Quack quack... ducks in my front yard.

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Posted March 29, 2010
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Want to change the world? Make it easier, make it fun and make people feel good about it.

Earth

So, there has been a lot of talk about climate change, world hunger and decimation of the world's rain forests. All issues which we, as a species, need to address. When I leave my local Trader Joe's there is the default Greenpeace kids in their Greenpeace shirts spouting their Greenpeace propaganda. By no means am I knocking the goal and mission of Greenpeace, but I have come to the conclusion that the way they are approaching their goal is all wrong. Trying to convince people to change their lives for the greater good of the planet is admirable, and full of zeal; but it won't work.

No one will make this earth a better place by trying to convince people that what they are doing is all wrong.  However, if the poor choices people make now were somehow made to be less appealing and more costly, individuals might actually feel empowered making the more responsible decision.  Sure, there would be plenty of hurdles on the path to this, and it will definitely take some creativity; but you can quote me when I say "People will not change until we do 3 things: Make it easier, make it fun and make people feel good about it."

I truly feel the group that is most likely to make this change happen will be the design and tech community. To think, we took something as sprawling and complicated as the web and harnessed it to make the most simplistic and valuable tools that the world has seen yet. The ability for a small group to mobilize and propel people and nations is here. Now it's time for us to do some good; no one said you had to do it for free, just make it worth using and attempt to solve these scaling problems that we are seeing.

I won't lie,  a lot of this was sparked by Valerie Casey's (Founder of the Designer's Accord) Keynote from SXSW. They are showing some real world examples of how the design community can make a change for good. You can visit the Designer's Accord site here.

Posted March 23, 2010
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#SXSW Day 3 and 4... More pics

This trip has been a whirlwind but have met so many brilliant and amazing people. The highlight was hanging out on the "Delivering Happiness Bus" with the Zappos team and friends.

Pretty worn out so its time to take it easy and get in early the next two nights.

 

UPDATE: For some reason my phone didn't upload the photos correctly, so view them here: Picasa Web Album

Posted March 15, 2010
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#SXSW Day Two

Here are a few pics from yesterday's escapades. Met some great people and did a pretty hefty tour of Downtown Austin.

Make sure to have a great weekend everyone! :)

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Posted March 13, 2010
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#SXSWi Day One


I have to say that my first day turned out really well. Traveling always sucks but I had hours of robo defense to keep me busy (thanks to nexus one's swappable battery. Take that iPhone!) Met some great new people and hit a couple of fun night spots in Austin.

I will be sure to upload a ton of pics tomorrow and hopefully will have some useful notes to share.

Night!

 

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Posted March 11, 2010
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