Off With the Talking Heads — Long Live the Un-Conference

If you don’t see yourself on TV do you really exist?

Meaning that if your race, religion, ethnicity, body type, physical or intellectual nature isn’t portrayed in a non-stereotypically way…if at all…how do you feel about who you are and how do you compensate.

Where is the line between reality and illusion?

Assuming that all that we sense is based on how our brains process data — what is real and what isn’t…and more…how does that affect our judgment and relationships.

What human management and interpersonal skills can be learned from the great conductors of the most famous symphony orchestras of the world?

Some Maestros are about themselves; some about the music; others about sheer control…but the best are about the musicians and the difference can be heard.

Will the lack of women in high-tech positions affect the development of the world?

Considering that most code is created by men and that gender bias is already being seen inherent in AI it’s pretty clear.

Are Facebook and Twitter media companies or just tech giants; what role did false news play in the recent US election and who is accountable; should I have access to my DNA data and does the government have the right to restrict it, and how do we reconcile the tension between corporations wanting to do good…media wanting to be credible and unbiased and real needs in the world.

These are just some of the questions I have been pondering with friends and colleagues the past few days.

Throw in homemade Lego drones with serious honking big camera drones hovering over them like protective eagles; crazy, state of the art and beyond VR and AR; make your own computer workshops and wild Indie cinema.

Add an eclectic assortment of people of all ages, from all walks of life, representing every imaginable industry…service, manufacturing, media, tech, Hollywood, music.

Garnish with a home-grown house band; cooking competition; endless food and drink; a village built from Giant Teepees and you have some idea of the ingredients that go into a WPP STREAM event.

Needless to say, sprinkle with a dose of the recent US election….

Full and open disclosure (the real kind…) I work for WPP...Sir Martin is my boss and I have been a STREAMER since day one…before even….so you clearly could say I am biased…my reply would be…I am…but not by association by participation…I have seen the light.

But let me step back…either by this time I have lost or intrigued you and if it’s the second, stay with me a moment or two more.

The world is glutted by conferences. Every industry sector; interest group; cause; issue…you name it has their own. And after a while they blur.

They blur because they all follow the same linear predictable pattern. Big keynote addresses; carefully curated panels of talking heads and well thought out break-out groups. Traditional meals and private parties for the elite.

STREAM is the antithesis. It’s an un-conference. There is no theme; no pre-considered outcome; no imposition of a POV and with the exception of a very few group sessions every moment is programmed by the attendees and every session has its own outcomes (or not), rhythm, discussion track and ethos as the point is investigation…not prescription but enlightenment…not an end but a possible new beginning with no suggestion or delusion that it will lead to an end.

Stream is a breath of fresh air in a world growing stale with sameness masquerading as disruption.

Unlike other conferences STREAM is all about personal contribution. You don’t play, you don’t stay…or more to the point you don’t get invited back.

Your idea, your contribution is as good as anyone else’s and in fact might be the catalyst or building block to someone else’s eureka moment.

No hierarchy, no head table, no special status identified by multiple credentials and special passes…we all wear the same name tags around our necks and no one is allowed to suck the oxygen from a discussion...no matter who they are.

Over the years a community of STREAMERS has been built. People who go home challenging their own status quo…ready to impose a little disorder because they are ready to see what might happen…not just what will happen.

And, by the way, the lessons are not just about business…they are as often and maybe even more so about life and our relationships.

Truth told…we can’t all be STREAMERS 24/7…would that we could…reality, expectation, KPI’s…the daily grind get in our way and inject a dose of actuality.

But we can be STREAMER idealists 24/7…holding on to that core of chaos and abandonment of a linear life style. Allowing that synapse jump to take us from A to Z bypassing all the rest with the certainty that venturing into the unknown brings its own rewards and that as part of a community we are never alone.

I am an unabashed STREAMER. My life is fuller for the friends I have made and the relationships we have grown.

And every once in a while I pull on my STREAM T-Shirt and howl shamelessly in the night because at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about the ability to be unselfconsciously who we are.

Can’t wait for the next AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO