Who Farted In The Lift?

We've all been there...only ever on the 'receiving end' of course - and it's not a pleasant experience!

Now imagine the Planet as a Lift - and truth to tell, we are all farting in it!

Maybe not the nicest analogy you'll read today, but just as most of us avoid a sneaky trump in the trip up and down - we can all do much better with our personal global emissions.

Some people 'pump' on the tube too - the bloke on the left looks a bit awkward to me...

Meanwhile, busy - and effective people - all over the world, are re-designing, re-engineering, re-imagining and disrupting the centuries old status quo of things! This bloke on the tube has made a habit of that for many years now - and he's still hard at it!

So maybe we're not all going 'down the tubes' after all! Maybe there's hope we really can build a better place

Let me be specific.

Last Monday I had the good fortune to be in the company of a whole forest of inspirational people - some quite well known - some barely a blip on anyone's radar..

The 6th 'Virgin Disruptors' gig brought together tetchy techie types, softly spoken mavericks, and quite a few pushy people in loud shirts. I even saw a man with no socks on with his shoes.

All of the speakers are worthwhile following - so take your pick from this tasty menu! Each name clicks over to a link for you to find something out about them....

• Blockchain - Co-Founder Peter Smith - @onemorepeter
• The LadBible - Founder & CEO Solly Solomon - @theladbible
• Enterprise Jungle - Founder Emma Sinclair MBE - @ES_Entrpreneur
• Happy Finish - CIO Daniel Cheetham - @DannyCheet
• Inspire - Co-Founder Sara Khan- @wewillinspire
• Parley For The Oceans - Founder Cyrill Gutsch - @cyrillgutsch
• Google - Head of Diversity & Inclusion Chuck Stephens- @AmerNLon
• Virgin Megastore Middle East & North Africa - President Nisreen Shocair - @nisreen_shocairv
• Atlasssian - Head of R&D Dom Price - @DomPrice
• Red Bull - Head of Performance Dr Andy Walshe - @drandywalshe - this VOOM Podcast is great too - click here for that
• Microsoft StartUp Growth Partners - Director Matt Wallaert - @mattwallaert

Threaded through all of it was the critical message that we could be - should be - will very soon be... getting a quart out of a pint pot - so to speak.

Men & Woman on a global mission to liberate untapped resources within people and things.

"The democratisation of talent"

"As a Retailer - let's sell less stuff"

"Design-out built-in obsolescence"

Head Honcho of the Disruptors - Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson - had gathered his brand ambassadors together on the stage - to face an audience of like minded contrarians from around the world.

He'd hand-picked his presenters for their courage, vision, and work ethic.

Not one of them disappointed - and all of them proudly wore a badge of belligerence and a passion for change (not an actual badge cos' all those words wouldn't fit on)

Truly inspiring individuals it was a privilege to be in the company of.

The 'Torquing Shop' was open for business - with the best MC since Cabaret's Joel Gray keeping the day moving along with pace and passion - folks, if you're un-familiar with Holly Ransom - get googling!

Whilst not billed as such - the day for me was clear evidence of the shift to a Circular Economy from the "Ctrl-Alt-Del Economy". So does that mean it was all pink and fluffy and touchy-feely and nowhere close to the 'real' world?

Unequivocally not!

This is indeed about building a better, fairer, more sustainable world - but the journey to that attainable nirvana - get ready...you'll love this bit! - is paved with gold.

There is money to be made in re-booting the planet. You don't get to be a billionaire without being busy - very very busy...and most crucially of all - effective at spotting opportunities! However, there's no point being as rich as Rich if you don't deliver a sustainable legacy for your offspring - let alone the rest of humanity!

If you deliver all of it together and bank the cash too...

As Mr Punch says!

Hearing from Peter Smith about the epic revolution Blockchain heralds made my imagination fizz - and when Parley's Founder Cyrill Gutsch declared - we've tried the softly spoken magic spell...and that trick failed so here's how we can do it - I jumped for joy. ( here's his Virgin Page - click this )

Turning trash into cash like never before...

Over to you Cyrill...

I'l avoid duplication of effort here by recounting point by point each presentation and simply nudge you along to a few videos...

For me, the day delivered some new friends in the making, new opportunities, new ideas, and a new understanding of what I need to do....

However, more than anything else, the experience gave me this...

Hope

PS - Feel free to waft this article on to someone that might like it - thanks!