Do blog

You reap what you sow

‘It was like a double shot of fresh air for my brain.
Thank you.’

‘It was the most inspiring and abundant event I have ever attended.

‘Thanks again for the super fun times. I have been trying really hard to describe everything to my wife.
What a great week.’

‘A cross between the Burning Man, the Ted lectures and Where The Wild Things Are’.

‘truly excellent.’

‘Great job and great lectures — I think you all have

a very special thing going out there in West Wales.

‘There’s a reason that there is not a 5 star Michelin restaurant that seats over 50 folks.  Small is beautiful.  Oh yeah…LOVED not getting emails…

‘When I say I loved the Do Lectures, I really mean I fell in love with them.  The location, the hosting, the food, attendees and of course the speakers all blended together to form a magical mix.

‘It’s the most important event of its kind..’

‘You gave me the greatest experience and I will remember it forever.’

You gave me the greatest experience and I will remember it forever.

It certainly for me was the most inspiring ‘conference’ event thing, (which it clearly isn’t) that I’ve taken part in.

‘A bonfire with soul’

‘It was like putting a hell of a lot of interesting, clever, funny, sparky people in a blender. In a field. ‘

‘A cross between the Burning Man, the Ted lectures and Where The Wild Things Are’.

‘A place of storytelling.  A place of inspiration.’

‘It has a Genius of Place.’

‘I jumped in a river with some of the smartest, kindest, friendliest people on the planet..’

‘Sotherby’s could learn a lot how to auction axes from these people’

‘The meals taught us that food is not a thing but a relationship.  Damn that food was good…’

‘I laughed.  I laughed a lot.  Fuel for the soul…’

‘Revolutions can start in that pub..’

‘A melting pot of people and ideas. Just an amazing event.

I am sure people will get sick of me going on about how great it was.

And that fforest, well it gives something so magical which feels key to the vibe and open-ness

Thanks for a Wonderful Amazing and Unique event - it was just brilliant!!!
Hello Do folk,

My nice work paid for me to go to The Do Lectures. Before they did, though, they asked me to write the ‘business case’ for my ticket. But back in May all I really had was a hunch that going to Do would be magic, so I persuaded them to go along with that.

When I got home last night, I wrote the business case. I sent it to my boss and the MD. I thought you might like to see it too.

And please pass on my big fat thanks to all the Doers. It was a wonderful Welsh weekend.

Molly Pink-Boots.


***

What I did at Do.
I got up at 7am, I went to bed at 1am, and for six hours I slept in a tent in a field with four other people. From 7.30am to 1am, every day, for four days, I listened, questioned, ate, ran, chatted, ate some more, sang, picked some very brainy brains, laughed a lot, sipped wine and spent most of the time outside in fresh air and quite a bit of mud.
It was like putting a hell of a lot of interesting, clever, funny, sparky people in a blender. In a field. No one wore name tags. Everyone camped. Everyone chatted. Everyone ate together. I danced with a 60-year-old Swedish man. I talked branding with an 18-year-old volunteer who turned up at Do after a plea for help on Twitter. I laughed with an amazing Danish man called Uffe who founded a new school and a new way of learning (and who sleepwalks – but that wasn’t in his talk). I asked the deputy editor of Wired magazine cheeky questions (and he helped fix my digital camera – but that wasn’t in his talk either). I jumped in a river with some of the smartest, kindest, friendliest people on the planet. I was nicknamed The Word Whisperer by an American marketing guru called Duke, Molly Pink-Boots by a gamer extraordinaire, and a Gazelle by Ade, The Fastest Man In Cardigan. I laughed some more with a Welsh farmer who told some of the best stories I’ve ever heard (and whose talk about stopping GM foods made me want to cry). I borrowed a Liverpudlian lecturer’s wife’s scarf, and was all the warmer for it.
I learnt that axes are interesting. And heavy. So chopping wood is hard (I tried it for the first time).
That concrete is not mud, and running on both is different. (Mud is better.)
That all concrete is most definitely not the same. Just add water and see.
That most companies are creatures without heads. (Turns out, the ones with heads were in a tipi in a field in Wales.)
That food is tastier outside.
That standing in stars and looking up at stars is magic.
That birds are naughty.
That we should copy nature (especially birds…)
That it is cold at night. And lovely.
That King Creosote is a King Comedian.
That we should keep the world weird.  
That DJs who play trumpets and whistles rock.
That sheepdogs look good on the dance floor.  
That there’s more to maps than meet the eye. Much, much more.
That you can make a bread and butter pudding out of chocolate croissants. It is very very good and very very bad in equal measure (actually, maybe a bit more good).
That it’s best to use PowerPoint presentations for doodles.
That Sotheby’s should hold axe auctions in tents.
That uncomfortable is good.
That making glorious mistakes is even better.
That talking to people who don’t do what you do gives your brain a shake.
That howies know how to do things properly. And all their people are howies through and through. Plus they serve their t-shirts warm.
That it’s good to turn up in a field in Wales knowing absolutely no one and see what happens.
That I should jump in more rivers.
None of it was about writing. And yet lots of it was. It was much more valuable than any normal ‘course’ about tone of voice, branding and words. It was like a double shot of fresh air for my brain.
Thank you.

Molly
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