp08 are eager to learn from the first one to make the next event in February more successful. I loved the fact that there was so much positivity flying around the place, and that everyone I met was, for the most part, incredibly warm and friendly and welcoming. I know that sounds a bit hippyish, all touchy-feely, but I don't care if you're cynical enough to actually believe that. If you are cynical enough to actually believe that, you ought to get off your high horse and come down here with the rest of us, because it's important to remember that there needs to be an atmosphere of warmth and support to encourage people to break out their ideas without being too scared or embarrassed to do so. As Matt said to me last weekend, "there's nothing wrong with a bit of idealism. Idealism has got a bad rap and it's good to see people reclaiming it for good purpose." (Or something like that; I can't remember it verbatim.)

We're agents of change. We can make it happen. Here's to the future, and here's looking forward to Amp09. Today's World of Tomorrow!³

¹Chris Meade actually used this analogy during the Future of the Book session (reviewed in next post), but I think it's a useful one in many contexts.

²Which suddenly reminds me of the "YES WE CAN" thing from the Barack Obama campaign, which is really cool, because that became "YES WE DID" and it's good to be reminded that not only are we the ones that can make it happen, but sometimes it actually does happen, too.

³aka #twot