Starting in little over a week I have the opportunity to attend two of the most respected and dynamic gatherings of individuals and organisations working for change in the world and would like to take you along with me.

At SOCAP12 I will join the world’s pioneering impact investors, social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, civic leaders, and innovators as they create the intersections where we will form partnerships and mobilize resources and capital for good.

At PopTech I will participate in intimate, peer-level gatherings where we can share our most provocative questions and our most promising new ideas, and begin to work together on new approaches to some of the world’s toughest challenges.

Many of my clients, colleagues and friends would love to attend these conferences, yet find themselves without the money or the time to commit to it whole-heartedly; many of your colleagues and friends perhaps find themselves in a similar situation.

Crowdfunding for this sort of exercise may seem unusual, especially since I'm not offering to directly impact a social or environmental condition. For almost twenty years, however, I've been acting as an amplifier, seeking out and working on projects that have the chance to affect thousands if not millions of lives at a time. The work that I do is about optimising and accelerating the work of others, and I've done a significant amount of this work pro bono.

Gaining access to capital - whether it's human, social, intellectual or financial, is the never-ending struggle for many change makers, and as a consequence of my extensive network I give freely of my connections - facilitating mutual introductions and closing the gap so that we can all get more done faster.

This is the reason why Greg Berry conceptualised w1sd0m, and why I came on board as a co-founder. Consulting doesn't scale. Individual connections don't scale. If we had time to be high touch it might lead to more intimate professional relationships, but in the face of the sweeping challenges we're facing it just doesn't seem as if we have the time.

Sending me to SOCAP and PopTech will contribute to the harmonisation of a number of projects into a more robust and effective ecosystem designed to serve the millions of organisations and tens of millions of people who are doing everything in their power to make the world better. It will also provide a unique opportunity for me to act on behalf of my clients, colleagues and friends by connecting them more directly into this global network.

This journey will take place over a two month period and through the provision of my own additional funds will take me to LA, San Francisco, Portland, Camden, Seattle, Boulder and New York before returning home via Melbourne. 

return flights Brisbane to San Francisco - $2500

return flight to Portland, Maine - $300

ticket to PopTech - $2500