grace

… filling in the negative space with positively everything

Resilience: How To Build Sustainable Communities

Critical Mass at Heroes' Square, Budapest, Apr...
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Resilience is emerging as the seminal skill for leaders as more economies slide towards recession. The American Psychological Association, which has studied resilience closely since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, defines it as the ability to adapt well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, and from sources of stress such as work pressures, health, family or relationship problems.

A resilient person is not only able to handle such experiences in the moment, but also to bounce back afterward. The good news is that leaders can develop resilience by managing their thoughts, behaviours and actions.

- Resilience: How to Build a Personal Strategy for Survival by Gill Corkindale in Harvard Business Blog

This weekend, the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts and Blaffer Gallery presented a conference titled Systems of Sustainability: Art, Innovation, Action (SOS). Described as part arts festival, part academic symposium, SOS centered on exploring and discussing creative enterprise as an integral tool for cultural growth and social change, with presentations given by people whose creative works simultaneously elevated the human spirit and the human condition by successfully addressing social problems.

SXSW 2009 – The Skinny…It’s Not So Bad After All

It seems like the Hipsters hit SXSW Music en masse this year: no matter which show you went to, you were drowned in hordes of twiggy men sporting preciously-mussed coifs, cleavage-accentuating v-neck tees, low-rise kicks, and skinny jeans. Miles upon miles of skinny jeans. Forget “junk in the trunk” – when did it become fashionable to show off the junk under your hood?

As we trooped off to various events at SXSW, Matthew – a vintage/retro slacks man – couldn’t take it anymore: sick of the sea of skinny, he ranted to Ned, Annelies, and anyone else within earshot about how much he hated skinny jeans. In response, we scanned the crowds and pointed out the much less appealing alternatives. (As Ned eloquently put it, “There’s a whole lot of unattractive walking around.”) This diversion turned into a week-long mission to highlight really poor wardrobe choices that show “Why You Shouldn’t Hate on Skinny Jeans.” Here are some of The Best of The Worst…keep an eye out for Lennie the Bunnyman:

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SXSW 2009 : Interactive Rocks!

Although I’ve been to SXSW for Music and Film in the past, this is my first year going to Interactive…and the common sentiment among techies I’ve serendipitously bumped into is: “If I hear ‘Social Media’ one more time I’m going to punch someone in the neck.” Hear hear. It seems like the value of content, meaning, and function are getting buried by the fascination with tools, technology, and “Twitterati.” With all this talk about Social Media, who has time for BEING social?

As SXSW veterans keep saying, there’s more value to be had in the hallways than in the sessions. In regards to getting a sense of real community, that value extends to the streets, parties, and unofficial events like BarCamp Austin. During the Texas Film Commission reception at Iron Cactus, guerilla rappers did a drive-by performance. Surrounded by techies at the Happy Cogaoke party at Scoot Inn, all rocking to co-working community evangelists like Alex Hillman and Tony Bacigalupo as they worked their karaoke sets, I finally felt like “we’re all in this together.” Doing the Humpty Dance with Gillian, then getting covered in silly string with the judges while doing the Time Warp didn’t hurt either.

If you couldn’t make it to SXSW, you can still share the moment via the following videos…make sure to surf through and check out Tony’s prize-winning performance!

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