Sparking Creativity
reposted from http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/pf/11620-sparking-creativity.html
Written by Neil R. Ramos / Photos by Nonie Reyes
Thursday, 11 June 2009 19:16
Change, it has been said, is an inevitable aspect of life and living. v Though indeed this adage could only be too accurate, some of us go about life seemingly content to just allow for it to happen—regardless of the outcome, whether it be good or bad.
Well, this shouldn’t be—that is, according to a group of individuals that have banded together united in the idea of spurring the nation to take charge and take control.
Their clarion call? “Think New Thoughts. Share Big Dreams. Do Brave Things.”
According to the group founder, educator Mark Ruiz, the idea was hinged on the belief that we can “do more.”
“We shouldn’t just sit down and accept things as they are. We need to ask. We need to know. We need to move,” he said.
And how does he propose to spread his novel message? Through a series of talks he dubbed the Why Not? Forum.
Why not, indeed?
“Our aim is to inspire so the forum will be like a big open source, a well of ideas. Our aim is that through our select group of speakers, we will be able to propel Filipinos to connect, take action, and together weave new bright ideas,” he said during the recent Dialogues at Starbucks event at Starbucks 6750 in Makati.
Ruiz admits his idea is nothing new. He got it after stumbling into TEDTalks (www.ted.com), which gathers some of the best minds to share ideas for 15 minutes each and discuss it with the audience.
“I thought maybe I could do the same in a local context,” he said.
The first Why Not? Forum gathered a group of dreamers—leaders, achievers, doers, from diverse fields. “We had Dondi Gomez, managing director of Unilever Philippines; Gang Badoy, the bold mind behind RockEd Philippines; professor Jay Bernardo of the Asian Institute of Management, notably, the first-ever Filipino to have been named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) by the Junior Chamber International; Greg Tangonan, who like Ruiz teaches Innovation and Technology at the Ateneo de Manila University; Brian Tenorio, of shoe label Tenorio Manila; film maker Quark Henares; and Fr. Ted Gonzales, SJ, of the Center for Family Ministries,” he boasted.
It was, no doubt, a huge success. Still, of course, Ruiz thought he could do well to reach a bigger audience.
“I thought of a kid, somewhere in a province who, obviously, wouldn’t have access to the forum, which we usually do within Manila. I thought maybe I should just document the whole thing and broadcast it via the Net.”
This also serves another aspect of Ruiz’s dream for the forum—of it being a “huge megaphone for the whole world to hear what the Filipino has to offer.”
“We should be known as the country that said, why not?” he said.
Although Ruiz admits he still has a long way to go with achieving his goals, he is proud to have created a spark that is now slowly worming its way into the nation’s consciousness.
“The hits our videos are receiving is rising constantly so I just know that, at the very least, we have established the idea… and that is success in itself,” he said.
Related posts:
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- TEDx is Coming to Manila TED, our inspiration behind putting up the WhyNot?Forum, is coming...
- My TEDx Manila Talk : Change, Inc – How Social Businesses Can Help Build A Better World Sharing my TEDx Manila Talk — a personal passion for...
- JCI Entrep Summit 2009 : Inspiring Tomorrow’s Leaders I’ve been invited to share in this event. See you...
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