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Hack 24 – 2017
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to go to Hack 24 – it’s a 24 hour Hackathon held in Nottingham.
It was my first time in attendance. The event itself has being going on for 3 years, and talking to some of the folk in the room, it’s been going from strength to strength.
So what is Hack 24?
Well… it’s organized by the great folk at Tech Nottingham (supported by a number of other local communities). A number of companies and organizations, sponsor the event, provide challenges, etc… then some of the greatest minds around the city apply for tickets (limited spaces!), and arrive at the Grade II listed building in the centre of Nottingham.
They are presented with the challenges and then form teams to work on the challenges. They have 24 hours to work on them!
There’s various prizes to be won… from £2,000 in cash, to another prize where each member of the team walks away with an Amazon Echo.
I personally think this is a great way to have the local tech community become more engaged in real-life challenges that companies and organizations face. Not to give too much away, one of the challenges was around Fake News….
I’m sure more will be published by Hack24 guys on social media and their website, which i’d encourage you to go and visit/see. Also, might be an opportunity for you to get involved in next years Hack 24.
And Hackathons are a great ROI (Return On Investment) – either if you are a coder/developer/attendee, there’s not only the prizes I mentioned, but the opportunity to learn. You’re in teams, and it’s okay if you don’t know anyone, there’s folk there to help you either find or form a team. Best way to learn from others and increase your knowledge.
Then, if you are a company/organization – think of the great minds in and around the city who are wanting to work on your issue/challenge and provide you with some great insights and develop something amazing for you. All in 24 hours!!!
In this day and age, first to market, speed of development and quality of product are key to success… and these types of events sure do help.
So what were the results? – well, it was all very impressive!
My favourtie was this…
That’s right. Some really clever folk managed to do some coding, to detect fake news… create a ‘Donald Trump’ that then reacts and acknowledges it’s fake news.
Coding and Creativity. All in 24 hours.
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
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When do you start?
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CEO + Ideas = Success
Over the years, I’ve placed a heavy emphasis on how important it is to have good leadership that can drive you and the organisation forward.
It’s critical that they not only show you the vision, but assist you along the path.
You could say, I was lucky in that aspect. Not only my immediate manager, who was Vice President of IT Leadership, but my CIO and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) were all in support of the Innovation work that was happening.
My CIO (Chief Information Officer) would often share his vision, what he would like to see happening and this was all from feedback which he’d receive from Leaders within the business and also, what the other CIO’s of major organisations were looking into.
With that leadership, we were able to develop ideas. Ideas which then went onto a pilot or proof of concept phase – using the Lean Startup methodology, we’d really work on them in a fast manner – Learn Fast, Fail Fast.
If it wasn’t going to work – that’s fine.
Let’s learn from it.
Learn and move on. Learn, why didn’t it work – and if changes were needed, make them then move onto a new test, new pilot or something new. We didn’t keep pushing the same thing until it worked. We made sure we had something that worked, that we could let the customers pull from us.
When I support and talk to other organisations, one thing is key… Leadership. They need to support. They need to be behind any new innovative ideas, technologies or thought processes.
You can look at some of the top companies in the world, and how their leaders and CEO’s talk about ideas. How they talk about innovation and either new technology or something new, that will drive the business forward and achieve success.
Shadow of the Leader
This is something I picked up from GlaxoSmithKline.
It’s very much what it is. Whatever the leader is like, the rest of the organisation will be like that. Because that is the shadow he casts onto them.
If the CEO/Leader is innovative, driving change and wants the company to be a success… that shadow will be on everyone below him, and then they’ll cast it below them. The organisation then will be successful.
What kind of shadow do you have?
What kind of shadow do the leaders in your organisation have?
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Is Innovation a ‘Buzzword’?
Recently, i’ve been seeing the word ‘Innovation’ randomly appear in people’s job title.
At first I thought, that’s great – they’re innovating. When asking them for details, it’s more about they are looking at some new ‘things’.
Asking them what process they are using, and they’re not sure.
This then made me think, is the word ‘innovation’ a buzzword, that’s appearing everywhere – and attracts interest from a wide audience. It must be right? The more the word is used, along with other key words, will definitely attract interest.
Aren’t we all looking for innovators?
Aren’t we all looking for the next Steve Jobs?
Aren’t we all looking for the next Facebook?
So the word, Innovative/Innovation/Innovator etc… are being used more and more. Rightly or wrongly, they’ll definitely get the attention of people.
Moving on from people using it, I recently saw it being used for a renowned Indian singer artist’s tour name. Why it’s innovative, i’d love to know.
I can understand shows like the below being called it..
By the way, i’m not promoting the above… it’s just an example, which i understand.
Then there’s companies who are innovative… who have proven to be innovative, and have the right to use the word…
Well… i’m sure we’ll be seeing more of the word in examples where we may have thought it couldn’t be used.
Maybe, that’s innovation in itself.
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Samosa Social Media
Do you sometimes feel, there’s quite a few social media platforms out there and more and more are popping up all the time?
The other day, I was trying to explain to a local business owner why they should be all over social media.
They’ve got the usual Facebook page, which they update, as and when they get time.
I suggested, have they looked at taking photo’s and posting them to Instagram?
Also suggested, perhaps making a few short videos, and posting them onto a YouTube channel.
Maybe engage with some younger folk, via Snapchat.
The response – if i’m doing all this, who’s going to do the work?!
Absolutely right! – who is going to do the work.
Well, there’s a few options.
- Understand the Social Media Channels that work for you.
- Not all will be as effective.
- There’ll be some key ones that’ll really work for you
- Some may not be worth exploring
- Those that work – schedule 15-20 mins a day, to share engaging content
- Good Quality Content
- People will only watch, listen or read if it’s engaging.
- Videos and Photo’s always work well.
- Understand what it is you sell (service, products, etc..) and tailor the content accordingly.
Not everyone needs to be on Snapchat. Not everyone needs to be Periscoping.
But there are a few more platforms you should be on, than the usual Facebook page you have.
Not sure how they all work?
Well, I found this great picture describing Social Media with a Samosa! (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a Samosa!) – it’s very much tailored for an individual, but you can learn from it and apply it to a small/medium size business.
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Toothbrush, tell me…
It’s true. In this connected world we live in and as more and more devices are becoming connected (and smart), I’m able to communicate with my toothbrush.
Its true. There’s an app available and you can pull all sorts of data and information.
It’s true. You can understand what’s going on with your brushing of the teeth and most importantly, what you should be doing to get the best results.
Its true. It’s Genius. It’s Genius 9000.
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Stop, Collaborate &….
I’ve shared in many keynote talks I’ve done previously, the importance of ‘Collaborating & listening’.
I also did some filming once, for an internal Innovation-related topic, where I spoke about it again. And the team filming, who are good friends of mine, decided to edit part of it, and send it back to me.
Had it for a while, and thought i’d share it with you all.
Hope you enjoy it 🙂
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Packaging Innovation 2017
This week, I was able to head over to the Packaging Innovation show.
It’s always great to see the latest innovations in the world of packaging and listen to some great people speak on how packaging is going to change.
Some things I noted,
- Packaging sizes are going to get smaller – we kind of know this and have seen it already happening, but it’ll get smaller and more variations will appear.
- Sustainability and Recycling – more and more consumers wish to be aware of a) where the packaging came from and b) how can it be recycled.
- Smart Packaging – packaging that can be tracked, traced and/or understood using data and analytics.
I was able to see some packaging award winners, like this drinks provider in Japan…
Then, there were example of nutrional foods being made available in different pack shapes…
There were a few exhibitors showing their skills with cardboard to make everyday items easier to handle…
As mentioned, great to see Innocent talking about Sustainability
And, one my favourites? Was this…
Cardboard that lets you hold your cold can of beer without your hands freezing, and with further development, areas in the cardboard to store your crisps and nuts.