Archives / May 2011

We've all heard it. Customers are right, so give customers what they want.

But what if you did something else? What if, in fact, you invited customers - or, say, conference attendees - to go somewhere outside their expectations? Would that still be a good experience?

That question was central to my design of the Gel 2011 conference, which ran four weeks ago here in New York City. (Went great. See the conference recap, written by attendees themselves.) I wanted to challenge attendees, and myself, to step outside the comfort zone and try to find an authentic experience on the other side.

The theme of Gel 2011, "breaking the barrier," set the stage (literally) for an invitation: will you step beyond a border? See beyond a barrier? Bring together ideas, or people, or places, that are otherwise separated? What happens if you do so? This invitation was constantly repeated, again and again, throughout the three-day event... though, in classic Gel style, the question was posed implicitly through the experience (rather than explicitly through, say, long didactic speeches). The experience itself was the message of the conference.

Now, I apologize if this sounds like so much ranting by an over-enthused, over-caffeinated, possibly still exhausted conference producer. Granted. But let me give some examples to illustrate how I saw the theme take shape. In no particular order...

Nicola Twilley talked about our sense of smell, how it's wildly different from person to person - yet by sharing (she led a scratch-and-sniff exchange, and we built a global "Gel smell map") this distinctly individual sense can actually bring people together.

We examined business models that are breaking barriers: Anil Dash spoke about a small networked team affecting change in a big organization... Tom Lee's One Medical has dramatically improved the patient experience in primary care... and Perry Chen's Kickstarter has freed up countless creative minds to get funding for their projects... both by removing, or routing around, or (in Tom Lee's case) sometimes working within existing barriers to improve the experience.

We heard about projects that bravely and gracefully reach across common but unfair divides. Michelle Barwell from Operation Safety Net has one of the toughest jobs in Pittsburgh, if not the world: providing mental health care to homeless, directly, under overpasses and on streets... a team of founders, students, and instructors from Daniel's Music Foundation works miracles with people with disabilities (and anyone who gets to know them) through their music classes ... Alicia Hansen and two students from NYC Salt showed how this nonprofit is using photography to break down all kinds of barriers. (Both students are the first in their family to go to college, thanks to the program - both accepted to Savannah College of Art and Design.)

Howard Warren and James Chan gave a poetic pair of talks, almost mirror images: one about a city falling into the swamp (resulting in New York's Dead Horse Bay), and the other about a city rising from the swamp. (That's Singapore.) Many lessons about place, and how barriers were erected or destroyed, for good or ill. I mentioned Singapore in my own presentation and tried to describe the experience of not really understanding the place until I crossed the border and went there. Hint hint. (Like I said, repeated implicit invitations to consider the theme.)

We saw, and heard, unlikely combinations of material, which is usually kept separate. Vi Hart played an impromptu piano concert fully based on mathematical equations (and we heard a musical treatment of "divide by zero")... Kirby Ferguson told us how creativity works, and why everything is a remix... and world-renowned DJ Jace Clayton gave one of the most thoughtful talks, and performances, I've seen at Gel - showing how a good DJ, remixing everything, listens to his listeners. (It's worth reading and listening to him.)

All of this and - short on time today - I haven't yet brought up the tremendous stage design and animated titles by Thornberg & Forester and Andrew Huang, the programs designed by Open, other presenters - Johnnyswimm, Risa Morimoto, Marc Abrahams, Nell Minow, and the New Yorker cartoonists Diffee, Dernavich, and Kanin - and my own game I designed for the event, called Restore. Or the Day 1 activities, and Gel Saturday activities. (I hope to soon.) All of which continued to issue the invitation: break the barrier. Step beyond. Reach across. See what happens.

(Read more in the Gel 2011 recap, written by attendees themselves.)

The video of the surprise musical number at Gel 2011 has now passed a half-million views, making it the second most popular Gel video in history. (The #1 slot goes to Seth Godin's Gel 2006 presentation, which has over 700,000 views, from being featured as a TED talk last year.)

Here's some press for the Gel 2011 prank, which was created by Charlie Todd, Scott Brown, Anthony King, and a small army of performers from Improv Everywhere:

• Forbes called it "an anthem for the Facebook generation."

• CBS News noted "the amazing twist of the presenter joining in on the gag."

• The Huffington Post asked, "how do they make it look so easy?"

• TechnoBuffalo said, "the Improvsters basically hijacked the New York conference."

• t3n said, in German, "Social Media Terroristen rocken die GEL Conference 2011."

• Two Spanish blogs covered it, too: yorokobu.es and alejandroperez.es.

• Gizmodo said it "enlivened the dreariest place on earth." (Like I said, thanks, I think!)

• And just as the song lyric mentioned, BoingBoing spread it.

Here's the back story of the prank, featuring photos of rehearsal and the event itself.

Gizmodo ran a quick piece on Gel called Improv Everywhere Enlivens the Dreariest Place on Earth.

But Gel isn't that bad: Gizmodo adds that "Gel certainly seems far less soul-crushing than other trend-o-matic events."

So Gel is either "the dreariest place on earth" or "less soul-crushing than others." Anyway, I'm pretty sure this was meant as praise... I think... so, thanks!

In other news, BoingBoing posted the Improv Everywhere video, adding another meta-layer to the prank, which mentions BoingBoing in the song.

Near the end of the Gel 2011 conference last month we sprang a surprise on everyone: an unannounced speaker, an attendee interrupting from the audience to break into song, other attendees joining in and running on stage, and dozens of extras streaming in from the back of the theater for the finale.

This was, of course, a prank by our friend Charlie Todd and Improv Everywhere - here's their official mission report. I've been a fan of Charlie since he started IE so it was a privilege to have Gel involved (and be listed as "Agent Hurst" in the report!).

Song by Scott Brown and Anthony King.

At Gel 2011 last week we played a game I designed for the conference, called Restore, which divided attendees into teams and challenged them to restore a quote from snippets shown on their badges.

Several Gel attendees have asked for the quotes. Here they are:

- - -

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny.'
- Asimov

- - -

You can accomplish anything you want in life provided you don't mind who gets the credit.
- Harry S Truman

- - -

Indian proverb: Empathy is not just about stepping into another's shoes. First you must remove your own shoes.

- - -

Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. Don't think about what you want to be, but what you want to do.
- Feynman

- - -

African proverb: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

- - -

Beware the investment activity that produces applause; the great moves are usually greeted by yawns.
- Warren Buffett

- - -

Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.
- Stephen King

- - -

From then on, when anything went wrong with a computer, we said it had bugs in it.
- Grace Hopper

- - -

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have done.
- Longfellow

- - -

Nothing is built on stone, all is built on sand; but we must build as if the sand were stone.
- Borges

- - -

Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
- Emerson

- - -

For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.
- T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

- - -

Thanks to Michael for this recap of Gel 2011. I'm still recovering but will post my own recap soon.