Since moving to Washington, D.C. last month, I have been excited to see what kinds of interesting conferences and events come through town, in part because, as this area is the seat of the federal government and home to a unique ecosystem of people, businesses, and social sector organizations, the D.C. perspective on social innovation may very well be of a different flavor than that of the Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area to which I am accustomed (more on this idea further down the line). As it happens, two very interesting events—a conference and a panel discussion—are scheduled to be held in the coming weeks.
The one problem, unfortunately, is that they both occur in the middle of the day during the work week, and I won't be able to attend.
The Leadership for a Better World Forum, hosted by the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, and a panel discussion titled "Do We Need a Nonprofit Capital Market?," hosted by the Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, are both events that I would have loved to attend. Back in June, I wrote about Opportunity Collaboration, another great event I won't be attending, in this case because it will be held in Mexico, costs $4,750, and is designed as a series of working business meetings for people who are already leaders in social entrepreneurship, social sector organizations, and social capital markets or philanthropy.
The information, insight, and perspective shared at these events have so much potential to inform and inspire meaningful change. Yet, there must be millions of people worldwide who, like me, cannot take advantage of the learning opportunities they present.
That's why I'm so grateful when organizers make a commitment to bringing their event to the world when, after all, they can't bring the world to the event. These organizers post video, audio, and transcripts of conference sessions for the world to access for free online. TED, a leader when it comes to this idea, makes a great effort to ensure its content is accessible by everyone, including non-English speakers and the hearing-impaired, by adding subtitles and by having volunteers translate videos into various languages. What's more, TED publishes all of its content under a Creative Commons license, so the information can be freely shared and reposted.
To me, this kind of openness is a reflection of what might be considered a new level of consciousness, perhaps even a new paradigm, in which the principles of information sharing, transparency, empowerment, and connectedness, among others, are seen as being central to progress. After all, the more that knowledge from events like these is shared, the greater impact it will have.
Below, I have put together a list of some of the conferences and organizations who exemplify this idea and support the social innovation field by making their content available online (are there others you know of?). I encourage you to browse and to leave a comment to share anything you find that inspires you!
Hudson Institute
To begin with, the Hudson Institute posts transcripts and audio files of the events it hosts. Watch for information from the "Do We Need a Nonprofit Capital Market?" panel, to be held on September 17th, at the Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal's website. Click here for archived content.
TED
As we have said, TED does an amazing job of sharing content from its TED Conferences in accordance with its mantra of "Ideas Worth Spreading." The Conference began in 1984 to bring together the worlds of technology, entertainment, and design (hence T-E-D), but these days hosts the greatest thinkers in a number of disciplines, including Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, and many, many others. Videos can be found directly on the TED homepage.
Social Innovation Conversations
This collaboration between the Conversations Network podcast service and the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business publishes podcasts of social innovation-related discussions with experts and practitioners in a broad range of fields, as well as recordings of a variety of Stanford-hosted panel discussions and presentations. Podcasts can be found here.
Skoll World Forum
The Skoll World Forum is a collaboration between The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and The Skoll Foundation. The Forum "connects prominent social entrepreneurs with essential actors in the social, academic, finance, corporate and policy sectors – all working to accelerate sustainable social benefit." Find videos from the 2009 Skoll World Forum here.
Craigslist Foundation Boot Camp
The 2009 Boot Camp was one conference I was lucky enough to attend (it was held on a Saturday). Podcasts of sessions from the 2009 Boot Camp are being posted over time, but you can already find the great opening address by Arianna Huffington and the closing panel discussion, in addition to podcasts from past Boot Camps, here.
Social Capital Markets
The Social Capital Markets 2009 conference wrapped up just last Thursday. According to their website today, video of panel sessions and blog highlights will be available in the coming week. In the meantime, check out the SOCAP09 blog and the Social Capital Markets YouTube channel.
I'll be the first to share something that inspires me. Here is a TED video featuring Jacqueline Novogratz, one of my heroes, discussing the power of Acumen Fund's approach to social venture capital:
