To avoid confusion: the header image depicts the famed Houses of Parliament, per se the epitome of London for many, since long before its swingin’ times… next to perhaps Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, The London Eye, The Tower Bridge or the V&A museum. Just to name a few. And then there is Westminster Abbey, exclusive site of coronations since 1066, Lady Diana’s emotional funeral ceremony or glamorous royal weddings (like Queen Elizabeth’s with Prince Philip or William’s with Kate), all broadcast world-wide to a community held in the lasting grip of a magic royal spell. So, the premises ought to be familiar.
Right next door, the Church House Conference Centre may have witnessed events different from those mentioned before – but its own history lacks nothing in drama.
Posts by Christina Feyerke
TED Talk. Elizabeth Gilbert: Success, failure and the drive to keep creating
Shaking off old burdens
Breaking free from the stereotypes reigning a life in a stalemate requires a vast amount of courage. Whatever is out of balance, is often easier endured in a state of paralysis. Elizabeth Gilbert – the writer – went for the first option and travelled the world for an entire year to escape from a life that wasn’t hers any longer. In Italy, she indulged in good food and fully enjoyed „la dolce vita“, found her spirituality in India and a new love in Bali. Her memoir „Eat, Pray, Love“ remained on the NY Times Best Seller list for sensational 187 weeks; Julia Roberts starred in the book’s film version. Elizabeth Gilbert delivers a brilliant talk, eloquently describing how she tackled the effects of failure – and of success! The two are not as easily distinguished „by the hinterland of our psyche“ as one might think, she says. Her urgent message is: never give up on your creativity!
Germania – Lady Guardian over the River Rhine
The Niederwald Monument – another Statue of Liberty
Her body mass index may cause reason for concern: at a height of 12,35 metres and a weight of 32 tonnes, she may well be considered obese. Any serious physician would long have thrown in the towel over a patient so negligently indulgent as to tolerate an unbelievable BMI of 210! In Germania’s case, she’s innocent. She was designed as a symbol of prowess and was thus cast in virtually indestructible iron bronze – to make her last forever. Planning and building phases together took twelve years.
Ken Segall: Insanely Simple
What I Learned About Great Meetings from Steve Jobs
A guest post by Ken Segall
The principle of keeping meetings small and made up of smart people is deeply woven into the religion of electronics behemoth Apple and is key to any organization that wants to nurture quality thinking. The idea is pretty basic: Everyone in the room should be there for a reason. There’s no such thing as a mercy invitation. Either you’re critical to the meeting or you’re not. It’s nothing personal, just business. Apple co-founder, the late Steve Jobs, actively resisted any behavior he believed representative of the way big companies think – even though Apple had been a big company for many years. When he called a meeting or reported to a meeting, his expectation was that everyone in the room would be an essential participant. Spectators were not welcome.
Iceland: An adventurous Sheep Gathering Experience
Iceland horses are cute to look at and known as most pacific creatures. They also feature a kinetic characteristic unique to them: Their ability to shift into an auxiliary gait called „toelta“ offers a heart-warming sight and ideally transmits a pleasant feeling throughout every rider’s body. Due to Iceland’s isolated location, the genetic foundations of these pretty horses have not been shaken; their sturdy physique and adorable mentality remained unaltered ever since slender viking ships brought them ashore more than eleven hundred years ago. Why not exchange four wheels spun by noisy mechanical horse powers against four legs and a few happy neighs at the speed of one single leisurely HP lollop style? To explore the country by pollution-free means and to watch the fluffy blond manes flying from a horseback perspective, is a challenge rewarding like no other.