An Interesting Day 2017
My trip to a weird one-day conference on a tiny island in the Oslofjord | Framer.com
Last Monday, on a tiny island off the coast of Oslo, Norway, about 120 entrepreneurs, technologists, and creatives from around the world gathered for Bakken & Baeck’s third annual An Interesting Day conference. I flew over from Amsterdam to spend the day catching up with old friends, making some new ones, and getting inspired by several speakers and their eclectic backgrounds, experiences, and stories. It was a very interesting day, indeed.
After meeting at a pier in Aker Brygge around 8:30am, we filled up two boats and made our way to Steilene, a tiny island about 45 minutes away from Oslo Sentrum. Once we got to the island, our host—the inimitable Pasquale D’Silva—made his grand entrance via helicopter, dangling from its landing skids and plunging into the water after two dramatic attempts. (Actually, a dummy lookalike took the fall for him, but I’m certain he would have pulled the stunt if not for all the jellyfish lurking below.)
Pasquale surfaced nearby in a very Pasquale suit and set the tone for a jam-packed day that included:
- Five incredible speakers
- A fire-breathing class
- Delicious popsicles from På Pinne, fancy doughnuts from Fryd, and stunning cocktails by Torggata Botaniske
- A jam band called Bosses Bongoband
- Jet-packing in the Oslofjord
Speaker: Stanislava Pinchuk (aka Miso)
Artist Stanislava Pinchuk kicked off the speaker series by sharing some of her data-mapping work, which includes documenting the topography of nuclear fallout zones like Fukushima and Chernobyl, along with the topography of civil war conflict in her native Ukraine. She also creates personalized tattoos that map streets and walks onto friends’ bodies—all drawn from each friend’s memory and paid for in trade.
Speaker: Marie Nielsen
Marie Nielsen spoke about her journey from working at McKinsey & Company to founding a paper recycling startup called Penda Manufacturing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Marie has since created 15,000 jobs and is driving the circular paper concept in urban areas. Her next goal is to beat IKEA to market with her furniture made from recycled paper.
Speaker: Frank Chimero
Designer, writer, and illustrator Frank Chimero told us all about what it was like to have a single tweet about a universal New Yorker cartoon caption— “Hi, I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”—turn into a viral sensation and then ultimately make its way into an actual issue of the New Yorker six days later.
Speaker: Glory Edim
Kickstarter’s publishing outreach lead walked us through how she helps creators build community and get their work launched and realized through the crowdfunding platform. Glory also talked a little bit about her wildly popular book club Well-Read Black Girl and how she’ll be hosting her own conference this September in Brooklyn.
Speaker: David Karp
David Karp, founder and CEO of Tumblr, spoke about how the platform has helped shape today’s social media landscape. He also talked about his role on the board of Planned Parenthood, and even took the time to explain why the organization is so important to women in the U.S.
After a barbecue dinner, some well-timed cocktails, and watching people wipe out while trying to jetpack in the Oslofjord, we boarded a boat with Bosses Bongoband in tow to entertain us on the 45-minute ride to the party at Vippa. By that point night had fallen and the temperature had dropped considerably, but the boat was prepared with a handy set of blankets, as most Norwegian establishments seem to be! I didn’t stay at the party for too long because 13 hours of doing interesting things definitely took the wind out of my sails.
Tips for having an interesting day:
- Always be meeting new people. Within the first hour I’d already made a few new friends, including some fellow writers who I’ll be keeping in touch with, no doubt. 👯
- Pack layers and a poncho. I wasn’t prepared for a Scandinavian summer night and that probably drove me back to my Airbnb sooner. 🌧
- See where inspiration leads you. After hearing Stanislava’s talk, I pulled her aside to chat about her work and then started recording to do a formal interview of sorts. Now I want to write a mini series of interviews with designers and artists centered around similar topics. 💭
- A lot of people had the same Fjållråven Kånken backpack. Don’t get yours mixed up! 🎒
Overall the day was beyond interesting, and (my American tendencies toward hyperbole aside) Bakken & Baeck should probably just rename the whole conference An Amazing Day. Until next time, Oslo!
All photos were taken by me with a Fuji Natura Classica unless otherwise noted.
Stay tuned for a special Q&A interview series with several designers I met at the conference.
