Well, first all, there is a huge satisfaction that this got selected for the Home Page feature at SlideShare. Many thanks to the Slideshare editorial team that thought it deserved to be on the home page.

This is really cool considering even being featured on a sub section is quite coveted.
My session at Barcamp Singapore was on- “Collaborative ways to change the world”. It was at the fag end of the day and I thought maybe an interesting social experiment would be worth it. Just like headlines might be important in getting more views on sites like Digg, Youtube and other folksonomy sites, I thought let me see if more people come in towards the end of the day by making the title of the presentation a bit interesting. Since I was mentioning the Pink Chaddi campaign from India, I thought of adding that mention to make the title a bit spicier.

Though of course no one admitted there where in the presentation intrigued by the title, I did get quite a few participants in my session.

I am involved in creating Digital and Community Engagement for the movement- InGandhisShoes.org started by Shailendra Uniyal.

In this snippet, we discussed on everyday issues that could result in an otherwise violent end. Issues that could affect me and you- and that we feel strongly about. As an example, a question was raised- and it was surprising how many people resonated with that thought. People where supposed to come up with impromptu creative solutions to those problems

Here is the presentation:

I have already covered Barcamp with some pictures. I have some videos from the session- but the room was dark and there is a whole lot of echo in sound- so using headphones is adviced.
Understand the concept at a fun level- from Ground level. Really serious topics might not have constructive solution in a few minutes and really serious topics might polarise or even put off audience. I used a question and it seemed to resonate with the audience-

Assuming you want to marry a girl that you love. She agrees but puts a condition that she will go ahead if her parents consent. The bad part is- her parents don’t like you because of your nationality. What would you do then/ Is there a creative to solve this issue in a non-violent and meaningful manner?

The session was barely 30 minutes- and I wanted to present the concept, some real life examples, how have we engaged the crowds at the ground level and how are we planning to take it to the next level using the digital medium. It was important that people knew how has creative non-violence been used- and so I explained using snippets from leaders who used this for their advantage.

The issue was- these were leaders of extraordinary stature. To study their lives would probably require one whole life- not to mention greats like Gandhi himself and some really big leaders he inspired like Martin Luther King and Mandela. In a few minutes- all you could touch upon was just a few anecdotes of how they used Gandhian philosophy to achieve their goals- and made their world a better place to live in.

One gentleman by the name of William Claxton pointed out that it seemed we were highlighting that it was one ‘Grand gesture’ that helped them achieve their goals. I agreed and clarified that there are no quick fixes around this- and that the people who have followed this path have prolonged period of suffering and hardships. There is reason they are called ‘great souls’.

Having said that this movement is also about how everyday people can even come up with creative solutions to problems that face their world. And thus it was important that first their interest is built up so they are self motivated to study these personalities- rather than preach people to love more.

Also human psyche is such that we look at easy to understand things. We don’t want to think too much- anything that appeals to our senses or emotions- gets etched in our minds.

Just ask a man on street- what does he remember of Bill Clinton- they won’t highlight his economic policies- foreign policies? Not that either. “He had a blow job from Monica Lewinsky”

Quite unfortunate. But that is how it is.

And hence the details of years long struggle is overshadowed by the image of a 1 month fast unto death. If you have 3 minutes to cover this life- you should highlight issues that get embed in minds of people.

The discussion here (not the same arguements- and again headphones adviced)

Some photo snips:

Audience interaction