I went for a long run this morning in an old (and slightly too small) pair of Nike shorts. The result? As I undressed and clambered into the shower afterwards, I noticed the infamous swoosh, embedded in my thigh. This proves two things: 1) I never stop thinking of innovative ways to honour my commitment to my sponsors, without whom none of what I do would be possible and 2) I could do with some shorts that fitted properly. The Nike ACG deal couldn't have come at a better time…
— Filed under Rumination
RIP John Peel. I hope I'll still be listening to techno when I'm 65.
— Filed under Aside
Awesome. Not awesome 'yeah, y'know, it was just totally, like, aawwesome' but Awesome awesome. Awesome enough, in fact, to make me consider moving to the States, not least because there were a few incredible ex-pats there who'd done the very same thing. I never thought I'd say that.
Where to start? I arrived on Friday lunchtime, a day and a half after the event kicked off. By all accounts, I missed one of the most thought-provoking talks of the event – Thomas Barnett's lecture (there's a good write-up on Ethan Zuckerman's blog and an audio recording here). Speaking of Ethan Zuckerman, his talk blew me away as well – in common with so many of those I met at Pop!Tech, he was a true visionary, buzzing with energy and ideas, yet incredibly modest, self-effacing and personable.
There were about 400 people at Pop!Tech, all squeezed into Camden's Opera House. The atmosphere was unlike any other event I've spoken at – I arrived on Friday lunchtime and by 5pm, when I stepped onstage, it already felt like I was addressing an audience of friends. Many of the audience were blogging live, the majority tapping away on shiny Apple Powerbooks (in fact, the soft glow of so many Apple logos facing me as I spoke was oddly reassuring – I came close to buying a Windows laptop last week and I'm glad I didn't – time to switch?)
The talk went well – it was nice speaking to an audience that genuinely wanted to be there, but slightly intimidating being slotted into a speaker schedule boasting so many buffed and honed intellects. I haven't had such a bad case of butterflies in yonks. I'll have my hands on a high-quality audio recording of my talk soon – I'll whack it up as an mp3 as soon as I do. In the meantime, a few bloggers were kind enough to write up their thoughts.
I don't have room to thank everyone that made the event so special for me, but a few individuals deserve a gold star, namely Andrew Zolli, Peter Giblin, Jason Kottke, Mark Shapiro, Ethan Zuckerman, Rachel Barenblat, Jay Wade, Andrew Rasiej, Tom LeVine, Nanci Ross, Chris Weaver, ZeroBoy, Renee Stahl, Andrew Coulter, Spencer Wells, Lizzie Blanchard, Eloma Simpson-Barnes, David Bornstein, everyone from National Geographic, Howard Fishman, Jim Ruddy, Cathy Ardman and Bill Church. (All in no particular order, I'll add links soon and I'm sure I've missed a few out…)
The tiny town of Camden was gorgeous and the only bad thing about the entire event was knowing that (if all goes well) I won't be able to make it next year. I'll be in Antarctica. Still, I have plenty of time between now and then to sort out a live video link…
I'm running out of superlatives, but Pop!Tech was truly life-changing. If you're free next October (19th-22nd), GO! BOOK IT! NOW!!
NB. A few people emailed me during the conference, but a moment's cack-handedness with my iPAQ's stylus managed to delete my entire inbox. If you're feeling offended that I haven't replied, this is probably why…
— Filed under Rumination, Speaking
Q) What do Lance Armstrong, Paula Radcliffe, Andre Agassi, Maurice Greene, Michael Jordan and, er, me have in common?
A) We're all Nike sponsored athletes. This week I agreed a two-year personal sponsorship deal with Nike ACG (All Conditions Gear). I'm still pinching myself.
Aside from that, I flew home from Pop!Tech this morning – I'll write up my impressions of this incredible event once the jetlag has faded and my mind has stopped spinning…
— Filed under Miscellany
I'm speaking at the Pop!Tech Conference on Friday afternoon (US Eastern time) and it looks like you'll be able to listen to the event live. Jason Kottke is also blogging fairly regularly from the conference. I'll tell you how it went on Monday. Now, where's my passport…
— Filed under Speaking
Is going to be bonkers. I'm speaking at the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday night (for Close Brothers Private Equity, one of the first sponsors of my expedition this spring). On Wednesday, I'm heading to the Royal Institute of Navigation to recieve their Certificate of Achievement (providing they don't hear that I nearly got lost running in Richmond Park last week). Prince Phillip, Jerry Hall, David Bellamy and my mum are all going to be there. Wowser. On Wednesday night, I'm flying to the US to speak at the four-day Pop!Tech conference in Camden, Maine ( I am really looking forward to this – not least because Jason Kottke is going to be there).
Last up, I'll be signing a contract in the next few days. I'd better not let the cat completely out of the bag yet, but it's Very Exciting Stuff (and it involves me stripping off for a photo shoot next month). More soon. Meanwhile, I'd better get back to my sit-ups…
— Filed under Speaking
Lego Imperial Star Destroyer. If I'd seen Father Christmas at the North Pole, this is what I would have asked him for.
— Filed under Aside
I was lucky enough to hear Simon Murray and Pen Hadow being interviewed by Jonathan Dimblebey at the RGS this evening. I know Pen pretty well – we spent two months together skiing towards the North Pole in 2001 but I'd never heard Simon speak until this evening. And what a speaker he was – he stole the show with scores of rip-roaring anecdotes and left us all with the impression that he'd squeezed a dozen lifetimes into his sixty-odd years.
Far and away the best bit was his answer to a question about 'paths' in life. He quoted Jean Jacques Rousseau ('man is born free, yet he is everywhere in chains'), saying:
'Wrong. Man is born in prison. If a child is born to a wealthy lawyer in Boston, his life will go in this direction. If a child is born in a slum in Caracas, his life will go in that direction… That's not freedom. Freedom lies in breaking away from these paths that are set out in front of us. Only then do we have the space to really find ourselves. That's why I do these things: not merely to test myself, but to FIND myself.'
I've paraphrased wildy here but wowee, what a dude.
— Filed under Rumination
If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them – maybe you can try the Bangladesh Curry Mahal.
Truly the A-team of curry houses, and the venue for a monster expedition planning session this evening. Life is good.
— Filed under Miscellany
I read something this weekend (in an old interview with Steve Jobs) that struck a chord:
'The thing that drives me and my colleagues at both Apple and Pixar is that you see something very compelling to you, and you don't quite know how to get to it, but you know, sometimes intuitively, it's within your grasp. And it's worth putting in years of your life just to make it come into existence.'
Intuition is something that both Tony (my skiing partner for the next expedition) and I are relying on at the moment. There are times when the sheer scale of the project seems overwhelming, but there's always that familiar old voice in the back of mind whispering 'there's always a way'. One things for sure; we've got a busy time ahead…
On a different note, a friend of mine is a DJ for a North London community radio station – I joined their breakfast show last Friday and was absolutely blown away by the guest band, Truepenny. If talent counts for anything in the music business these days, these lads will go far.
— Filed under Rumination
