How to feel like you were at #Junket if you weren’t - in 20 links
I’m going to attempt to communicate the inspiration and adrenalin hit that was #Junket in 20 links and ideas (including others’ tweets and posts).
Many of these are moments, observations or lingering ideas that have stayed with me as I write a week after the event. Some are people I was lucky enough to meet and therefore made an impact on me. Make no mistake, though, everyone in attendance was an exceptional human being. If only there was more time and more me to spread around, or if this post could encompass other people’s experiences as well as mine, there would be more highlights here.
1. Junket?
First, what was this Junket commotion?
Junket was an un-conference hosted by the folks behind Australian pop-culture and opinion site Junkee.com. Junkee invited 200 of Australia’s best and brightest young minds to gather at the QT Canberra from November 1 to 3, to share ideas, get advice, be inspired, innovate, teach, learn, network and have fun — all with the (suitably ambitious) aim of helping set the agenda for Australia’s future.
2. Unconference?
The ‘unconference’ part meant that whoever pitched the best idea for discussion or debate got to hold the floor and run their own session. This worked super well; everyone there was an expert in something and it meant that you got to know people and their passions quickly and intimately. We’ve experimented with this before at our events, like GCUC Australia and at small retreats, but I think I’m going to introduce an element of it into all our programs. Here’s a how-to for anyone who is interested.
3. Hopelessness vs. hope
On the first night, in order to shape the unconference agenda, we ‘pitched’ our ideas for sessions. Around half (or 100) of the attendees pitched — so covered a lot of ground — and sometimes it seemed like a big list of problems that we were supposed to solve in the space of 48 hours. We all know Australia faces some serious issues but having them all laid out on the table (or unconference ‘grid’) like this was overwhelming to say the least.
But we tackled all of them. And when all was said and done, one of the greatest things I took out of the two days was a sense of hope. A feeling that I could relax a little because there are some absolutely brilliant people working on all the issues I’m concerned about. In fact it gave me a lot of hope — a recurring theme of the Junkee debriefs.
4. Jess.
Saying Jess Scully is smart and funny is an understatement akin to saying Junket was ‘ok’. Someone called her ‘The Oprah of Australia’ and I feel like it doesn’t quite do her justice. Somehow Jess is super chilled out and 100% professional at the same time. She set a tone for Junket which made it what it was and stewarded us through the experience like only she could. When Jess asked us to ‘set our intentions’ for Junket I think she was referencing this article. It’s a good read.
5. Tahl.
On the first night of Junket I met a guy called Tahl. Aside from having the excellent banter and great hair that was typical of so many attendees, it turns out Tahl has a won a couple of design awards. BECAUSE HE INVENTED A NEW MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. Or three. This is just one example of the kind of person you might casually strike up conversation with at Junket. I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I did.
6. Being an ally
The video below is the crux of a fascinating conversation we had at Junket (led by Yassmin) around being a good ally when it come to gender, race, disability or any other form of inequality. The question posed was: do men have a place in the discussion around feminism and women’s rights? Do whites have a place in discussions about race? etc. The conclusion was: it’s complicated. And the key, we realised, is knowing when to be an advocate and knowing when to shut up and step out of the way. This video hits it on the head.
7. Being uncomfortable
Thanks to Amrita for bringing this point home on the final day. A large part of this about getting out of your personal comfort zone in order to grow. And another part is about making others uncomfortable.
In the many conversations about gender, race, disability, sex, violence, environment (you name it, we talked about it) — we were reminded again and again that these conversations with yourself and others are never easy.
From challenging your boss on the pay gap to challenging your boyfriend to challenge his sexist mates, to challenging the client who pays your bills to sign a Code of Conduct to rid the world of the scurge of #allmalepanels - if you want to make a difference, you’re going to be a pain in the arse. Which brings me to my next point.
8. No pain, no gain
There are plenty of times when I’ve been the one advocating and trying to be the thorn in someone’s side until they change the way they’re operating. But what about when the person feeling the heat is you?
An interesting example of this at Junkee was with Drisana Levitske-Gray — Young Australian of the Year 2015 and an incredible advocate for accessibility, particularly around deafness. She’s the reason we had Auslan interpreters at Junkee.
Right now, she’s putting the heat on Junkee to add captions to the Telstra Elevator Pitch videos that came out of Junket. Junkee, to their credit, were amazing on every last detail when it came to inclusivity and accessibility of the event — but someone missed the memo to add captions to these videos, one of which features Drisana. I can only imagine the conversations going on amongst a tired crew who thought they had finished that job and just want to be done with it.
As someone who has felt this heat before — both in terms of having to pay to have Auslan interpreters at events, and having to add captions to videos at our own expense and inconvenience, you can see why the standard response is to just try to make this problem go away. At the outset, it’s a total pain in the ass.
But once it’s standard procedure, it’s actually not that hard. And it’s also completely, 100% worth it for so many reasons, not least that someone as incredible as Drisana was contributing to the conversation at Junket.
Change is hard yo. And it’s rarely popular.
This is why I respect Drisana so much and why she is Australian of the Year. No-one wants to be that guy/girl and doing these things on a daily basis takes guts. At this point I would like to share with you a video that famously gives ‘full body chills’ and cuts to the heart of this, saying : if you’re not pissing people off, you’re not doing it right, Marianne Williamson at the Parliament of the World’s Religions 2015:
If what you’re saying is always getting applause, you’re probably not yet doing the right stuff.” — Marianne Williamson
9. The spirit of protest
Related to the above point, I was reminded that being a pain in the ass is actually the entire point of protest, and the only way it works.
There’s so much more work to be done to take the anger, agitation and spirit of protest that was at Junket to the outside world, and I think we’re collectively a lot more ready for it. If this was an objective of Junket, it’s working. I’ve found myself having deeper, more challenging conversations with my partner, my employees, my friends, myself.
These are never going to be the easy conversations, they’re going to be the shit ones, and you’re going to be that person. But what is the alternative?
Look at the (incredibly inspiring) Keystone XL pipeline victory this weekend and think about how many people had to be a pain in the ass over a huge length of time. This is SUCH a good watch and includes 350.org’s brilliant tips for successful protest on big issues like this one.
10. Race in Australia
Speaking of big, difficult issues!
Thanks to Candice ‘I wanna break white supremacy’ Bowers and others at Junket, we had a very robust discussion about this led by some brilliant advocates and commentators.
The bottom line is: Australia continues to suffer and buckle under the weight of a massive current of racism and discrimination and this is a conversation we are just not having.
It’s another issue where we have to raise our voices constantly and courageously. At Junket, we almost unanimously agreed that diverse representation of race in politics, on boards and in our media must change, and requires quotas/positive discrimination to ensure we move closer to a level playing field. As a result of Junket, I am going to step it up on this one.
11. Omar
Just Omar.
12. Dancing.
I’m ashamed to say that these days I take my work far too seriously, probably take myself too seriously, and rarely get out. I move my body in relatively routine ways — yoga is about as crazy as it gets — and I had forgotten how good and freeing it is to completely lose yourself on a dance floor. If you’re ever lucky enough to share a dance floor with Amrita or Nicole, first bow down to these queens, and then tell your brain to get out of your way and dance until your body is happy.
Additional props to Steph ‘I look like a legume when I dance’ Harmon for her legendary (really not very legume-like) dance moves and thanks to Junket for incorporating extra-curricular activities like this that we didn’t even know we needed.
13. Community (sorry)
If there’s a word that’s ickier or more overused than influencer it’s community. But give me a moment.
In the field of organisational culture, it’s often said that the quickest way to build community is through shared experience and Junket was a brilliant example of how this works. There wasn’t a community, now there is.
Perhaps, additionally, the quickest way to build community is to see that community under threat or attack — and watch its members come to its defence. This happened as criticism was levelled at Junket from Helen Razer and others on Twitter as being ‘self-congratulating’, ‘corporate ass-kissing’, a ‘circle jerk’ or a ‘talk-fest’.
Lots of people responded to this and defended Junket in their own way.
For me, it was noteworthy that people whose entire personality and professional voice seems to be sarcastic humour and cynicism (Steph Harmon, Sam Twyford-Moore I’m looking at you) professed their love and appreciation for this moment in time and this community of people.
Also, it was real and genuine and it supported people who have dedicated their lives and careers to positive social change. If nothing else, it was worthwhile because of this.
14. Auslan
On a more positive note around Drisana and Auslan: the beautiful thing that we witnessed as Junket is that once it was incorporated into proceedings it was not an inconvenience at all but an added layer of awesome . Case in point: Courtney Act & Auslan. #Auslanallthetime
15. Analysis & debate & critical thinking (oh my!)
I didn’t know I was in need of a place for deep discussion and analysis of issues. I typically fall into the ‘doer’ category and breaking things down in this way doesn’t always appeal. But the extremely deep and sophisticated level of discussion on pretty much all the major issues facing Australia meant that we were actually strategising, figuring out how to present a united front, getting the choir singing from the same song book, and aligning agendas and approaches on many important issues. We covered soo much ground but the lens on it all in this case was how we see these issues as young progressives and what are the leverage points for influencing them toward outcomes we want.
16. Ashley.
Ashley and others led a conversation about masculinity at Junket and if we learned anything from Ashley it was that challenging traditional ideas about masculinity is both needed, politically and personally — and hard — politically and personally. It takes real bravery from anyone taking it on — especially from guys. As a result of this conversation I was referred to this TED talk: Violence Against Women — it’s a men’s issue (Jackson Katz).
17. Being PC
One of my favourite moments of the three days was when someone said they would happily wipe off the face of planet anyone who has ever uttered the words: “It’s political correctness gone mad”, to resounding laugher, nods and applause. This was unusual for two reasons. a) it was weird to hear the PC people at Junket being so harsh and b) in most conversations it’s the ‘political correctness gone mad’ sentiment that is applauded.
Junket was an amazing space because it was ‘a safe space for altruism’ and a safe space for calling out everyday injustices and all the bullshit we’re constantly surrounded with. Here are some of my favourite examples from Junket, from twitter alone, in line with my new post-Junket motto of #callingshitout.
18. 404 Day
A brilliant idea circling around a serious problem — social media and device addiction — has already settled into the psyche of those who were at Junket as something that’s very much needed thanks to the idea put forward by Junkee CEO Neil Ackland. Since Junket I discovered there’s already a Digital Detox Day in Australia but probably still room for a broader awareness campaign in the vein of R U OK Day or Hello Sunday Morning about addiction to our phones. Such an interesting challenge to negotiate in our transition into some kind of half human / half computer cyborg.
19. That feeling.
It was by no means a fresh feeling (I think most of us were exhausted and hungover for 2–3 days) but there’s a strong feeling of connection and a weird kinetic energy tying us together. Judging from the outpouring of emotions on social media, emotions are still running high. There’s a strong buzz that we are still coming off, the intoxication of meeting too many people that you completely click with, grief at missing a beautiful thing that what was there for an intense 48-hours, joy and gratitude that we were chosen to take part.
Perhaps it’s not one feeling but ‘all the feels’ as my Gen-Y Junket friends are wont to say.
20. All of the above and more.
Junket really was a wonderful experience and, running an agency dedicated to experience design for social impact, I don’t say that lightly.
There’s lots more here if you want to look it up.
Also, I made a Twitter list so you can follow these and other people from #Junket in 2015. Enjoy.
