The Powerful Force of In-Person Events about Climate Change & Communicating with Creativity
One of the wonderful things about reporting on Content Rising was it was an in-person event – so I got to meet real people.
We’ve become accustomed to Zoom, Google Meets and Teams meetings or calls. But none have the same feel as being in a space together.
It was great to bump into another journalist, Stuart Stone of BusinessGreen.
It was wonderful to (finally) meet fellow members of the Association of Sustainability Practitioners (ASP) – including Gwyn Jones and Julia Sansome.
It was lovely to meet new people, hear about their work in sustainability and communications, and to have simple, human-to-human conversations in the beautiful setting of Wakehurst in South East England.
It was neat to make new connections at the start, in the middle and at the end, including Roberto Pirelli.
I’ve seen numerous talks on video but there’s something so visceral about hearing somebody speak in front of an audience. You can feel the atmosphere, the mood, the spontaneous responses of the crowd.
Seeing and hearing the speakers on stage illustrated the power of words and stories to inform, educate, inspire, motivate, energise and give hope to people. Thanks again to speakers Lira Valencia, Vanessa Terschluse, Jon Alexander, Matt Golding, Michael Kibedi, Afreen Saulat, Anthony Pearce and keynote Farhana Yamin.
Watching compere Pamela Gupta - and panel hosts Chantelle Lindsay and Marisol Grandon – guide the day and bring the best out of speakers was a treat. Thank you.
Being an in-person event meant workshops could be held outdoors, in the fresh air. The one I took part in around guerrilla geography with Daniel Raven-Ellison was fantastic.
This would not have been anywhere near as good an event had it been online. The organisers did an incredible job of pulling it all together and – weeks after the event finished – people are STILL talking about it.
If you were not able to attend, there is a video package available from Content Rising and there’s nothing stopping you from tapping into the topics, speakers or social media around it.
Let’s keep the conversations, connections and activity going.
