Inside View

Starting Congversations

I HAVE STARTED a series of 100 podcasts called Congversations. They revolve around conversations that start in Cong, County Mayo, Ireland, and continue all the way around the calendar to the annual Congregation in that small town.

Listen to "Announcing Congversations 1801" on Spreaker.

Sharing Ideas through Huddles #cong18

THE BEST UNCONFERENCE in Ireland offers first-hand proof that small huddles of people who use social venues engender meaningful conversations. This happens every year in the little village of Cong, County Mayo, Ireland.

Rather than predictable SlideShare presentations from a well-lighted podium, the congregation offers a structured schedule that avoids the chaos found in conferences organised around Post-its on whiteboards. But for people like me who enjoy flexibility, every meet-up I attend in Cong rewards me with lots of flexibility. I meet experts in huddles, on the street, and in pub conversation throughout the weekend. The entire experience recharges me.

I Need 30 Days of Christmas

IT HAS TAKEN me more than 50 years to catch the Christmas spirit, engage, and joyfully release its energy. That's because as I was growing up, the family business worked exceptionally long and hard through the entire Christmas season, starting with Thanksgiving Week and ending with the Epiphany. I reckon I lost a lot of joy through that experience.

In 2018, something reset my view of Christmas. I think my personal mental adjustment happened partly because seven year old Dylan is visited every night by two elves and he recounts their clever adventures for us every morning. And some of the joy came back during the annual John Lewis advertisement, this time orchestrated with Elton John.

The Power of Nomads #RemoteWorking

THE MOST POWERFUL community dynamic I have enjoyed in Ireland stemmed from monthly Open Coffee Meetups in Limerick. I want to rekindle that energy by layering the Open Coffee dynamic inside the Grow Remote movement and I think I will try to do this in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland in 2019.