Inspiration from PSFK
April 12th, 2010Author: Laura Halsch
On Friday I had the tremendous opportunity to attend the PSFK Conference here in New York. While I only made it to the afternoon sessions, I was simply blown away by the creativity, innovation and excitement coming from this year’s presentations. The talks that I most responded to fell within the heading of “Changemaking” and challenged us to think beyond our current definition of progress, to challenge the openness of government, to push for simple solutions, and to re-think the way art and digital collide. A couple of themes from these talks included:
Small is the new big: From No Impact Man’s lessons from taking a year to step off the grid and appreciate the little things (community, togetherness, diaper duty), to John Dimatos sharing simple digital solutions that can significantly expedite disaster relief for Unicef, it is clear that the economy and the environment are both creating a greater need for simplicity in everything we do.
The innovation being driven by that necessity is exciting, and there is a lesson to be learned for brands as well. Often times stripping down products, programs and services to their essentials can lead to better experiences, enhanced offerings and more creative thinking.
DIWO (Do It With Others) is the new DIY: This phrase, coined during Zach Lieberman’s inspiring talk about art and technology, spoke to the recurring theme of collaboration and community (a theme that was reinforced by the collective energy of the PSFK community).
By outlining the changes implemented in just the past year to new York State Senate web site, Andew Hoppin made a strong case for a more direct, more participatory government, enabled and empowered via social media. Taking a page from the White House, the NY Senate is providing a way for Senators to have direct contact with the people they represent, and gives constituents a louder voice through social network integration, commenting, rating and response all within nysenate.gov.
And I’ll leave you with this video – one of my favorites from Zach Lieberman that demonstrates the power that comes with creating amazing, truly extraordinary experiences. His demos had everyone open-mouthed. You can see more at http://openframewords.cc. Enjoy.
night lights from thesystemis on Vimeo.
For more videos from the conference, check out PSFK here. To stay in the loop with PSFK if you’re not already, follow them on Twitter, or subscribe via RSS.
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Tags: Collaboration, Community, Events, inspiration, PSFK, Technology
