Remix Summit Conference

Misty Swan

Remix Summit Conference 2018

Selfie

REMIX Summit brought together professionals from different industries to engage in conversation about the future of culture and community  and creative ways to lead within. In the forum each creative leader from different industries exchanged insights and ideas from their field of expertise.

The conference took place over two days, where the first day of the event was held in A/D/O and the second day took place on the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum Complex. A/D/O, located in Greenpoint Brooklyn, which I had never been to or even heard of, is a design space which was founded with the purpose of serving the creative community, locally and globally. A/D/O sparks new creative work and builds a meeting place for pioneers from diverse backgrounds. The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum Complex is an educational and cultural non-profit institution centered on the aircraft carrier Intrepid. The mission of the Museum is to promote the awareness and understanding of history, science and service through its collections, exhibitions and programing with goals of honoring heroes, educating the public and inspiring youth.

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”

Growing up in New York City Public Housing all my life up until the age of 26 I had no idea about this next organization and really wish I did years ago. In a section of the conference entitled “Resilient City: Making Ideas Happen”, Lisbeth Shepherd (founder) and Andrew Lewis (team leader) spoke about Farms at NYCHA (pic), an initiative run by Green City Force. Green City Force is an AmeriCorps program that engages young adults from low income communities in national service related to the environment. Farms at NYCHA, is part of Building Healthy Communities (BHC), a city-wide partnership designed to improve health outcomes in 12 neighborhoods in New York City. Through the initiative, young public housing residents are building and maintaining farms on public housing properties across the city to serve fellow residents, with local partners. The Farms expand healthy food access, provide youth workforce and leadership development, and promote sustainable and connected public housing communities.There are currently four farms which are constructed and operated by 18 to 24 year-old NYCHA residents who are Green City Force (GCF) AmeriCorps Members. What was so great about the program was the fact that NYCHA residents receive free produce in exchange for volunteering on the farm or bringing household food scraps to the farm stand each week. GCF created a way for people to essentially provide for themselves by not only being a supplier of what is needed but equipping the community skills that they could keep with them forever. One key takeaway was the since in the rise of the Creative Cultural Entrepreneurship: looking to make a more greener city.

Here are a few stats from 2017 Farms at NYCHA

“We are on a journey to transform how we live, work and move in urban environments.”

One speaker that I was particularly drawn to was Eric Nuzum,  SVP of Original Content Development at Audible. He is currently building the next generation of premium spoken word listening. Nuzum spoke about the impact of Podcasting and gave some interesting stats on the current state of affairs (a), pointing out while there are over 450k podcast only about 1% are considered economically viable. Next he described the 3 key attributes for a successful Podcast. One must have 1. A compelling story or idea, 2. An engaging character or host and 3. A unique voice or stance (b). Lastly he explained what he created to be known as an “Onliness Statement”. This statement uniquely positions the brand amongst others, and he challenges brand to do so without using a list of filler words (c). Rather than use these word, we ask ourselves why: why are we stunning, why are we fantastic, and let those answer be builds the realness and authenticity. I am using these 3 points as my key takeaways. Yes, these points were made for the world of podcasting, but they can apply in many aspects. Understanding the field you are in, the ability to position yourself within the field and ultimately stand out amongst the bunch.

           A                                                             B                                                    C

A- current stats on podcast

B- every great podcast has these three features.

C-Eric challenges every podcaster to complete this statement without the use fluffed filler words like Unique, Diverse, Classic, Incredible, World Class.

Overall it was a good learning experience volunteering for Remix. Majority or my task consisted of checking people in, maning the time clock and video camera. I met a lot of the speakers for the event and I even had a chance to speak with Peter Tullin, the co- founder of Remix Summits. It was a great opportunity to network as well as learn.