Last year at Sustainable Brands ‘16 San Diego, my Hemmings House colleague, Jon Robertson, and I hosted a workshop about the power of impact film storytelling, and how we as brands can accelerate positive social/environmental change by sharing stories that matter to our stakeholders. At the end of the session, a member of the audience came over to me and said, “Hey, I dig what you are talking about here … Do you want to come to the middle of the jungle in Panama and join another 60 global changemakers and help solve some important global challenges?”
The man was Yarrow Kraner, the founder of HATCH — a peer-to-peer mentorship mash-up summit where ideas, insights and inspiration are exchanged and activated from diverse disciplines and industries. Programming includes interactive prototype workshops, talks, live music, short film screenings and think tanks, where guests apply their insights to real-world problems and rapid prototype real solutions to ‘hatch’ a better world.
Thus began three days of true transformation that is very hard to describe in a blog. But the most powerful thing that I witnessed at HATCH was the ability to connect with people in such real, deep and meaningful ways right out of the gate. By design, HATCH creates an environment where you can be vulnerable, honest and authentic in a way that opens up everyone’s creative doors as quickly as possible so real work can be accomplished over a period of a few days. This is a tactic that I believe other conferences, such as Sustainable Brands, could use as well to allow for the most meaningful and productive experience for all of its delegates (more on that soon).
What our session is about
Come experience a bit of how the HATCH community builds such meaningful and substantial relationships in a short time, and leverages these connections and collective expertise to solve real-world problems. This session will be a perfect primer for the action to come throughout the week in Detroit. Using testimonial from the HATCH representatives, film, rapid prototyping and short exercises, you will leave inspired and empowered to help your organization and its stakeholders redefine the ‘Good Life.’
Final Thoughts
It was because of Sustainable Brands that I met Yarrow, who invited me to participate in HATCH, which was a life-changing experience. And there are a lot of ‘Because of HATCH’ transformations that have happened as a result of Yarrow’s vision.
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Published Apr 25, 2017 4am EDT / 1am PDT / 9am BST / 10am CEST