While at the World Economic Forum in Davos, I walked by the Hub, a central meeting place for the Wall St. Journal writers and also where the Hub was interviewing Young Global Leaders, CEOs and social entrepreneurs about Davos and their experiences. They were gracious enough to ask to interview me and readers of The Causemopolitan might remember that I’m only now growing into liking myself on video. I’m being honest! It’s the third medium that I’m adjusting to (after writing and photos). Submitting the MySpace Journal video was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, it was really putting myself out there and without the help and support of friends here in New Orleans I don’t know that I would have had the courage to do it.
That said, big thank you to Edie Lush and Hub Culture for the interview above and for all you New Orleans readers out there, check out the interview starting around minute 3 where I really get into WHY I love New Orleans and what is of the most value in being here and being part of the community. (more…)
To spur conversation, I often go to the “would you rather” questions – and most I make up on my own, but I happen to have handy a set of Table Topics and sat last night with a friend picking out cards from the stack like a magician. I thought I’d share the questions we pulled with you, for your response. Mine, are below. Seemed like something fun to do to step out of the box and think about questions that are different from my regular life and normal conversations I have with people.
How do YOU step out of your box and comfort zone to explore the confines of your imagination?
1. What would you like to be said about you at your funeral?
That I was loved and going to be missed and that I put my fingerprint on the world and helped make it better, even if just for one person.
2. In what era would you most like to have grown up?
Discovery of America. I know chance of survival on the Mayflower and subsequent colonization would be hard, but still, would have loved to be one of the original explorers of America.
3. What event past, present, or future, would you like to witness in person?
In reflecting on my reflecting of 2009, I looked back at the resolutions I made a month ago and can’t believe the progress I made. I joked recently to a friend that January brought so much positive change and sheer brute force that I’ve flown through a lot of these. January was one of the best months of my whole life. I felt in control of my path, I got back on track and back to work. I received a paycheck again. I swooned and awed and danced little happy dances in my apartment when no one was watching celebrating life.
Nonetheless, one of the things I want to do in 2010 is sharing of my goals and the things I work on behind closed doors to make things happen.
First a note. My mom requires my sisters and I submit our New Year’s Resolutions to her in-person, by phone or email by 11PM EST on New Year’s Eve. No exceptions. I have dialed mine in from Cairo to Buenos Aires. My mom puts our Resolutions on paper and in a bottle in the back of the freezer to look at again the next year. I’m being bold sharing my resolutions with you here hoping that this mix of self-determination will lead to fulfilling my “official resolutions” for the year.
I develop many more goals as the year goes by, but these, well these are the starting point for the adventure and state of mind I wish to be in for 2010.
My resolutions (as I wrote them to my mom):
1) Adventure: Go skydiving, get a tattoo, visit Japan, learn to drive a stick (carry over from last year), visit one state I haven’t been to yet.
2) Professional: Attend one conference I haven’t been to before, give at least 10 talks on “cause-filled living,” publish at least 10 articles in magazines or longer form blog posts (separate from repurposing content), blog every day for one month. Write a book and get it published. In general write more, publish more, continue to build a brand around “cause-filled living.” (more…)
2009 was intense. I saw a lot of change in my life. A lot of change. I geographically moved locations a lot, and I emotionally and spiritually grew and evolved. Sometimes felt like I was breaking through the stratosphere so fast my skin hurt. Sometimes felt like I was in quicksand and sinking slowly.
To all of those who supported me and believed in me, thank you.
Why am I writing this now? Because I’ve thought about YOU and about ME and about US for all of January. I wanted to take some time to reflect on how January made me feel, and in doing so, wanted to share some of the biggest highlights from 2009 as I look back on them and remark on my accomplishments in 2010 so far. It’s only been one month – but BOY has is been a wild ride. So I wanted to properly take a moment of silence for all the 2009 gave me to be able to openly embrace 2010 with all the gusty, heart and vigor that I’ve put out in the Universe the last 30 days. (more…)
Continuing the thread about what an amazing opportunity it is to attend the World Economic Forum, see the highlight reel above from WEF’s YouTube channel featuring some of the biggest names in global leadership and governance in the world today.
The biggest names are heavily guarded with security and usually being whisked away to one room or another, but approachable if you can get their attention for just a moment. Walking down a hallway I’ve passed rooms where French President Sarkozy is meeting with the CEO of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab. I walked into a room yesterday with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in a briefing with BBC Correspondent Nik Gowing about his ambitions for his G20 leadership and his vision for South Korea’s future. I stumbled upon a seating area where I was looking to rest for 10 minutes in one open chair and instead entered into a conversation about nuclear proliferation and how to work with governments in developing countries to stop making nuclear weapons with the Founder of Space Adventures, Eric Anderson, the Founder of Operation Hope, John Bryant and the Crown Prince of Norway, Prince Haakon. I grabbed tea with the CEO of News Corp and then we, together, scoped out and finagled ourselves into the second row of a session where Former President Bill Clinton was speaking on the state of Haiti.
And that list only goes to about 4pm!
Each day is like that here. A glorious amount of over-information that I imagine will continue to permeate and sink in for months to come. Tomorrow is the final “official” day of panels. It’s hard to believe it will soon be over and I’ll be back in New Orleans, telling everyone about all the good New Orleans gospel I’ve been spreading to anyone who will listen about all New Orleans has to offer. But not yet. No sir, no yet. For now, I edit and upload videos, I edit and upload photos, I write and hyperlink blog posts to share with all of you. I sleep (barely) and eat (sometimes) and buck up to soak in all the Davos has to offer working through the exhaustion and the wall and the feeling that as much as I’m absorbing is as much as I’m missing.
I’m already plotting my return for 2011.
Don’t forget to watch my video interviews of some of the best and brightest leaders of today and tomorrow on the MySpace blog.
Let me share something here that I’m not sharing over on the MySpace blogs. Rather let me gush for a second. Davos is truly spectacular. There is something about an invite-only conference that allows every attendee to walk up to one another and say hi, introduce yourself, make conversation. Everyone who is here has done something special to be here. Sure, there are a few lucky ducks (like myself) who have found there way here, but heads of states and CEOs and global leaders all under one roof make for very interesting conversation.
Which leads me to my next point – the people here care very much. There are a lot of conversations about just about everything you could imagine. Water conservation and sustainable of global fisheries, the future of the middle east, what the World Cup in South Africa this summer can raise awareness of current hot topic issues in Africa, the crisis in Haiti. There are a million things happening in the world right now and chances are someone here is an expert in that field.
There is a dark side here too. Or rather a pessimism. Last year, 9 of the global CEOs of banks were no-shows. They couldn’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t have shown their faces in the wake of such a catastrophic global financial meltdown and so weren’t here. Last year, the infamous and exclusive parties featuring vertical wine tastings or grand-cru french wines were canceled. It was deemed inappropriate to be lavish and thought to shed a negative light on the conference. CEOs of global companies meet here in Davos, this tucked away Swiss ski town and who knows what happens behind closed doors.
But let me say this. There is a line from a TED Talk that I love that goes, “It’s too late to be pessimistic. It’s too late to think we can do nothing. We must look forward to the future. We must look to building something greater than what we have today.”
That is the essence of Davos. Optimism that the work everyone is doing here is inspiring something greater for not just the next generation but 7 generations out. Among these leaders within their communities, I feel as if anything is possible for myself. I feel a freedom to be bold, to keep pushing forward, to have faith in what I believe is my own personal mission in life – helping people discover cause and ways to give back. Here, anything is possible and if I take away one lesson from Davos, it’s an almost “Santa Claus like spirit” where we believe what we want to believe. And so I choose to believe in hope. I choose to believe in the future. I choose to believe in you.
We did it! Thanks to ALL OF YOU and my many other supporters, you have helped me win the opportunity to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland as the citizen journalist for MySpace and the Wall Street Journal.
You were the sixth judge. Every vote you cast, helped me with the community vote. The other judges were the CEO of MySpace, CEO of News International, Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal, Head of Communications for the World Economic Forum and the winner from last year. You’re in good company.
I’m on a jet plane TODAY for Switzerland and I’ll be there all week representing all of you and meeting world leaders, global thinkers, CEOs and activists. Where can you catch all the blogging goodness? So glad you asked!
After 24hours on those outlets, I will repurpose some of the content on my blog and you might see it around the web in other places too. And I’ll continue to blog and write about my experiences when I’m back. And of course, you can catch my up-to-the-minute updates on Twitter where I’m @sloane and will be using the hashtag #wef. Let me also recommend following @davos and their awesome Twitter list of WEFMedia.
If YOU were attending Davos, who would you want to meet? What question would you ask of our world’s leaders?
Ask me and I’ll do the digging and reporting for you. It’s going to be a whirlwind, but I can handle it. Don’t worry, I got this! Can’t wait to share my experiences with you.
Big thank you to the team at What Gives for the interview above from October’s Blog World Expo in Las Vegas where Christopher Smith (@groovemonkey) interviewed me about my cause-filled life, the turning point that got me there, Cause It’s My Birthday and what’s next.
Posted by Sloane Berrent in Life, Tech on January 25, 2010 | Comments
It’s been busy over at Camp Causemopolitan and there is some exciting press I’d like to share with everyone. I work really hard to help others and build community so to be recognized for that work is really incredible. I have gotten really amazing emails from people about each piece and it’s a great way to connect with new people either in the cause and philanthropy space or looking for a way to build cause into their lives, so for that exposure and opportunity to continue to help others and broaden my reach, I’d like to thank the writers of each of these four pieces.
Sloane Berrent wanted her 30th birthday to involve more than sharing cake and drinks with friends. So she and a friend started using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to spread the word that their birthday celebrations would benefit Netting Nations, a charity that fights malaria.
The pair asked people in their online networks to hold parties in seven cities in as many days. Supporters could give small donations: $15 to buy bed nets to protect a family from malaria, or $75 to protect a village. Ms. Berrent, a former fund raiser and marketer who left her job last year to volunteer, flew with her friend from city to city on their own dime for the parties. In a month, they raised more than $19,000
Meet the MySpace Journal 2010 Winner
January 20, 2010
To attend the World Economic Forum in Davos is truly the opportunity of a lifetime. I would like to thank MySpace, the Wall St. Journal and the World Economic Forum for offering me this opportunity. I’d like to thank the judges, especially the 6th judge – YOU. So many amazing people in my online network voted for me and I wouldn’t have this opportunity without your support. Thank you.
As I talked about in my video entry for this contest, my life has changed dramatically this past year. I went from working in a technology startup in Los Angeles to traveling the world as a global volunteer, discovering my own online voice on my blog, The Causemopolitan and eventually, at the end of my travels, relocating to New Orleans to be part of a vibrant social entrepreneurship community and continuing movement to rebuild one of America’s greatest cities.
All of this has happened because I believe in humanity and I believe that we all have the power to make the world a better place. There is a mantra I have, “Every day inspire others and be inspired.” For each person who reaches out to me to say that they’ve been motivated to create change in the world, so too do I reach out to be mentored, inspired simply better overall each and every day.
It’s something I call “the cause-filled life.” Which means that everything I do, I work to incorporate cause. Whoa. I know that can seem like a huge step for most people who don’t know where to get started. So you know what I say? Start small, start anywhere, get involved with a cause or nonprofit and let it grow organically from there. Someone who is out of shape can’t go out and run a marathon without easing their way into it. And that starts with putting on walking shoes and walking out the door, down the driveway and to the end of the block. Cause is like that too. Make a $10 donation to support a friend’s fundraiser, volunteer one Saturday with your family. Time waits for no one. I believe people, for the most part and with the best intentions, talk themselves out of getting involved because they feel like they don’t have enough time or money to really make a difference. I make it my goal to be the voice that says; “Do it! Try it on for size and see where it goes!” (more…)
