Russell Davies

interesting speaking notes

I sent an email to all the Interesting speakers at the end of last week, it keeps bouncing back from a couple of people so I'm posting it up here as well, just in case. If you're not an Interesting speaker it's going to be of very little interest. Sorry.

Hello, hello

Unless I've got things very wrong then you've kindly agreed to speak at Interesting2008 on June 21st.

This is just an email to remind you, in case you'd forgotten about it, and to let you know some things.

First - presentation stuff

You can present however you like, with slides, without, whatever you want. There's no need to send anything beforehand if you don't want to, we will happily accomodate your AV needs on the day. We'll have a Mac there with PowerPoint and Keynote on it. And I can probably arrange a PC if we need that. If you want to bring your own machine that's fine too. Basically, everything's fine. But if you can send us stuff beforehand that'll make things go a little quicker. Or if you want to do something eccentric with hand-puppets or plate-spinning please advice so we can provide the necessary kit.

Second - more about presentation stuff

One of the joys of Conway Hall is the amount of natural light you can get in there. We can darken the room if PowerPoint demands it, but, if you're doing slides or similar it would be good if you could make them as contrasty and legible as possible. Just so we can keep the room as light as we can.

Third - filming

We're going to film the whole day, and The Guardian are going to host all the videos online for us. However, if you don't want your presentation to appear anywhere then just let us know and it won't. A few people from last year decided they didn't want their video on the internet and that's entirely fine. Just let us know.

Fourth - timing

I'm working on a rough schedule. There's not a lot of science to it but if you have any preference about when you speak will you let me know? Morning, afternoon, early, late, whatever? Or would you like to volunteer to go first?

(We'll be setting up from 8am and starting everything at 10am. We're aiming to be done by about 4.30pm.)

calling all workers

I've had to work this afternoon so I've made myself an energetic muxtape to keep me going. Lots of telly sports themes and marches. Have a listen.

will things ever be the same again?

Just over a week to Interesting. Those attending might want to familiarise themselves with this material

topsecrethowiesproject news

Matt and I did a bit of talking about the Instorematic at This Happened last week, and mentioned that we were going to be trying a bit of a barn-raising to get it finished this weekend. Unfortunately, and almost inevitably, we can't do that now. Things have intervened. Huge thanks to the people who volunteered to help us out and watch this space for news of the next planned date.

interesting sponsors

(picture from tim)

Interesting2007 wouldn't have been possible without the support of lots of very nice sponsors. Well, actually, that's not true, it would have been possible, it just wouldn't have been as nice. The list of people who helped out is here. I'm massively grateful to all of them, so this is dedicated to the sponsors who was down from day one.

And there's been a load of similar generosity this year. Imagination, again, are providing all the AV stuff and people we need. And they're going to film the whole thing. The Guardian are going to host the videos, do all sorts of podcastery, provide some fun in the lobby and sponsor a mysterious thing. Innocent are sending smoothies again, Love are sending Yorkshire tea (and hopefully biscuits). Sledge are providing those excellent eco cups and plates, Moo are providing an afternoon treat and Penguin are hopefully sending some books. And The School Of Everything and Rememble are also going to be doing interesting things in the lobby.

But there's still time to be a sponsor if you'd like to, and can think of something you'd like to contribute. I don't want any money from anyone, that would just confuse things, if you'd like to be a sponsor you just need to provide something that would make the day nicer. Last year, for instance Ideo agreed to pay for apples for everyone to eat and W+K to pay for the afternoon scones. (Though since I forgot to invoice them for it I guess they got quite a good deal.)

(picture from Roo)

As a sponsor you'll get very little reward; a few mentions on this blog, huge thanks from the stage and the gratitude of about 400 people. But if you're looking for ROI then you're at the wrong conference.

If there's anything you'd like to contribute (especially if you'd like to supply apples) give me a shout and we'll work it out. russell at russelldavies.com. And bless you for even thinking about it.

words, don't come easy

One of the reasons I quit Nike was to 'do more writing'. Specifically writing for money, i.e. trying to be 'a writer'. It's been a story of mixed success but it's taught me quite a lot about my priorities, and some other things.

Thing One, I'm blogging a lot less than I did when I was an employee. This isn't to do with hoarding my words or anything it's to do with the fact that corporate life is full of dead holes you can fill with blogging. And it's superb displacement activity. The twenty minutes between a status meeting and a creative review is the perfect time to fit in a couple of blog posts. Whereas if I'm at home, trying to get some work done or get something written, and I find myself with twenty dead minutes, I'm much more likely to watch a bit of telly, have a cup of tea, tidy up a bit, play with Arthur, do some drumming, than write a blog post.

Blogging, for me, is more fun than work, but it's not more fun than life.

Thing Two. I suspect I might actually need to get a proper job if I ever want to write another book. I wrote Egg, Bacon, Chips and Beans while working at Nike and W+K. Since going freelance I've written precisely no books.

Thing Three. Depressingly, but not surprisingly, you get paid a lot more for writing PowerPoint than you do for writing books/articles. Unless you're a really, really famous writer.

Thing Four. I'm really lucky to have the Campaign gig. The discipline of having to make up 460 words every week is tremendously educative. Like regular gigging or a weekly 10K. And the experience of writing for print is so completely different than writing online. Slower, no feedback at all, but makes you much more considered and always makes you worry if you're using semi-colons correctly.

Thing Five. With the odd freelance writing job I get I always have to do a delicate dance with people to make sure they know I'm not one of the other Russell Davieses. Either this one, or this one. (I did think I'd write something in the blog sidebar to explicity point out that I'm in no way responsible for Dr W__ and his time-traveling adventures but I suspect that'll just make google confusion more likely.) I'm doing this travel writing thing for someone in August and once it had all been agreed by email they sent some details in the post with a note saying 'love your work' which instantly made me worry that they thought I was someone else. I don't really have work you can love in that way. But I'm not sure of the etiquette you deploy to make sure that a person hiring you doesn't think you're someone better than you are. The reassuring evidence that they do know who I really am is that there's no way the other Russells would do it for the fee I'm getting. I had a similar email correspondence with some TED people the other day who sent me a lovely email inviting me to get involved with a project they were doing. I was massively flattered but it wasn't really up my street so I politely declined. But they then wrote back asking if I could point them in the direction of any of my contacts at the BBC. Damn. They thought I was the other one. Good job I was polite or they might have thought he was a real git.

Anyway. I'm rambling. You can tell I'm supposed to be working now can't you?

on originality, and my lack of it

I reckon I've had two decent ideas on this blog.

The first was a bit advertising focused. It was the advice, somewhere on a YouTube video, that if you really wanted to influence creative people you had to surrender credit for your ideas. To get your ideas into the process you have to convince the creatives they were their ideas. Not a big thought in the scheme of things but decent advice for a junior planner. And then, the other day, re-reading Jon Steel's Truth, Lies And Advertising, I realised that he gives precisely that advice. That must be where I got it from. (I guess me assuming it was my idea is testament to his skill as a planner.)

The second was the central point to the most popular post I've ever done - How To Be Interesting - which seemed to be taken a lot more seriously than I'd intended.

It was the idea that 'the best way to be interesting is to be interested'. I thought that was pretty smart. Then, this weekend, I was leafing through Paul Arden's It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be, at the checkout at Borders, and I realised that it's right in there, big and bold as a very big, very bold thing. I don't think I've ever bought a copy of it but it's definitely my favourite book for leafing through in Borders. I feel like I should get a copy now, since I've obviously, unconsciously, purloined it wholesale.

I don't really have a point to make. Other than that originality is hard. Certainly harder that I thought. And to apologise for the thievery. And to fess up since that Interesting post seems to be getting popular again.

get your daily monsters

I've been wanting to write about Stefan's Daily Monster book for ages, but felt, for some reason, that I ought to wait until you could get it in actual UK bookshops first. And then, we spotted it, in the Oxford Street, Borders. And you can get it at the UK Amazon. it's a fantastic thing, even more fantastic for those of us who've followed it from the beginning, seeing the idea arrive and take off. The book is also the story of the book, if you see what I mean. It's an excellent thing, a genuine and creatively successful product of the power of organising without organisations. I hope it sells and sells.

interesting schwag

The Design Conspirators have exerted themselves to maximum effect and designed a new logo for Interesting2008. Well, they've designed an 8. But what an 8. It's good isn't it?

In our constant search to make the whole conference thing easier to do we've decided we won't be making t-shirts or handing out goody bags, or pens or anything. But, if you want those things, we'd be absolutely delighted if you'd make your own. The logo's available in various formats on Ben's blog. Ben's offering a tiny prize for the best use of the logo.

And, and, and, there are still tickets available for Interesting Amsterdam on June 14th. The speaker list is magnificent. Who could resist hearing about the physics of quicksand from a man who does demos with a Tazmanian Devil?

bkkeepr

James Bridle writes a lot about the future of books and publishing and all that (here). And very wise, well-written and prescient writings they are too. But his words gain massively greater weight from the fact that he also does something about the future of books and publishing and that. All sorts of things in fact, from the innovative way he promotes Cooking With Booze (having actually written it first ) to organising the London Lit Plus festival to his latest thing - bkkeepr. (Which, in case you hadn't spotted is a disemvowled version of 'book-keeper').

It's a splendid and ingenious little thing, letting you keep track of, and share, your reading via your phone and twitter. It integrates with everything you might want it to. It's simple to do and it recognises that many people have their phone near them when they're reading and many don't have their computer.

And it's another perfect example of the sort of little service that some large corporation should have done, if only they had the nouse. I bet there are all sorts of publishers and book-sellers attending conferences about 'branded utility' and sitting in brainstormings about what they could do to extend their relationship with their readers. And James is just doing it. Because Doers like James are building the future, not just writing about it.