Boma Accelerator Day 2

Up early for a walk around Lake Tekapo - beautiful day and nice to go to the Church of the Good Shepherd and the Sheepdog Memorial without anyone else there. The joy of getting up early.
Our first job this morning was to do our timetable for the next 2 days. We started by working out what we wanted completed by the end of the two days, then worked backwards form there to put specific things on the list.

Mine:
Tues am
Update the Canvas and planning docs on our Boma drive
Show Kit what I have so far - test and iterate and test....
Work on my website so I can get a bit more of the MVP done especially the front page
Tuesday lunch
Finish the first website page
Do another test and iterate
Work on my pitch for this afternoon
Tues pm
Practice pitch
Write blog and process talks from today

Wed am
Complete 2 blogs
refine my pitch
Continue with site after more iteration

Wed lunch
Have a pitch done and rehearsed
Have a website 2 pages OK ish - iterate 2 or 3 times
Have 2 blogs up
Show to some of the others here to get feedback

We had to put a smiley face on for any 5 min job - I didn't really have any but others were then instructed to do the 5 min job now.

I got feedback from a range of people today which helped immensely. It was good to keep going back and getting more ideas.
 - need to add a good description, there is an assumption that people already know why they are here
 - add testimonials from people to add weight
 - make it clear, easy and fast to access
Put on someone's hat - Customer personas - 10 step framework - really great way of thinking about what we need to look at when making our products. We were given a couple of options and I am certainly going to use this to check what I am doing. Need to go through each of these to check what I need to think about.

Melissa Clark-Reynolds

@HoneyBeeGeek
We had a Zoom call with Melissa today. She had some amazing insights into the business world and talked us through her time with developing Minimonos which was a virtual reality world for kids.
Virtual worlds were really popular in the 2000s. Other generations had a real world, they could bus places, people knew each other, they had a lot of freedom. The new world is a lot smaller, they are not allowed to do so much. Parents track their children using phones and the world is seen as a dangerous place. They wanted to let kids know they could make a difference and wanted to give them somewhere they could build a habitat.
During the time when Minimonos were very popular they learnt about brand extension. They learnt to release on a Friday, they looked at where to next and there were a few choices - TV, Browser, Publications, Touch (tablet), Ethical merchandise, Toys and collectibles. They did cards on recyclable paper but found it hard to get into the ethical toys. Most kids liked to party - online they could find friends and community. Most wanted that social connection, a lot were really lonely but in the online world they had best friends. There were a wide range of ethnicities so they had 24hr activity. If kids turned up and no one was there they would leave and come back later. They had virtual costumes - dress up without the waste. Halloween is one of the larges causes of waste to landfill.
At Xmas 2012 the toy industry went into decline due to the introduction of iPad mini and kindle. Children stopped watching TV internationally and the TV ads were the best for Minimonos. Flash didn't work on a browser and they were on the tech list not the toy list. in Jan 2013 Nickolodeon was down 30% and they had lost their path to market and to the platform. Moshi Monsters, Club Penguin, Minimonos all were dropped at this time and Minecraft grew so much. They tried to pivot but were not fast enough.
Question is - when to pivot or when to quit?
Angry Birds made 51 losing games before they made Angry Birds, if they hadn't made that they would be over.
Lessons learnt:
Is the business model right? - they were right but not fast enough, the pricing was right but not sustainable. Now many do through sponsorship
Has the market shifted?
Has the tech moved? If it's not fit for a new shift, how do you do it?
Can the product get out?
Is there better use of capital and time?
Have you got the dream team?
Unfair advantage - they didn't have anything special, now they would probably have hired psychologists and use celebrities. Need an advantage
They closed in 2013 - there was a change.org campaign to reopen.

"Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt." Seth Godin 

At least you built something people will give a shit about.
"You can't learn less" If you commit to learning the lessons, that knowledge will never leave you. Need to understand business models from the get go.
Many online game companies closed over 2013-2017 - some were funded through sake of merchandise, but all plastic stuff. Filling the world with plastic is not going to help with anxiety
Club Penguin closed in 2017 - in 2016 they had a penguins of colour matter protest - children could have a voice, even if it was only with each other.
Minecraft - you get to create their own thing. Passiveness doesn't work
Greta Thunberg "Our house is on fire"

"Many of us often wonder what kind of planet we are leaving behind for our children but few asked the opposite: what kind of children are we leaving behind for our planet?"  Simeon Ogonda 

As adults, what are we doing to enable these children to make the difference they want to make?
One question asked - what are the homeless people doing when it snows? Good answer - what would you like to do? Taught that they can do something, not just saying "don't worry about it". Students now are anxious for a reason - pressure to stay safe, their world is very small. Daily bombarded with Covid19, Trump. If they weren't grieving they weren't paying attention. We need to take a step back and if we feel powerless, imagine what it feels like for them. Anxiety is an appropriate response for the world they live in. How can we give them agency?

Why is Minecraft successful? It looks like Lego, they have the power to make the environment what they want. Boys like jeopardy and potential risk - creepers give them that element. They like fear and risk in a controlled environment. Showing off is important, our society rewards extroverts - online introverts can be successful online extroverts by showing their work. Like a bit of moral superiority - their big brother can show them how to do things. Others are able to coach and be experts, they have agency over their own domain, can be experts in it. They love being an expert over their parents.
Different countries have different ideas about play. Some have play for play's sake. This generation is more tested than any other generation, they are always found wanting, even when they get 99%. We need joy and beauty and play. They don't have much free time and there is pressure form school, they are aware of the financial pressure on parents, need to create joy and play for play's sake. This reminded me of the Lifelong Kindergarten book (see my previous blog on this). Singapore only has play type activities if they are enriching - has to teach them something, maths, science etc.
Assumptions, adults designing for kids, we mean well. Gen Z is more community minded and philanthropic. School strikes, climate marches, almost back to the hippie days but without the drugs and free love, more serious but also in more pain. Dystopian fiction is so big. Need "hopeful sci fi". Can we show them solutions to things? Where are the platforms that showcase these solutions? What drives kids - lost community. Nature Deficit Disorder is a real thing - get them outside.

Pitching 101 - We went through a quick pitching session - asking lots of questions:
Who are you?
Why do you care?
Why are you the best person? -  history, knowledge, experience
What problem are you solving?
What is your solution? eg I am designing and app to.....
Prove it - back it up. Use story telling to build rapport and relatability
Know your audience - what do they care about?
What else is out there? Partnerships and or inspiration
What's the ask - do you want a beta tester, likes on a FB page, feedback
Presentation tips - speak slowly, if you use a quote on the screen don't read and speak at same time.

Esther Wosjcicki 

How to raise successful people - book
5 Principles of the at home classroom: TRICK
Trust - between colleagues, admin and students. When you trust them they feel empowered and they trust themselves. Even more important now in the face of the pandemic. Kids rise to expectations. Need self learning and self learners.
Sam Reader - Self learning essential in 21st century
Kids are smarter than you think. 17yr old NASA intern found a new planet, 13yr old developed a tool that could change pancreatic cancer
Respect - feelings, worries, ideas. Successful people have self respect when they feel respected. Care of self first is important.
Independence
Allow them to search online to find the resources to meet the goals of the class. You have to teach them how to search! Allow them to take and explore courses they find interesting. Learn@Home, Youtube (no.1 in the world), Coursera, Teach form Home, Learn at home, Udacity
Collaboration - encourage them to go online with a friend to learn
Kindness - teach by modelling it yourself. It's a high stress moment for the world, we need to be kind to each other. She will never stop a class to tell someone off - talks to them quietly later.
We need people with socio emotional skills - Empathy, Compassions, Respect, Kindness, Creativity. Computers will never have these skills. SE skills are more important than IQ
Her children are successful - she taught them is it OK to take a risk and fail. Try everything, make mistakes and do it again. Provided a safe space to be creative and she used TRICK. Need to find a purpose.
No one can control life, but you can control your reaction to life.
Palo Alto High School
Largest media programme in the USA. They produce 10 publications. The Campanile goes out every 3 weeks. Also have C Magazine, Verde, The Viking. They get taught Journalism, Photoshop. They teach each other and themselves. While under lockdown and they are working from home they have still produced the same amount of work.
Other students say they miss their friends, miss important life events and teachers are doing things that don't work - like teaching for hours.
Standardisation and Obedience no longer works. You need to meet the need for social interaction but give them more control. Provide structure and stop lecturing.
Real estate - location, location, location
Education - relationships, relationships, relationships
Encourage online collaboration.
Do not over assign work. Set goals, get them to design their own path. Encourage students to partner with a friend. Give them some resources but then get them to share more.
Helicopter parenting hurts creativity
Allow them to revise before testing. Use the mastery learning system
Develop creativity and innovation - take a risk without fear of shame. Always being graded means they won't take a risk.

Steve Jobs  'Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.'

Art is a powerful tool for learning - encourage them to draw
Kids don't need to stay on track to succeed.
Successful people believe in themselves and are willing to take a risk. They have a sense of control of their lives.
Teach to think about community not just themselves. No one does it right the first time, if they did, they wouldn't need to be in school.

Bill Gates 'As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.'

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As they learn how to search and get more confident then they can do more themselves. Parents can do lots to help students learn but they need to not do it for them. Many control their children's schedules, control the classes they do, push them to achieve. Parents are not as patient as teachers, if their child doesn't do it right the first time they tend to do it for them or become impatient. Teachers don't have that emotional connection so can be more patient.
It's Ok to do some lecturing - 15-20 mins fine, then do more interaction that you talking.
In Meet they have just changed the setting sos that the teacher can mute all at the same time and students can't talk to each other - teachers asked for that.
Students that don't do well - why do you think they don't? What they were interested in wasn't sanctioned by school or parents and so they were not motivated. The testing runs the education system. If we continue to teach to the test it's hard for kids to be creative as they are doing things they don't care about.
Her students are not losing motivation as they are doing what they want to do. They are doing the work anyway. This reminded me of the Court Theatre show I saw last week "The Quarantine Diaries" - written in isolation and driven by youth and their creativity. It was stunning.
When they go back to classes in the fall (September) the culture will have changed. They need to respect that all have the ability to do online learning. A lot didn't know how to use online tools but now they know they will probably use them more. They will have to have spaces between students and they are not supposed to interact, not a good way to run a school where students are scared of each other. A lot of parents are afraid to send their kids to school, they have to create an atmosphere where they would be comfortable/
When kids work in groups it is effective, they can support each other and it creates an atmosphere that we all care about each other. All very stressed at the moment. Not surprising that kids are suffering. The vaccine will not solve the problem, many anti vacc - people won't do it and in a poll taken recently 30% said they would refuse it even if it was available.
One of our group mentioned skin hunger  - had to look this up!

A short walk before dinner then the evening saw us all pitch our ideas to the group. A great opportunity to get some feedback. It was good to hear all the ideas in one go and then have a bit of down time to just get to know each other and share stories and our pet photos!

The last day we did a quick starter of Toaster/Blender/Palm tree which was fun. I then made a timeline for the next few months,  completed this blog, and then did some more work on my project. A fantastic few days and I have achieved so much. The support from the Boma team is amazing and this experience is certainly something I will never forget. Thanks Boma NZ and Christchurch Airport for making this happen!