OffGrid 2017 Agenda
Our Theme for 2017 was Skillset vs. Mindset. Is mastery still the most important thing when conditions and dynamics continue to change? What skills do we need going forward? We explored the importance of attitude, outlook, culture and working with others, balanced with the importance of skills.
Below is our 2017 agenda.
Monday 10th July
07.45 & 08.00 – Latest train departs Liverpool Street to Witham Station
08.45 & 09.00 – OffGrid buses leavs Witham station to Osea island
09.30 – Guests arrive Osea Island, find accommodation, explore
09.50 – Causeway closes
10.30 – Registration & coffee
10.45 “Welcome to OffGrid” – Jeremy Hill
11.00 “Four things about now” – Russell Davies
Described as the strategist’s strategist, Russell will be opening for us at OffGrid this year, giving us his state of the nation update 12 months on from last year. Robots, fake news, subscriptions and ethics. Problems or opportunities – you decide!
12.00 “The world through the eyes of others” – Clare Patey
Clare will explore how empathy not only transforms our relationships with others but also tackles larger and more global issues such as prejudice, conflict and equality. Clare is bringing her “Mile in my shoes” exhibit to the island and will encourage us to literally “walk a mile” in someone else’s shoes. Clare is an award winning artist and curator who creates participatory installations, performances and exhibitions.
12.30 “How to be creative and resilient in a tidy minded world?” – Tim Harford
Tim examines the unexpected connection between creativity and mess. Why unexpected chaos, change of plan, unfamiliar people and unforeseen events can generate brilliant new ideas and opportunities. Tim is the author of the million copy selling “The Undercover Economist”, a columnist at the FT, and the presenter of Radio 4’s “More or less”.
13.30 Lunch
15.00 “Design, empathy & optimism” – Clara Gaggero Westaway
Clara will demonstrate how starting with empathy and optimism can deliver product designs that offer clarity, hope and enjoyment that enrich the lives of others. Clara is a designer and inventor who has worked on projects including wearable technology for pro snowboarders, an internet connected calendar made entirely out of Lego, and has designed the only mobile phone user manual to be featured in the Museum of Modern Art.
16:00 “Print: The new digital frontline” – Dr Kate Stone
Kate wants to infuse our current analogue world with electronics so that everything looks like it always has…except that it can come alive through interaction. Kate will invite us to enter her world, where print and electronics converge by fusing science and design, to create something new and unexpected.
18.00 “Why science fiction, music and art make great beer. The Beavertown Story” – Nick Dwyer
Beavertown is one of the fastest growing, most exciting (and arguably coolest) British breweries to emerge over the past 10 years. Originally set up by Logan Plant, Nick, the brewery’s creative director, was an early proponent of the need of the business to express its creativity. He will talk about the vision and purpose of the business, how creativity and innovation sit at the core of what they do and why they believe passion trumps expertise. Accompanied by beer tasting of course.
19.30 BBQ & Beer
21.30 “Grand Adventures” – Alastair Humphries
Alastair is a British adventurer who will be talking to us about adventures grand & micro. Whether it’s sleeping on a hilltop or going for a wild swim, cycling a lap of the Isle of Wight or walking home for Christmas, Alastair rallies us to discover something new about ourselves and the world outside our window; “Adventure is everywhere, every day and it is up to us to find it”.
Tuesday 11th July
07.00 Yoga, Run the causeway, Swim or Tennis
07.30 Breakfast
09.00 “Learn fast, learn small and find the hidden path to success” – Robert Twigger
An adventurer in the broadest sense, Robert believes in stretching himself and learning more. For him, polymathy is the only knowledge approach possible for an adventurer because “the wider your knowledge base, the better prepared you’ll be to invent solutions”. Robert will be talking “micromastery” – starting small, learning fast and why you don’t need to do 10,000 hours.
10.00 “How big change comes in small packages” – Emily Webber
How does an organisation change, evolve the way it works and develop on a continual basis? Emily, previously head of Agile at the Government Digital Service (regarded as one of the most successful examples of organisational transformation), will show us real, practical examples on how large-scale change can be made through small changes, continual improvement and learning.
11.30 “A rational skeptic in an irrational world” – Julian Baggini
Julian, one of the UK’s best known philosophers, will be proposing that the contemporary West has become more and more dismissive of the power of reason and it’s ability to lead us to anything worthy of the name ‘truth’. Julian explains where reason comes up short and suggests that by understanding these shortcomings, we can become better thinkers and analysts.
12.30 Lunch – Picnic
14.00– “A story about women and economics” – Katrine Marcal
Katrine is the lead editorial writer for the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet where she writes about politics, economics and feminism. In her talk, Katrine will suggest that Economics has sold us a story about how the world works and we have swallowed it hook, line and sinker. She asserts, “Now it’s time to change the story” and invites us to question Economic Man and the story behind “Who cooked Adam Smith’s dinner?”
15.00 “Purpose, product and asking the kids” – Bethany Koby
Bethany Koby is a mum, CEO, designer and educator. She is the founder of Technology Will Save Us, an award winning business that provides make-it-yourself kits and digital tools to help kids make, play, code and invent using technology. Bethany will be talking about how purpose informs and helps set direction for the business and shows us we can, create brands and businesses that help imagine a more positive and collaborative future.
15.30 Workhops
Sign up for one of our many workshops run by our speakers.
18.00 “Radicals – outsiders changing the world“ – Jamie Bartlett
Jamie Bartlett is an exciting British writer and journalist and one of the world’s leading thinkers on how radical thinking, technology and culture intersect. In his talk, Jamie will take us on a journey inside the strange and exciting worlds of the innovators, disruptors, idealists and extremists who think society is broken, and believe they know how to fix it.
19.30 Dinner
21.00 Music, Beers, Fires
Wednesday 12th July
07.00 Breakfast in the Clubhouse
08.30 Coaches back to Witham Station
