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The Giving Chair 2013

Last year we came up with the idea of a ‘Giving Chair’ for students.

10 ‘Giving’ companies paid for tickets and we then ‘Gave’ them to students so they could attend for Free.

It was a big success.

It helped The Do Lectures keep its diversity and, just as importantly, its energy.

This year our event is all about ‘Start-Up’. We will be giving the attendees all the tools they need to start a business. There will be 20 lectures, 20 workshops and 40 face time mentors. And the attendees will start a business whilst they are there.

And again this year, 10 Companies have made it possible for us to invite10 students to attend ‘Start-Up’ for free.

Continue reading →

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Thursday, 21st February, 2013

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7 Reasons

Why you should book a place on ‘How to develop a world beating strategy from you bedroom’

You’ll learn that you can’t change the world from your bedroom.

You’ll learn that everyone has ideas, but not everyone can deliver them.

You’ll learn where to spot insights and how to ignore some of them.

You’ll learn that sticking to your purpose will stop you wandering.

You’ll learn to love your competitors.

You’ll learn that your customer isn’t just you.

You’ll learn that viagra pills being happy is as important as being successful but that the latter follows the former.

Click here for more information and booking details.

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Thursday, 14th February, 2013

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We’re starting a book company.

It began when we realised that the people who have spoken at the Do Lectures are the kind of people who should be writing books. So we can read them.

They are the game changers. The people whose ideas, passion, creativity and drive are already changing the world. For the better.

We thought about whether we could recreate that same positive change in book form: a simple mindshift, a new perspective, the mastery of a new skill or craft, a shot of inspiration.

So we set out to build a book company.

On 2 May 2013, we’ll launch with the first five books. They will be

pocket guides. Each book will be pretty short — around 20,000 words (that’s about 100 pages) — because they will focus on the doing. Not the theory behind it. Concise practical guides about how to Do stuff. Super useful.

We will publish books in print and digital formats. We still love physical books and are investing time to make sure they are beautifully designed and produced. We also know that downloading a book onto your iPhone, iPad or other device then reading on the move is sometimes a more practical option.

At the moment we’re trying to work out if you can pay once for the book and get it in both formats — and maybe the digital version can appear across all your devices, not just one. As far as we know it hasn’t been done yet.

Like our authors, we want to be innovative and to disrupt. That’s why we asked James Victore to design our covers. He’s been disrupting the art world for years.

And this industry is ready for a bit of disruption. It’s going through a revolution. Print is becoming digital — the book is coming alive. Our reading experience is changing. But the thing we won’t lose sight of is the content. It’s what we’re reading that’s important. Not how we’re reading it. And luckily, content is our thing.

These are exciting times. We hope you like what we produce.

Written by: Miranda West

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Wednesday, 6th February, 2013

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Finding your Horse.

Some books are more important than others.

That’s because they contain an irrefutable truth. And once you

know that truth and what it means to you, and how you need to use it in order to change things, then it is indeed life changing.

Many, many books claim that. But few really are.

‘The 80/20 Principle’ by Richard Koch is one of those rare books that you can indeed call life-changing. And business-changing too.

It has a simple premise: 80% of the results come from 20% of the causes. This thinking originally came from an Italian economist called Vilfredo Pareto.

In 1906, he created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth.

It became known as Pareto’s law. But it was actually an American Dr. Juran’s observation of the “vital few and trivial many” that gave the principle a broader spectrum. And so the principle that 20 percent of something always are responsible for 80 percent of the results came to be.

If you think about your business, and apply the 80/20 principle, you will see that how uncannily accurate it is. 80% of your businesses revenue comes from just 20% of your customers. 80% of your businesses biggest successes come from just 20% of your people.

Once you are aware of this truth, you can start to focus and spend more time on what matters: The 20% of the vital few.

Just imagine if you spent more time on the things that made the biggest difference and not on the other stuff that really doesn’t matter as much to your business.

So anyway, go buy the book. It’s great.

But the reason to write this today is he has a new book out called the 80/20 manager. So watch out for that.

Here is Richard’s blog: Find your horse, which is a great read. And gives you an idea how good the book is going to be.

Written by David, posted by:

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Wednesday, 30th January, 2013

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The language of the web

Never has the ability to understand the language of the web been more important than it is right now. It is impossible to separate our future from technology. The collection and analysis of data, the provision of services, the distribution of news, the way we transact and consume, and the way we connect as a society is, and will continue to be, governed by these advanced technology systems.

I’ve been around computing science and technology as a consumer and creator for the best part of 30 years. I remember the launch of the IBM PC and using DOS 1.0. I remember when e-mail was t-mail and I remember a world without the internet.

During this time I’ve watched the industry morph, scale and re-imagine itself many times over. The IBM PC, World Wide Web, mobility, social networking and cloud computing are all key technology milestones that have irreversibly shaped the world as we know it today. Collectively their impact has been to change everything. Cultures, science, education, commerce, politics, media, economics, religion, war et al. So what can we expect next?

In 2013 we will start to see a real meshing of the physical and virtual worlds. Everything from light switches to milk cartons will begin to be integrated with uniquely addressable sensors connected to vast sensor grids, made accessible via the web and controlled by software. Some refer to this as the age of “the internet of things”. A virtual next step in the evolution of automation.

Lets park the similarities to certain science fiction films for a moment and remember that automation is long and evolving reality. In 3500 BC the Mesopotamians placed rollers under heavy loads to make moving these objects easier. Six iterations later came the Wheel.

The thing for me that differentiates this next stage in the evolution of automation most is that computers connected to a vast semantic knowledge graph will start to make decisions and drive outputs because they understand the world the way humans do. http://www.google.com/insidesearch/features/search/knowledge.html

So with all this automation what will the humans do?

Well its much less of a threat than you think so long as you are prepared to face your future head on and start thinking strategically about your career. Understand that the speed and nature of these changes drive the need for much greater awareness from you. Look at the bigger picture: what’s happening in your sector; what are the emerging trends; where is the growth; which jobs are vulnerable; how do you measure up?

As the evolution of automation speeds our world up even more, the skills that make you relevant and useful today will have an ever-shorter lifespan. You need to be strategically sensitive, agile and adapting constantly in order to transform yourself, your career and your business without losing momentum. Perceive early, decide quickly, act with strength and speed.

Getting in step with the technology curve and developing your digital mindset is absolutely essential to ensure you’re career is future proofed and protected in both the long and short term. I think everyone has a responsibility to “bootstrap” themselves. Start learning the basics of code and the cloud. I’m not suggesting that you need a computer science degree or that your future lies in hardcore programming but your ability to converse and interact using the language of the

Web cannot be overstated.

So where do you start? Well thankfully the web has a culture of open and spontaneous generosity. A quick search on Google will throw up a solid range of online offerings like Treehouse and Codecademy or you could choose to attend face to face training.

The short answer is that it’s now easier than ever to learn the language of the programmable web. My advice for the would be coders is to attend an entry level course like the one now being offered by The DoLectures. http://dolectures.com/workshops/

The value of attending a workshop like this is that in addition to learning the language of the web you’ll also learn an invaluable lesson about how to structure your ongoing learning.

Whichever path you decide upon should however include the basics of <HTML> & <CSS> and a programming language such as <JavaScript> or my favorite <Ruby On Rails>. I would also add basic <Jquery> to the list.

To get you started on the journey I’d advise joining a community like http://stackoverflow.com/ with members who can help support your Q&A. Register with http://www.codecademy.com and take some of their free online classes. Lastly you can make things much easier for yourself by using an existing web development framework. My favorite is the twitter bootstrap. http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/

 

I wish you luck on your journey from technology consumer to technology creator.

Blog by Jonny Lennon, Posted by:

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Posted in Technology by

Saturday, 29th December, 2012

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The Big Question

So, here’s the question, we need you to tell us

the answer:

You are buying new computers for your company (laptops, desktops, workstations, servers etc.).  Assuming price, key components, specifications, support and performance were all more or less equal, what would it take to convince you to buy from a British manufacturer you’ve never heard of?

What would give you the confidence to actually buy technology

assembled and supported in the UK and to ditch the Mac or your Dell?  How do we make our brand a viable choice to UK businesses?

Email answers: info@thedolectures.co.uk

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Tuesday, 24th July, 2012

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Here's the question. Now what's the answer.

We have a community of 4,500 incredible minds.

The thinkers, the mavericks, the doers of this world.

We will put your question to them.

The chances are they will come up with something that could really help your business.

But if they come up with nothing, you will pay nothing.

Here’s our price list below.

Again, remember you will decide how much or how little you pay.

So you have nothing to lose, but potentially a lot to gain.

Let the

experiment begin.

(The reason we are doing this is to help pay for The Free Kindling. We thought this may be more interesting way of doing it than just getting a sponsor.)

 

1. About as useful as a square wheel – £0

2. Of some use – £75.00

3. Made me think in a new way – £150.00

4. Ok, that is a real insight – £250.00

5. Great idea that will make a real difference – £1000.00

6. Industry changing idea – £1, 000, 000

 

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Tuesday, 17th July, 2012

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