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Why Optimism?
We are at an especially important moment. The cost of innovation has never been lower. The gap between idea and execution keeps shrinking. And, over the next few years months, lots of unusually powerful technology is going to be built.
But, somewhat paradoxically, new ideas and groundbreaking discoveries are on the wane, the frequency of new patents on the decline (unless you’re in China) and the dominant narrative seems to be one of cultural pessimism.
If, as we do, you believe humans are capable of much more, we’d love for you to join us at the inaugural This is Optimism. It’s a one-day gathering for those who recognise that better futures are undoubtedly possible and are ready to commit to making them a reality.
Our speakers
We’ve brought together a very special collection of inspiring thinkers and speakers who share our belief (and Kevin Kelly’s) that ‘over the long term, the future is changed by optimists.’
Together, we’ll explore how to harness the power of optimism to imagine, invent, and build entirely new ideas, products and businesses. We’ll also set out to prove that, despite what your 1980s-influenced cross-processed photo filters might promise you, the future has so much more to offer than the past.
Rachel Coldicutt
Strategist and Founder of Careful Industries
Carlie Goldsmith
Senior Policy Advisor at Impetus and Co-founder of Class Divide
Curtis James
Writer and Ethnographer at We are Fieldwork and Co-founder of Class Divide
Anjali Ramachandran
Director at Storythings & Co-founder of Ada’s List
Emily Macaulay
Designer and Founder of Stanley James Press
Anil Seth
Author and Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex
Mark Stevenson
Co-founder and Chief Impact Officer, CUR8, Ambassador Client Earth, Impact Board Chair, Climate.vc, Author
James Box
Co-founder of Berst and Curator of This is Optimism
About the day
Hosted at the beautiful Artelium Vineyard in the Sussex Countryside, alongside our talks we’ll be enjoying some excellent locally-sourced food from award winning chef Hannah Thomas, exceptional coffee and breakfast from Brighton’s finest Coffee@33 and vineyard tours and tasting from Artelium’s founders.
I have questions
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Who is this for, really?
So far we have a heady selection of founders, entrepreneurs, investors, designers, researchers, writers, policy people, engineers and product people. And a comedian. Amongst them are freelancers, agency folks, consultants (gasp) and a company-of-one. Quite the mix.
Most importantly, all our welcome
Well, we say all. Unfortunately, due to past misdemeanours, several people have been excluded from this year’s event: Cynical Sid, Elitist Edwina, Pedantic Priya and Nihilistic Nigel. We wish them all the best with their futures.
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What will I learn?
We’ll be honest. If you’re after a typical conference – one full of PowerPoints with 10 takeaways – this isn’t the event for you. But if any of the following sound good, this is going to be cream cheese.
- The value of applying an optimistic lens to your daily outlook and your work
- How to apply optimism to reveal new opportunities for you and your business
- The benefits of micro-dosing optimism into your everyday habits and behaviours
- How to infect others with optimism and create compound benefits for you and your teams
- The 10 secret ChatGPT prompts that that will instantly increase your startup’s valuation, engagement metrics and profitability without you doing any work at all *
*A lie.
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Who is organising this?
This is Optimism has been organised by James, James, and Katie from Berst. We’re part of a small strategic design studio based in Brighton who specialise in helping scale-ups get back to innovating and break through to new stages of growth.
As designers and entrepreneurs, we know that optimism is somewhat of a prerequisite for our work. However, through our experience with clients, we’ve seen the value it brings to all areas of a business and to society as a whole. For years, we’ve hoped to attend a conference that explores optimism in all its shapes and forms. So, when we couldn’t find one, we decided to create it ourselves.
This is our first event at Berst, but we’ve had plenty of experience curating and running design conferences in the past, as well as speaking at and attending many others. We’ve taken the lessons learned from all of those and applied them to This is Optimism. Our goal is to spark a groundswell of optimism — one that gives others permission to think more creatively about the futures we can and should build. And have fun doing it.
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How do I persuade my boss to pay for me?
We’re biased but also confident that attending This is Optimism will directly benefit both your professional growth and your organisation’s success. You’ll walk away with fresh perspectives and make connections with inspiring thinkers, both of which can encourage new creative thinking in your workplace.
In a true act of optimism, after the event we recommend you offer to share what you learn with your colleagues and see if you can infect others with your new ideas.
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What if I want to come but can’t afford it?
While we need to cover costs to deliver the event, we don’t want money to be the reason someone misses out on This is Optimism. If you truly can’t afford the ticket price, email us at hello@ber.st and we will consider a discounted or even free ticket.
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Do you do group discounts?
Yes, we do. In fact, we love the idea of teams attending the event and getting to experience the benefits of collective optimism. Email us at hello@ber.st for more details.
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Can I get a refund?
If you change your mind, you can receive a full refund on your ticket up to one month before the event date. After that, refunds won’t be available, but you’ll still have the option to transfer your ticket to a friend.
