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Uploaded on 12 May, 2006 by Marvin (PA)

I hot-footed it from Cheltenham to the Pervasive Media Studio a couple nights back for a Gurteen Knowledge Cafe. The topic was ‘unlearning’ which is a sufficiently interesting topic for a Knowledge Transfer/Exchange professional to drag me out and through the wind and rain that Bristol chose to throw at us!

I wasn’t entirely sure what ‘unlearning’ was; I’d constructed a meaning that was roughly a bit more purposeful than forgetting. The brief presentation from Daniel Doherty (University of Bristol, Management School) ranged from the quite possibly certifiable Institute of Unlearning through to more constructivist (and believable) approaches.

There was quite a bit that bordered on (or was overtly about) brainwashing and ‘re-programming’ people Leaving aside the ethics and morals of those particular applications of unlearning, the discussions were mainly around trying to decide if there was more to it than situational flexibility. We touched briefly on meta-physics in trying to figure out how far back into perceptions of reality you had to go before it became ‘unlearning’.

Quite a few of the examples described were really just putting one set of learnt behaviours or patterns of thought aside to more effectively address a particular situation. We didn’t feel (and I’m speaking in the royal ‘we’) that this represented unlearning. Quite a few of the proposed unlearning situations (miltary training, regime change, etc) are externally imposed. Even if there is a degree of consent there is an external mechanism, framework and big shouty Sergeant Majors moulding you to become the best of the best of the best. Sah!

Uploaded on 12 May, 2006 by minxlj

I was curious to see if anyone could propose an instance where that level of ‘unlearning’ could be initiated and carried through in a purely individual framework. Apart from physical impact injuries to the skull, or psychotic drugs, there didn’t appear to be. Which got me to wondering if in fact unlearning is something that you can consciously undertake.

Even more benign approaches to unlearning, such as the coporate merger or unlearning intolerace require external intervention. The incoming organisation (or new CEO) will impose ‘their’ view on the organisation being absorbed. The UN has a conference series on unlearning to help people identify strategies to tackle intolerance in their societies through education, inclusion and example.

There’s no doubt that you can learn new patterns and behaviours that are more effective to the changing circumstances and social ‘norms’. Can you unlearn without the rather scary brainwashing aspects, I’m less sure. The brain is remarkably good at retaining data, sometimes we are less good at retriving it and most of us can’t recall every detail of every second of our lives, but I think it’s all in there.

Thanks go to Ed for organising and the Pervasive Media Studio for the venue.

[Disclosure: I attended in my role as Flagship Initiative Adviser for Knowledge West, we have the Knowledge West Enterprise Awards, which brings together competitors from the 6 University Business Plan competitions in the area. However, I'm not on that judging panel, nor this one, and my views here are not those of Knowledge West.]

After the introductions and thank yous, the keynote was Adam Goodyer (co-founder of Concert Live, UWE graduate & HSBC 2007 Start-Up Stars winner). Adam gave a barn storming keynote, with a mix of humour, humility and insight into how they’d grown and overcome early adversity. Concert Live basically record gigs live, mix them to CD, burn them and then sell to the crowd just as they’re leaving the gig. Following early success (they secured an early contract to cover The Levellers gig tour) they hit a dry patch where the industry wouldn’t touch them because their business model was perceived as potentially competitive to the core business of shifting CD singles.

Adam used Porter’s 5 Forces to identity the dominant force in the market (major label’s fear of losing sales & chart positions) that was overcoming a strong customer force (people love buying CD’s of the actual gig they attended) and figured out how to flip the forces in their favour. By setting up a secure chart transaction system to sell singles at the gig, they could bundle a couple of singles mixes in with the live CD. That was a bonus to the customers (they basically got 2 albums for the price of one) and a huge bonus to the Labels (each single mix counts as a separate chart sale). They could then go to the major labels and say that by giving Concert Live a license, their artist would shoot up the chart with every concert, genius!

Adam then admitted that they hadn’t actually sat down with Porter’s diagram and worked it out, but the process did accurately describe what they’d down and how they’d identified the dominant players and the blockage that needed to be cleared.

Next up was Patrick Dasoberi (Student Community Portal System & 2007 BizIdea winner). Patrick’s idea, as submitted to the 2007competition, had evolved significantly into the business he’s now running, though the core vision is the same: helping temporary international residents find their way in a new country. Patrick’s initial focus was on the student population but he’s now working with a wide range of organisations that send people around the globe to work in communities.

What was really interesting was that the software developed to do this (Whahala), is to be provided as a white label solution for other organisations that want to establish their own international support network. Very cool!

Claire Foster (Superjuice) - discovered smoothies and juice bars when on her travels in Australia. When she came back to the UK it proved really difficult to get the same idea of the ground here. So she went to London and talked to everyone in the juice/smoothie business (being from Somerset she wasn’t perceived as a threat). She went down into the far South West and worked a couple days for free to learn the business. She then landed some Business Link support, Princes Trust support (links to page with video) and things began to take off. She’s now purveying to the rich and famous (well Prince Charles at least) and building her brand. The immediate expansion plans are into the new Bristol Broadmead development.

Last up on the Keynotes was Sally Lincon (co-founder Nomensa). Sally described their journey of building a digital design and usability company, along with some highs & lows.The common thread with all the presentations was that every day was different and they all thoroughly enjoyed the experience of running their own businesses.

Competition Winners

The winner of the Best Business Idea was Carolyn (Chief Whale of Whale Bags), eco-shopping bags made of 100% cotton/calico that fold neatly into a small pocket that’s part of the bag. We didn’t get to see the business plan but the idea is a really good one, and very topical with the Zeitgeist of recycling and reusing shopping bags.
The runner up was Magee Private Investigator, a criminal law student that setting up her own PI business. The gap in the market being that soon PI’s will have to be licensed (they aren’t at the moment), with her law background Magee thinks she’s got a differentiator.

The winner of the Best Social Enterprise Idea was the Bristol Festival Community Group a collection of volunteers, with a wide range of backgrounds, interests and ages, who have come together to plan a community-based festival for September 2008 following the sad demise of the Bristol Community Festival at Ashton Court. The runner up was Vscheme a volunteering management scheme for individuals and organisations.

In the Best Creative Design Idea, the winner was Five on One (can’t find a website) with a DVD magazine showcase five aspects of Bristol social and cultural scene, given away alongside Venue magazine and funded through advertising. The runner-up was Basic Baroques, providing everyone with the elements to make their own baroque styled interior.

[I'll try and get more links and logos as people launch their websites]

Uploaded on March 4,
2007 by NguyenDai

Just had an email from Craig at Podchains Ltd that, having met Mark from OK-Cool on Tues at OpenCoffee they went for a follow-up meeting and have now “struck up a working relationship”.

I think we can chalk that up as the first deal of this OpenCoffee series!

If you’d like to come along and find out more please check out the Upcoming or Facebook groups. We meet every other Tuesday in Starbucks off Park St in Bristol. The next couple of meetings are 1, 15 and 29 July.
The OpenCoffee Club was started to encourage entrepreneurs, developers and investors to organise real-world informal meetups to chat, network and grow.

Uploaded on January 7,
2008 by wabberjocky

Open Coffee continues to grow in Bristol with more new faces plus a good number of ‘regulars’.

There was a definite mobile-video thing going on (at least around the conversations I heard). Matt Thurling from Science.TV (a video sharing community dedicated to science communication) was a new face to OpenCoffee. He’s particularly interested in the iPhone and was one of the early adopters downloading it to see how it would fit with his particular offering. That project is still in gestation but Matt has announced today a collaboration with Clifton College (which is why this post is a bit late) that will see students devising their experiments, testing them, recording the evidence and then sharing those films with Science.TV’s global audience of scientists and students.

Following the iPhone and discussion about using video to record and provide a learning platform there was a side discussion about monetisation and hopefully there’ll be more anouncements or developments to see arising from that.

This is awsome!

Its sometimes difficult to explain to people what sailing training is really about. They tend to think of big square riggers a la Hornblower and the Tall Ships Youth Trust (which is part of it). Generally they believe me when I tell them that the young people do everything on board (sail handling, helming, repair work, cooking, cleaning, engine maintenance, navigation, etc), but that’s not what it’s really about. I try and explain that its about bringing a group of young people (that have never met before) together and over the course of a week help them form into an effective and social group, but that doesn’t really convey what it’s about.

As a volunteer Ships Captain with the London Sailing Project I could refer to our ‘mission statement’ which is accurate but a bit dry:

No more - I’ll just point them to this YouTube video, produced by the 22 kids and Afterguard (yes the Captain is in there) over 6 days sail training (plus a bit of post production) filmed between the UK, France and Channel Islands. They’re raising money for the project (visit http://www.justgiving.com/rockstar to donate). Oh, and of course there’s the website and Facebook page.

Remember, those young people hadn’t met beforehand to plan that out, and because of the volunteer nature of the LSP, the afterguard (Captain, First Mate, Watch Officers and Watch Leaders) probably hadn’t met before either.

Fantastic!

Just back from the opening of the Bristol Design Festival down in the old Fire Station. Don’t let the website put you off (it’s a bit Flash heavy and not very up to date). The festival is getting underway with a wide range of product and concept designs, including the ever popular Grafikea.

Upstairs is the Expressions design show from UWE final year students, quite a few dealing with various packaging and fast food solutions (obviously close to the interests of students) but also some very clever ideas including a neonatal incubator designed to encourage and strengthen the bond between between premature babies and their mothers.

The main floor has design consultancy showcases from across Bristol (and beyond) and the Grafikea exhibits. Mobile Pie have set up an SMS voting system so you can text your vote for the best example of what you can do with a Lack table from Ikea, and you can buy your favourite table direct from the artist (prices vary, the ones I saw went from £15 up).

Lots to look forward to over the coming 4 days:

• Spike Design (Spike Island) Sat, 14 to Thur 19 June, 10:00-18:30
• Drop In Design (The Old Fire Station) Sat, 14 June, 11:00-16:00
• The Pitch in partnership with businesszone.co.uk (The Old Fire Station) Mon, 16 June, 14:00
• Designer Karaoke (The Watershed) Mon, 16 June, 18:30-23:00

Uploaded by Lutz-R. Frank on
02 Aug 07.

The reason this post is a bit late is I spent most of yesterday evening setting up a Facebook group for OpenCoffee Club Bristol (and we already have 5 members, cheers), posting the next four dates (17 June, 1 & 15 & 29 July and 5 August), updating the upcoming group (17 Jun, 1, 15, 29 Jul, 5 Aug), and posting the OpenCoffee Bristol Twitter; still need to construct an OpenCoffee group in my Gmail (for those not on the aforementioned socnets) to send out reminders and updates.

Back to yesterday, Sam and I arrived just after 8am and set up shop downstairs while the Starbucks folks put up signs and balloons. First to arrive was James and we quickly had a couple tables pulled together with discussions bouncing around business, technology, social catching up and finding out what each other did.

Chris Garrett (via Twitter) and Craig Hellen came down from Gloucestershire with their new mobile, locative and video media ideas. After exploring their business model and target segments a few business cards swifted exchanged hands, which is what its all about.

About half-way through the morning a couple of fresh pots of coffee arrived and refueled everyone through to past 10.30am.

We closed with Martyn Shiner’s open source manufacturing systems development project at Severn Delta. They’ve built their own system and are looking for hot php/PostgreSQL/UI coders to help them turn an internal project into a set of repositories that they can open up properly to other companies as a series of modules (sorry if I got a few details wrong Martyn). Martyn’s still looking so if you’re in the Somerset area (or are happy to spend a bit of time there) drop him a note on twitter (if it’s up).