To kick off a year of adding to this this #ART20BLOG we have a competition to win one of 9 books including the one by Seth Godin that inspired us so much 5 five years ago as you can read below. Enter the competition here now or read on.
READY TO GO NOWHERE
Exactly five years ago, I had packed the car with luggage and family and we set out for a New Year’s Eve break in god’s own county, Cornwall.
We got halfway to the end of the road before the suspension warning light went on and the car went into ‘safe’ mode not allowing it to be driven at more than 5 mph to the local garage.
So we limped home for a quiet night and weekend in.
I opened a mysterious package I’d received before Christmas but not opened.
BOGOF
It contained two copies of the same book which I’d forgotten I’d ordered in a crowd-funder type thing where the author had put a shout out to see how many people would pre-order it to cover the print costs.
It was by self styled global marketing guru, social entrepreneur and ‘ruckus’ making dad Seth Godin (yes we have one thing in common) so he easily pre-sold 30k or 40k copies and sent a free copy for everyone bought for $20 to pass to a friend.
It was a great read, the perfect accompaniment to New Years Eve/Day and associated resolutions (I don’t think Americans get hangovers).
JFDI
‘Your Turn’ is Seth’s best efforts at a self help book. Something to get people to get off the escalator of life and actually do something.
It struck a chord with me around how the vision for STEAM Co. was to provide a safe, easy and enjoyable way for people to have the most amazing and inspiring and meaningful day possible, without jacking their city, teaching or road digging jobs in by volunteering to help us on our creativity days in schools.
I wrote this blog about it, which Seth saw and sent me a free box of books as a thank you.
Which I proceeded to give away to all sorts of people.
CONNECTIONS
After seeing her speak at a Mumsnet Conference, I gave one to Nishma Robb, UK Marketing Director at Google. She’s since been a rock to us having sponsored our first regional launch event in Liverpool with Sir Ken Robinson and then our #ARTCONNECTS Festival of Creative Schools, Work and Lives weekend near their HQ in King’s Cross.
Word then got back to me via one of her colleagues that the European Chairman of Google, Matt Brittin had seen the book lying around, and as it wasn’t available in retail asked if he could get a copy. So I sent him one. And on it went.
Another highlight was giving a copy to Lemn Sissay when I took my sons to see him speak at Oxford University one evening.
The cover image Seth chose of Annie Kenney one of the suffragettes from Saddleworth in Lancashire must resonated as Lemn often talks about his relationship with Emily Pankhurst’s grand daughter He’d read it cover to cover by the next morning and posted a photo on Facebook of it stuffed full of post-its notes.
(Incidentially, Lemn has since been very generous by doing an incredible key note speech for STEAM Co. at Barclay’s HQ though has since unfriended me from Facebook and Seth politely gave me a free ticket to a sell-out £750 a ticket talk he gave in London a few years ago on the condition I never email him again. In case you’re wondering Lemn got a bit over whelmed when I tagged him in a few tweets that were quite popular, though his fame has shot through the roof since so I assume he’s read the Twitter manual and I checked and found I’d only ever emailed Seth three times, never asking for or expecting a reply and one of those was introducing him to a European distributor for the book, Crown House Publishing in South Wales)
ART? YOU WHAT?
The point of this blog, if any one is actually reading it, is really to say that that book was one of the defining moments for STEAM Co. because as part of the promotion for the book Seth did a talk (see below) in which he defines Art so perfectly as ‘what we call it when what we do might connect us’.
We saw it as a way to democratise art, give kids some aspiration, celebrate creativity and all sorts of artists as well as hopefully make the word less toxic (did you know that the Arts Council recently had an issue whether to include the word art in their ten year strategy, being worried it was divisive!
Since then we’ve structured everything we do at STEAM Co. around Art - From The #ARTofROCKETS to The #ARTofROBOTS, run two #ARTCONNECTS Festivals - a weekend and a Year long one.
So we owe a lot to Seth, but can’t email him to thank him!
WHATEVER
But his latest, greatest gift to STEAM Co. is this. What you are reading now.
One thing I remember seeing on Seth’s daily emails and blogs, when I last read them, was his advice to write a blog every day of the year. I forget the reason, but for me, I want to do a bit more than Tweet stuff, but create a bit more of a narrative and repository. This has been a remarkable journey, last year particularly and ‘m always touched by feedback I get from people when i see them, having no idea from social media they saw, liked or shared it
I announced last year that I will be writing a book about that, but for this year a blog it is.
This is the first of 366 blogs then for this new decade of 2020.
Wanna make my day? Type something below to say you read. What it made you think. What, if anything it made you think of doing.
Or click the links below and share it on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. I’ll be doing a blog soon on how #SharingIsCaring
HAPPY
So here’s to a Happy and Hopeful New Year. I spent half of today making a film, but that will have to wait until tomorrow and I’m sure you’ve had enough of our Prime Minister this year already!
If you want to buy a motivational, inspiring New Year’s Resolution present for someone, or yourself, get a copy of Seth’s now five year old book.
It’s as relevant today.
Because it’s Your Turn today
What are you going to DO tomorrow?
(Why not read the next blog about how #ARTCONNECTS19 became #COLLABORATE20?)
