IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2017 - 17

OPINION

Anni RowlandCampbell

Were We "Brave"
@Braveconvos
#Braveconversations?

hey say it also favors
the brave.
I have never been
what I consider to be
a risk-taker, nor considered myself particularly brave.
But I do know that when my spi der- sense tells me something I
should listen.
This is what has guided me in
all that I do, and was no less present in the early conversations that
I had when we were pla nning
Brave Conversations.
What is it to be brave? I think it is
different for each and every one of
us, and from the outset when Simon
Longstaff and I discussed doing
this event together, our objective
was: to take some risks, to set few
boundaries (other than those which
engender trust and respect), and
to encourage as much debate and
discussion as we could. There were
many prepared minds in the room
before we even began, but there
were equally a good number who
were eager to learn, who were ready
to listen, and who came away a good
deal more prepared than they were
when they arrived.
Bravery as often defined involves
two key elements - fear and courage. I feel that both were demonstrated and exhibited at Brave
Conversations, in various degrees
and in many guises. Perhaps part
of being brave is to raise your head
from the day to day, and look around
to see what is on the horizon and

"Fortune favors the prepared mind"
(Louis Pasteur)

face what the future is presenting
you - to take the time and have the
courage to face your fears.
It is not just about doing
things more effectively or
efficiently, about being more
productive or profitable, or
doing things better. It is
about consciously deciding
how the technologies we are
inventing and imbibing and
assimilating are impacting
on our day to day lives, and
asking not just the what and
how, but also the why and
the should.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2017.2728728
Date of publication: 7 September 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017

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IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

At Brave Conversations we tried to
do something different, not to have
a conventional conference where
everyone hid behind their professional personae, delivered papers
and were generally spoken at. For
some, who have attended numerous
Hackathons and Unconferences,
what we did may not have been that
unconventional, but for many who
are used to the traditional conference format where people confer
about a particular topic, we did provide some challenges. Our objective
was quite simply to generate one big
conversation, unfettered by convention or agendae, where everyone in
the room was involved in whatever
way they felt comfortable and began
to take off their masks as a diverse
a group of people coming together
just as people. In order to do this we
first had to create a safe space within which individuals could engage in
real human to human conversations,
and ask any question or seek any
clarification, no matter how dumb
or naive that might seem.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2017