Upcoming Change Agent: Events

There is a lot happening in the next week. Here is the
rundown:

What: ATEN Exchange Fair at Learning Man

When and Where:  Saturday, May 4, 11 am to 4 pm Where: Soma Vida Work/Life Balance Wellness Center, 1210 Rosewood Avenue

The Austin Time Exchange Network (ATEN) supports an alternative currency “bank” that allows members to provide services for each other in exchange for time credits (Hours) that can be traded with any other member of the network. Membership is FREE.

~ My PRESENTATIONS~

Don’t’ call it Money!  - This is about why dollars are NOT money, they are currency; and why things like time can be a currency, too. This will be short, 15-20 minutes and I will repeat if there is interest. 11:30 am

What is a Change Agent, anyway?  - This is an invitation to become a Change Agent and learn to thrive in the current environment of massive change. 12:30 pm

Creating a Personal Vision - Having a Personal Vision is a key part of creating the personal vehicle that allows you to navigate all the change going on in the world. 2pm

Workshops have limited capacity. Sign up, ask questions or get more information by emailing: atenexchangefair@gmail.com A schedule of all the workshops can be found at:   http://wp.me/PvHIQ-54

What: Web Site Launch!

When and Where:  May 1 - Online ChangeAgentPublications.com

The new website will become a hub and valuable resource for communities of Change Agents!

What: Part Two of Become a Change Agent available for free Kindle download

When and Where:  May 3-5 Where: Online at Free Kindle readers for most devices can be downloaded from Amazon.com:

Contact me on Facebook: cliff.collard@facebook.com  or Twitter:   @CliffChange

Visions from TEDx Austin - looking back and looking forward

I am excited about attending TEDx Austin’s FearLess conference this weekend. It will be a day where I see example after example of how Personal Visions that are activated make positive changes for the World.

Last night’s “preshow”  Happy Hour was a fantastic series of conversations with other Change Agents on topics including complexity theory, education, gamification, ecommerce and solar power for Africa. Most of the time, I was in a group of 4 people. I got so engrossed in conversation that I never found the cheese tray.

Last year’s conference centered on the theme “Beyond Measure". It opened with Chris Riley saying, “We are going to share amazing stories with the world today!” and it was true beyond measure. Here are just a few of the speakers with messages that I loved:

·         A guerilla guide to improving urban landscapes. Jason Roberts – How to build a better block.

·         Emergency Shelters. A revolutionary design for those displaced by natural disasters by Michael McDaniel.

·         Preemptive Love – Violence unmakes the World. This can be fixed one person at a time. Jeremy Court discovered that something like 1 in 7 Iraqi children are born with a broken heart, litterally. These are birth defects can be corrected surgically by Turkish doctors (Turkey and Iraq are historical enemies). US Iraqi war veterans are seeing it in their children, too. This guy would have recieved the Nobel Peace Prize if I were awarding it.

·         There were so many more amazing presentations Check out the playlist.

If you only have time to watch one, please watch Jeremy Court, Preemptive Love. This story has so much heart and is an example of how ancient hatreds can be bridged.

What is your favorite TED Talk?

'Time Banks' Help Spaniards Weather Financial Crisis

 

With the financial systems in the balance, people are looking for all sorts of alternatives to get the services they need.

Time banks are where people exchange time instead of money. Work and hour and someone works for you for an hour. It doesn't have to be the same person.  For example, I could earn an hour by tutoring math to person A and then consume that hour by getting housekeeping services from person D.

Everything is done on a gifting basis, so there is no tax involved.

It is making life possible for the people in economically ravaged Spain:
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/22/161380937/time-banks-help-spaniards-weather-financial-crisis

It is available in Austin:
http://www.austintimeexchange.org/

It is a great idea!

What services can you trade?

Wex Development Team

Tony Cota's Wex is a great community building project. I will find a way to get involed

http://tonycota.ning.com/