Things were starting to slow down a bit by Friday but there were still a good few talks I wanted to get to see. The first of these was around The strange power of confidence. The panel talked a lot around how people aren’t born with confidence and how it grows over time – and how it can be nurtured. There were some good examples of how brands like Suntrust Bank have focused on confidence within their advertising and how Jim Beam completely changed their approach to re-launch as a confident brand to appeal to a younger audience. I’m sure Mila Kunis helped here!
Actor David Oyelowo then talked about preparation being his key to confidence and they closed the session by picking an audience member to recite some Shakespeare live on stage. Firstly without any guidance and then after a few tips. To be fair, she did very well!
I then went to see Sir Martin Sorrell in Conversation with Ken Auletta. Given the recent furore following Sir Martin around I was intrigued to see how much they’d talk about his departure from WPP and the accusations that he faced. It was a slow start but soon got going as they talked about a range of topics, starting with Ken’s new book on the advertising industry - Frenemies. They then jumped about discussing everything from the future of the big media holding companies, regulation for Facebook, Google et al as well as the balance between privacy and targeting.
They then focused a little bit on Sir Martin’s departure from WPP and the 2 main accusations he faced – firstly his aggressive and potentially abusive management approach and then alleged misuse of corporate funds. Whilst he admitted he could be a difficult person to deal with he talked about his drive for high standards and delivery and suggested the aggressive accusations were a step too far.
He went on the flat out deny the second accusation as completely untrue – after a bit of further probing from Ken. It was really interesting to see the discussion!
I then ended the day with the final session of the festival. Parkland Survivors: The Real and Raw Power of Conviction was a story about hope and about the power that people can have to make change in the world. It featured three survivors from the horrific shooting in Parkland, Florida in February 2018. A shooting in which 17 people lost their lives. I’m not going to lie, it was hard to listen to and even harder to imagine what these young people went through that day.
Despite this, it was an incredibly inspiring and powerful way to end the week. These amazing youngsters have responded to the tragedy in a truly fantastic way – all setting up social enterprises and platforms to help drive real change to tackle the gun problems in America. They’ve already had laws changed and are continuing to fight the battle to make America [and the world] a safer place.
Take a look at Branches of Bravery, Societal Reform Corporation and Change the Ref to see what these guys are doing.
People can make change.
I’ll follow up with a blog to reflect on the week and the key themes that I’ve taken away with me as well as sharing a few more pictures from the week.
Enough with the #thoughtsandprayers, we need to make changes, we need to vote in those who will make #changes. This cannot be laid at the feet of those in the #mentalhealth community. For those who think #therapy is easily obtained, think again, change is needed there too. -Team SG
