The Oxford blog – shenanigans from Skoll and Oxford Jam

Friday 16 April

1am

It's early morning, but I've left the OxfordJam shindig early. I'm sure the post-entertainment newtorking will be going on for another hour or two yet. It's this entertainment I wanted to update you about. Social enterprise aside, who ever knew that Nick Temple could sing and WRITE slushy love songs. He definitely did us proud up there, proving social entrepreneurs just go out and do things without thinking of the consequences (sorry Nick!). So, there was some self-penned, Elton John cheese and Coldplay from him, a great bit, if not slightly fumbled Rachmaninov from a 25-year-old astro physicist (we'll let you off the wrong note, it was Rachmaninov after all - my request via Liam) and some wonderful poetry, especially the second of the two poets who, I apologise, I didn't get the name of.

I also must mention Dave Daws, who everyone at Oxford Jam knew from his role with Entreprenurses, helping nurses set up their own social enterprise. Dave, a nurse himself, has the perfect humour for the job. Who else would stand in front of an audience and say 'Nursing is the only job where you can meet someone and have your finger up their bum 30 seconds later'. A lovely image I'm sure you'll agree.

The strangest moment of the night, and possibly of any Skoll night, was the finale - Skoll awardee Jim Fruchterman of Benetech, an organisation using technology for social purpose and adapting technology for people with disabilities, including reading machines, singing Gilbert and Sullivan's Rock The Boat at the top of his voice. Random, yet priceless!

Gemma

Thursday 15 April

7pm

Taking a few minutes out to reflect on the day. This morning at Skoll I was lucky enough to sit in two powerful sessions back to back first on corporates going beyond single bottom line with Marks and Sparks as one of the examples and the second on whether market returns are possible in social investments. I can’t wait to write up the stories tomorrow morning.

One conversation I absolutely have to relate: My neighbour at the session on corporates was Suee Chieh of Singapore’s largest social enterprise, an insurance co-operative set up 40 years ago. He offered some food for thought in the form of a religious analogy. He said: ‘Christians sometimes do not behave in a Christian manner and sometimes heathens are very kind – but only Christians go to heaven.

‘How does this relate to social entreprprise?’ said Chieh. ‘Social enterprises are the Christians. It’s all about motivation and purpose – but this is not a excuse to behave badly.’

Chrisanthi

5.30pm

At Oxford Jam again. Really interesting session on climate change scepticism. Nathan Flowers from the Social Media Lab talking about the fact that climate change supporters are in huge numbers but they don’t work together whereas the sceptics are very small, very well networked and operate like an organisation which is faster moving than an ordinary organisation because it’s a network.

Chrisanthi

1.30pm

I've just arived in Oxford for the Skoll World Forum. While discussing the upcoming sessions on aid agencies and oceans in peril, I bump into Liam Black, Mr Oxford Jam, who tells me I can look forward to Nick Temple of the School for Social Entrepreneurs playing the piano at tonight's 'caberet'!

It will come after what I'm sure will be an inspiring evening listening to the Skoll award winners and their world-changing work. I'm ready to have my mind blown by their stories..and then my ear drums by whatever 'entertainment' Liam has store.

Gemma

Wednesday 14 April

11.30pm

As I write this I’m at Oxford Jam at Late Night With Liam. Seems the perfect place to start the social enterprise in Oxford blog.

Paul Farmer is singing in a very good voice about his work ‘Could be organic coffee or fair trade tea a farmer’s claim to sustain-abil- (pause) –ity’. (p.s he says a song about your work is a good way to distract your board when you fail to meet targets).

He’s also making important points, not least that the Dominican Republic is in a better place than Haiti because of the fact that it has more farmer co-operatives and thus better protection of forests.

Mark Campanale has been put on the spot and look like his slightly speaking against his will – his business card was drawn from Liam Black’s hat.

But he’s made a good point about being able to disagree with friends ‘and the ability to remember to be angry with the things that we disagree with.

He adds: ‘The next few days I’m looking forward to talking to people will take apart everything I believe to be true’.

Chrisanthi

8pm

From the Sheldonian Theatre - I feel very grateful to have seen Lakhdar Brahimi, a veteran United Nations envoy and advisor, former foreign minister to Algeria, speak. He gave the most amazing story about mediating the 1998 dispute between the Taliban and Iran, The Taliban had killed nine Iranians in Afghanistan and locked up all others they could find. Iran was mobilised on the border. The dispute was mediated successfully.

‘I was very proud, I had avoided war with Iran,’ said Brahimi.

‘Years later I found out it wasn’t me at all – it was the young Iranian interpreter. I got a letter saying “I would like to apologise I didn’t translate accurately everything you said because I thought it would anger and I didn’t translate everything he told you either”. Here was a man, less than half my age that had never been out of Afghanistan who had done this.’

Brahimi told the story to remind the audience to be humble. He said social entrepreneurs should ‘never lecture and always listen’.

Chrisanthi