For our friends who may not yet know, Fernanda and I are investing a lot of time, effort, and love in Centifolia 2011, a congress that will bring together players from the perfumery and cosmetics industries October 19-21 in Grasse, the perfume capital of the world.

Gosh, what could we possibly be doing at such an event?

We are setting up collective intelligence springboards to help the perfume/cosmetics industries change. What’s the objective? The “perfect product.” The methodology? Beauty, Goodness, and Truth. I won’t repeat here everything that is already spelled out on the site. We also created a Facebook group: “From Cosmetics to Cosmethics.”

Centifolia is an event unlike any other of its kind. First, participants will hear high-quality “Ninja Speakers” who will present in accordance with the TED conference rules. This is the “Be Inspired” phase. Then, via World Cafés, we will maximize and expand the collective intelligence present among the event participants. These are the “Imagine” and “Co-create” phases. Lastly, we will invite the collective intelligence present everywhere in the world, meaning the holomidal collective intelligence, and do so using social media. Social media are light years away from the consciousness of most companies, though are already proving critical to the markets of tomorrow.

People are accustomed to colorless conferences, all “business as usual,” keynote speakers with their slides bristling with bullet-points, lunches where we’re confined to sitting with those we already know (and we miss the others), tedious post-lunch presentations that turn into naps in the auditorium in early afternoon…Centifolia 2011 will have none of this, which is a true break, one that will turn us toward radical innovation (as opposed to incremental innovation). Participants are sure to have great fun seeing how enormous the potential of collective intelligence really is for those who are committed to revealing it, unearthing a beautiful treasure of innovation and intellectual capital.

As for us, the CIRI founders, it is a construct, a completely new format we are creating. Of course, there will be mistakes, things to improve, lessons to learn…but beyond the event that is Centifolia, we are moving toward a perfectly replicable format for any other industrial or economic sector. So I hope, with all my heart, that as many people as possible will understand the unique event opportunity that we are giving one another with this creation.

So there is one question that consistently crops up: Centifolia is a unique space for innovation through collective intelligence…How do we promote and talk about this adventure we’re offering?

To say it or write it is not enough to really understand it. How can we help the people we’re inviting understand BEFORE the event what they can only truly grasp DURING the event? It’s not merely that we want to fill the meeting rooms for the sake of filling them; to me, it’s just a matter of getting the right information to the right people.

So all suggestions are welcome.

Meanwhile, for my friends who are reading me here, please spread the word. Word of mouth is what will make the difference.

Below is an email we sent to our networks. You might find it useful should you choose to relay this information to others.
________________________________________
 
Dear Mr. Ms. XXX,

Did you know that any smart phone today can read the barcode of a product and give you an immediate qualitative, environmental, and social rating? You can also see, in real time, what your friends in your social networks have purchased or panned, and provide your own opinion. Today, social media, together with new mobility, can exalt or destroy a product and its brand. Sometimes within a few days. Markets are becoming conscious.

A product carries and conveys a world vision, one that was part of its genesis and manufacture. To buy a product (an ingredient, a service, a finished product) is to subscribe to this vision. To buy is to vote.

That changes everything. “Business as usual” has had its day. This is good news, for the conscious markets that are now emerging bear within them extraordinary opportunities! What if we gathered together to understand these opportunities, to see them, and to seize them?

This is the objective of Centifolia 2011.

As you can clearly see, Centifolia 2011 not just any ordinary congress! Outstanding speakers will share their visions (http://centifolia-grasse.net/eng/the-topics-2). We will use collective intelligence techniques that are entertaining, innovative, enjoyable, and unexpected. We will bring forth the most innovative visions and strategies ever to be. Together, we will create resource equity in opportunities, resources open to all.

Not only you will encounter people, ideas, and plans that you won’t see anywhere else, but you will savor a unique, unforgettable experience. There’s no doubt about it: Centifolia will not be “business as usual”!

And what will make this congress even more exceptional? Your participation. Register now!

We do hope to see you soon!

Catherine Peyreaud
Organizer of Centifolia
 
PS: don’t hesitate to come support us on our Facebook page!

For Centifolia 2011, we are selecting a panel of 10 world-class keynote speakers who will inspire most of the decision makers in the perfume and cosmetics industry. Their talk will be in a TED format: sharp, short, concise, mind blowing, and very very very viral.

Please read all details below, and if you want to be part of the journey, please contact me.

This is going to be fun and challenging!

So, what’s so special about the Centifolia 2011 event?

We want to help decision makers in the perfume/cosmetics industry see that making a “perfect product” is possible.

What is a perfect product? A product that is True, Good and Beautiful.

• It is True, because it does what it says it does
• It is Good, because it serves everyone as well as our planet and the environment
• It is Beautiful, because it invites joy, creativity and happiness

As “I” meets “We” markets become conscious. Centifolia 2011 is an invitation to explore the extraordinary opportunities that arise when truth, goodness and beauty are what makes a product successful. Meeting these opportunities requires new ways to harvest and nurture the immense collective intelligence that will be present in Centifolia for 2 ½ days. New ways to meet in a room, new ways for speakers to share their ideas, new ways to connect to the world, before, during and after the event. These things will make this event fun and challenging!

This is the reason why we want to invite world class keynote speakers who have an inspiring experience to share. We would rather have 3 great unique speakers at their best than 20 boring or mild ones.

Are you one of these Ninja speakers?

Here are the reasons why you may qualify:

• You like to serve, share, inspire because you love what you do and you are good at it
  
• You speak fluent English
• Your passion and expertise can inspire the cosmetics/perfume people to evolve towards more beauty, more goodness, more truth

So your passion may appear in one of more of these 3 fields:

• Beauty: you may have created something so beautiful, so creative, so unique, that it can be very contagious. Or you know specific ways to make people inspired and creative.
• Goodness: what you do is good for you as well as for others and/or for the environment.
• Truth: you have the experience that sharing truth and being radically transparent with your employees, partners and market is the best way to create sustainable business.

You don’t necessarily need to be yourself part of the cosmetics or perfume industry, as long as you can help this sector evolve by seeing new opportunities. We will try to balance 50/50 with professionals in the industry and people coming from other sectors.

Although this is not a TED event, you will speak almost like in TED events

• You have a very short slot of time: 15-18 minutes
• You share your personal story as well as the universal aspects of your discipline
• You share one mind blowing idea that inspires
• You speak from direct experience. No abstract theories or opinions.
• Your emotional intelligence is as important as your rational intelligence
• You come with the energy of service and sharing

Here are the official TED commandments that inspire us (here’s a French Translation as this is tough English):

1. Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick
2. Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before
3. Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion
4. Thou Shalt Tell a Story
5. Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Skae of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy
6. Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego. Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.
7. Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desperate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.
8. Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.
9. Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.
10. Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee

In order to make this event a unique experience, you will be coached by a professional team — Ideas On Stage, they are just great people. They will help you share the best of your best. You take it as a unique opportunity to grow and improve your work, even if you are already a renown experienced keynote Ninja.

So, that’s it! Fun and challenging. If you feel this might be for you, I hope you will give a serious consideration to it!

Speaking at TEDx Paris has been a challenge for me. How is it possible to share the free currencies vision in 12 minutes? TED even asks for much more. It’s not just about concepts and views, we have to allow emotional intelligence, balance the right and left brain, share about the personal journey…  Whatever the outcome would be, this was a wonderful invitation to grow, refine my expression, help me find unknown paths inside myself. An initiatory journey that I took joyfully, surrounded and coached by the wonderful founders of TEDx Paris. Their feedback was always accurate and benevolent.

I had to carefully select what I should say and not say. Each milestone in the discourse had to be timed and carefully weighted, while not being spoken by heart, but from the heart.

It came obvious that:

• I shouldn’t try to explain free currencies, but rather drop small seeds of curiosity. If these seeds are the right ones, then people know that what they hear is important, even if the rational mind doesn’t understand the whole thing. Something more profound, more important, reaches a deeper inner knowing, often unconscious, but universally present in each human being.
• I had to go beyond complementary currencies to reach free currencies, even if 95% of the audience wouldn’t follow me there.

This last point requires an explanation.

People usually understand complementary currencies well enough. There are several reasons to this… First, as the name suggests, complementary currencies “complement” our monetary system, therefore we remain in the same paradigm even though the idea of using other units to account our exchanges is huge quantum and emotional leap for many people. Furthermore, in their paradigm, free currencies remain monolithic –one currency at a time– and tied to the conventional market economy (immediate reciprocity/symmetry: I give you something, you give me currency in return). Given that the market economy is the only thing people know since childhood, this is the only reference point, anything else is abstract.

Free currencies are plural. They work by constellations, they are not only made to exchange things, they are not exclusively tied to market economies, they bind flows of wealth together to build upward spirals. In short, if one hasn’t really played with free currencies, this is as meaningless as the Internet was for the large public back in the early 90′s. In these times, no conference could have helped understand today’s reality. Same thing with free currencies, this is only after trying them out that people realize how obvious and simple it is. So, the paradigm shift is in free currencies, not in complementary currencies, this was the final destination for the TEDx conference. 12 minutes to reach this top was a risky experience. I took the risk to have a good part of the room not following me, to be too abstract, theoretical and incomplete. But I hope this conference would allow some seeds to find fertile soil. I think it did.

So here we are…

Almost 2 weeks later I continue to receive lot’s of feedback. First because TEDx Paris 2011 gave the talkers a high visibility in the media. I receive lot’s of emails from individuals who want to understand better or take action, and from companies that would like to work with me on this project, or from medias for an interview.

Nevertheless I do have mixed feelings in regards to my talk. But here’s the gift: I know how to do better next time.

I am going to work on it these next months.

Thanks again to TEDx organizers, and to all the volunteers who joyfully gave their time and energy.

During my last long trip to the US, many things happened in regards to serving the emergence of free currencies.

During this last Burning Man I made an important decision: I want to carry the torch in the conventional world for free currencies to become a global reality. These past years I took no real lead to get the work done. In the absolute, free currencies will happen mostly by emergence as a natural evolutionary force. But in order to activate things in the conventional world, to set up fertile soil there, I feel that the old energy is required too: talk to investors and philanthropists to raise some money, build a dream team with names, faces and accountability, build exec summaries and business plans, create legal structures, make alliances with other tech players, etc. That’s the leadership I am talking about.

As I was walking in the streets of L.A. with the last $100 in my pocket and the vow of wealth in my heart, my sense of direction is stronger and clearer than ever.

Since the decision to go into action has been made, it seems that the energy I hold is ready to turn into material form flawlessly. I want to share this journey in this post. As there is way too much for me to write in detail, so I should try to make it short bullet points.

CURRENT ACTION PLAN

PHASE 0 (today): build a dream team and the vessel

We want the best geeks ever, the best community facilitators, the best story tellers, the best financial & business plan experts, the best philanthropists and investors, the best P.R. people, the best web and GUI designers, etc. Not only these people have the best expertise in their field, but they hold the highest moral and spiritual values.

As for the vessel of those who will hold the integrity of the project, I want to create a very clear description of what are the lines, levels, genders (inner subjective / outer objective), destinations and agreements.

This phase requires $20-30k to cover travel costs for an intensive period of meetings in different places in the world (mostly in the US). I have been supporting this myself these past months, now external support is needed. And another trip to the US asap.

PHASE 1 (next 12 months): spread the memes

• Write a free currencies manifesto: building on universal right for the people to be in control of the wealing tools (those that help create wealth), then how it breaks down into architecture (open source, then open transport, data, rules, ID, etc), and strategic path that people can envision.
• Write stories: the most profound way to reach people consciousness and understanding.
• Create a viral media: like Story of Stuff, and the Meatrix.

This phase, if well done, should ignite and leverage the whole dynamic without asking for big conventional money for the code to be done.

PHASE 2 (next 24 months): write the code

From MetaCurrency architecture to GUI, it takes us in many different directions.

• I want a usable online platform for free currencies to flow, no matter how temporary and dirty is the code, so that people can start build experience. That’s the role of the flowplace, as imperfect and temporary as it is. People see and play directly. Many have the aha experience. It creates consciousness, it attracts new resources, and hopefully will it allow free currencies to ‘self-ignite’ earlier than later.
• I want a universal protocol for free currencies constellations to be easily designed and to be interoperable. That’s the MetaCurrency project.

From a conventional financial perspective, this requires a few M$ investment for a “startup” to carry the project in the old world, and support an open source community (still living in the old world too). There are different models and legal vessels to explore here. I have no religion, I want to be pragmatic, as long as everything built is destined to the Commons.

It is very likely that phase 1 (flowplace + viral buzz) will leverage phase 2 (code writing + launching), so that phase 2 could happen with much less conventional money to support it.

MEETINGS & EVENTS

Here’s a quick overview of some of last September meetings during my trip in Boulder & California.

• Darrell Laham: Darrell is currently co-creating a social synergy startup company, NextNowTech, with partner Claudia Welss, with whom he also serves on the Board of Directors of The Foundation for Conscious Evolution. Darrell is also working with partner Barbara Marx Hubbard on an evolutionary theatrical project called The Eighth Day of Creation (which I am involved in too). Fernanda and I had a whole day with him. His vision, intelligence and technology on synergy engine could be a key piece in the whole picture.

• RSF (Rudolf Steiner Foundation) – John Bloom: 2 meetings of 3hours1/2 each. John has become a brother and a true supporter of free currencies. I have asked him how we could be supported with $20k asap to finance our trip and continue ignite the dream team process, and $200k philanthropic money to support the whole phase 1. He is currently checking for the $20k, and has good hope that it shouldn’t be too difficult to find. As for the $200k, he saw a clear sky and said it could be very possible. The process shouldn’t take more that 3-4 months. It needs to be allocated to a US non-profit.

• Brad Nye – Founder of Red Lightning and CORE Conference (that was postponed): Brad had been instrumental in opening his huge network for us. I can’t count how many connections led to other connections, and all the ripples that our encountering created. Brad is a social capital angel.

• Charity Focus – Nipun Mehta : I attended a 1 day retreat with Nipun’s Charity Focus partners. It was mind blowing to witness how many projects they are supporting, and to encounter so many beautiful committed souls gathering in one same room. It was so good to reconnect with Nipun and see him in this amazing environment. This is where I met Rahul Brown (see below).

• Louis Fox – co-founder of Free Range Studios: we had 2 meetings in Berkeley. Louis is very excited and is going to work with us! Estimated cost in conventional money $80-100k to get something of the same quality as Story of Stuff. Louis is open to include free currencies in our deal, he just needs to hear more about how we are going to play.

• Rick Lukens: He is a well known figure in the entertainment industry. He organized huge international events and concerts, and he knows most of the showbiz players. Right now he is working on a site with his friend Carlos Santana: Architects of a New Dawn. Rick has invested in a software company that developed a whole new interface between machines and humans. This is mind blowing, it’s disruptive, it’s the next generation. It is likely to become the operating system in the Chinese iPad competitor that is soon to come (a much better product). It might be a shock for America where such innovations has always come from so far. The point is there is a perfect affinity between this technology and free currencies. The last meeting with Rick lead to the conclusion that more time is necessary before synergies can manifest. But it’s cooking.

• Moses Ma – Founder and CEO of NextGen: Moses is a genius visionary, a very bright entrepreneur.  His long Taoist practice turned him into a spiritual warrior watching life with fun. Moses has opened his impressive network to us. He wrote to his friends: “I’d like to introduce you all to Jean-François Noubel, who was co-founder of AOL France and I declare that he is my true brother from another mother! He’s spiritual, he’s brilliant, he’s a meditator, he’s a martial artist, he wants to change the world… his latest ideas on free currencies are amazing, radical, brilliant.” That’s quite an introduction and a mark of trust. Mose can also offer us incredible technical support as well.

• Barbara Marx-Hubbard: too long to explain here, but Barbara is 100% supportive to free currencies and we are synergizing. One of the many paths we share is the piece that she wrote: “The Cosmic Family Reunion”, which leads to mythology, archetypes, our relationship with the cosmos, conscious evolution and the way we want to manifest the next social forms.

• Barnet Bain – Movie maker: Barnet is one of those Hollywood movie makers committed to bring consciousness in movies. We had a wonderful online conversation and are committed to meet next time I come to California (he couldn’t do it this time). He wrote these wonderful words: “I am really looking forward to meeting you in person and spending time building and birthing our friendship. I will probably discover more of myself in you.”

• Paul Taylor, CEO – Craig Hamilton, Founder – Integral Enlightenment: we have lot’s of synergies to explore with them. I wrote to Craig: “Fernanda and I deeply appreciate the work and service you are doing for the world. However, whatever we want to do in raising collective wealth and consciousness is still done with the old, unconscious, scarce, centralized monopolistic money. It has a built in “social contract”, worldview and karma in it. It keeps people stuck in old conventional predatory hunting modes, be it for them to buy evolutionary time for themselves! I don’t think we can expect to cross the next evolutionary Rubicon while still using conventional money. We can get closer to it, sense it, but not cross it. Evolutionary communities can begin to use free currencies. Not 100% in the first place, but progressively. 20%, 50%, and let the rest unfold organically. Currencies are a set of agreements for the social game we want to play together. It brings our social contract to a new level, as currency design is equivalent to social DNA design.“
  Paul and I reconnected after a couple of years being busy on our respective paths. He is a brother and I am sure we are going to explore beautiful generative paths together next time I come to California.

• Mark Chasan – A.W.E.: Mark might become a good partner in writing some business plans about free currencies, seen from the conventional world perspective. He holds a grounded spiritual practice combined with good experience in the corporate world.

• Sandra de Castro-Buffington – director of Hollywood, Health & Society (HH&S): Sandra and I spent a week-end retreating together. She is connected to the best story tellers and script writers in Hollywood. We are going to collaborate. Our intention is to organize a 1 week retreat with 20 of the best story tellers she knows, next June 2011 in France. We expect amazing stories to emerge about consciousness and free currencies.

• Brock Pierce – Co-founder and President of Revenue Apex: we had a 2 hours meeting together. Brock understands 100% free currencies, and that conventional money is not going to compete for very long. Very clever and bright mind. As developing different currencies in the MMOGs world, and being connected to big projects in the banking world, he has access to technical resources as well. Brock could become a partner, although more time and mutual investigation are necessary. Brock would like our next meeting to be with Eric Pulier, one of the world experts on cloud computing. They work together. Eric might provide pieces of technology that can be pieces of MetaCurrency.

• Indian Philanthropists: on Oct. 5, 2010 morning I had a meeting with Indian entrepreneurs who offer some their support to the world via philanthropic actions. This meeting was set by Rahul Brown, whom I met during Nipun Mehta’s retreat. Since this meeting, I have come to discover Rahul as a wonderful committed brother. I feel a deep companionship growing. This meeting was supposed to last 2 hours in the morning, it lasted until mid-afternoon. I was deeply honored to be received by wonderful human beings showing deep listening, respect, appreciation and inquiry for this hot topic that are free currencies. We went from big questions about the evolution of our society to how free currencies could play at massive grassroots level in India. As Rahul wrote later: “Its that spirit that I palpably felt in the room, that spirit of sincerity in how to collaborate and ignite people into selflessness that kept me there 5 hours longer than I anticipated.  I know that many of your have spoken to audiences of hundreds, even thousands so it was an absolute privilege and honor to have your presence in such a small group and for such a large chunk of the day.Very grateful to Jean-Francois for deepening my understanding of free currencies, and also appreciated everyone’s focus on nuts-and-bolts realities about the challenges for making this a tool in grassroots development for India.” Those who were present were
  • Bhikhu Patel: founder and CEO of Tarsadia Group whose offices we used. Bhikhu manifested deep listening and presence during the whole meeting. His generosity and heart were palpable in the room.
  • Shirish Dayal: Executive director of the Tarsadia Foundation. Shirish asked many generative questions and proved how open his mind is. His big heart was present all the time, he took care of me during and after the meeting, making sure that I had a place to stay and good conditions for working. I loved his sweet presence and care combined with his great intelligence.
  • Anand Karia, chairman of Arpan Foundation
  • Ashim & Anu Jain: Ashim was passionate about tackling gov’t corruption and bribery in India and willing to do something about it. As a technologist and an appreciator of servant leadership, he was highly receptive to new and better ways to serve. I appreciated his understanding of the monetary questions and the interest he expressed in free currencies. Anu, his wife, was a clear-eye and wise grounding force. Both looked like walking hearts, committed to serve.

• Susan Davis – Founder of Capital Missions Company: she just wrote me an email tonight and she said “Count me as ‘in’ with your work!!!“. She can provide us with powerful support and connections, as she knows how crucial free currencies are.

It’s no doubt that I need to come back to California soon. I will work on the intention and see if it wants to manifest.

I am now reaching the last part of my long 6 weeks trip in the West cost of the US. First week was Burning Man, second week was Boulder, Colorado (that was also burning due to forest fires), then the Bay Area (Sept. 14-30), then L.A.

Here is a quick report of how the situation is evolving.

I had 2 meetings with Louis Fox, founder of Free Range studios, and creator of worldwide viral hits such as the Meatrix and Story of Stuff. Louis is combining an ultra-creative mind grounded by an extreme pragmatism about how human psyche works, and elevated by a deep spiritual practice. Louis is quite excited about free currencies and about building a piece that can help humanity move to the right currency system. During our meeting he has already voiced many ideas that will make a difference. We are going to work together, this is great news, as this is one more ally in our dream team!

Tomorrow we have a whole working session with Rick Lukens. He is a well known figure in the entertainment industry, as he has organized huge international events and concerts, and he knows most of the showbiz players. Right now he is working on a site with his friend Carlos Santana: Architects on a New Dawn. Rick has invested in a software company that has developed a whole new way to use computers, to interface with the machines and between humans. This is ground breaking, it’s the next generation. It’s so disruptive that the software is now developed in China rather than the US. Big names of the software industry, and 100+ developers are working on it. It is going to become the operating system in the iPad competitor that is soon to come (a much better product). It will be a shock for America. The point is there is a perfect affinity between this technology and free currencies. So there are amazing synergies that we are going to explore. This is another good news.

Next week I am meeting with different people in the movie industry in Hollywood. As I don’t have asked yet for their permission it is too early to name them officially, but these people can also make quite a difference in the way we build the new planetary myth.

I will also meet with an important player in the game industry, as the game industry has the best capacities to provide fun and powerful user interfaces.

There is also the ongoing work with Barbara Marx-Hubbard who is also part of the team. Her vision, her scientific support, her capacity to share the great evolutionary story, her connection with so many thinkers across the world is a great value she brings. Barbara is part of our growing board of advisors composed of people who’s scientific reputation, evolutionary vision and moral integrity are well know.

I am also talking to other potential conscious financial supporters, both on the philanthropy and investors’ sides.

Every piece of the puzzle to make free currencies possible are coming together seamlessly. What we need now is some conventional cash to continue assemble these pieces in order to offer enough evidence that some philanthropic money should be put in “Moneytrix“, the viral movie on free currencies). $20k would help us continue our trip, finance the next one in a few weeks, and put some effort in the first sketch of the movie. The goal is to make it crystal clear that $200k for building a Manifesto + a viral movie made by the best dream team, is worth for the world.

This by itself should ignite the necessary momentum to finish the infrastructure  for the free currencies. Eric Harris-Braun and Arthur Brock, both the core thinkers and visionaries of MetaCurrency, are ready to play!

Any feedback and advice be very precious. We need support and service to be able to do our service.

This is definitely an amazing journey!

I am going to be traveling in the US from August 27th to October 6, 2010.

Here is the full detail:

• August 27 afternoon: arriving in San Francisco
• August 28-29: meetings in the Bay Area
• August 30 – Sept 6: Burning Man (NV), our playa spot is 6:30 and D
• Sept 7-14: Boulder, CO
• Sept. 15-30: Bay area, meetings and talks
• Sept. 23-25: talk at The CORE conference
• Oct. 1-6: Los Angeles, with a possible stop at Santa Barbara

My beloved Fer_ananda will be with me all first part of the trip, until Sept. 14th. Yeeehaaa! So much we will share!

Burning Man: first time! Fernanda and I come as learners there. While trying to share our best gifts, we will also learn how collective intelligence manifests there, and how such events and creative lifestyles can scale up. Do creative genius have to remain confined in such crazy events, or can it become a 7/24 lifestyle at the society level? What does it take? What’s the role of free currencies?

I will meet many many amazing persons, most of them I call them heroes because they have chosen to live the life they want, because they serve the world and others with an immense generosity and love, because they are extremely courageous and have not chosen the easiest path… Indeed, they are true heroes for me!

Here are some names among many others fantastic encounters that are already seeding in the unfolded womb of the universe:

Arthur Brock

Barbara Marx-Hubbard: she and I will meet at the end of my trip in L.A. and/or Santa Barbara

Brad Nye: organizing the camp at Burning Man (RedLightning.org) and then the CORE conference in the Bay Area

Chia Ortegon: we will meet Sept. 15th

Darrell Laham

Nipun Mehta

Olivier Maurel

Pancho Ramos Stierle

Patricia and Dan Ellsberg

Sandra de Castro-Buffington

Sergio Lub

This retreat week with Barbara Marx-Hubbard is a blossoming of ideas, visions, insights, states of consciousness. We gave ourselves enough time to cover many topics. This video is a short excerpt of our conversation on free currencies.

It is also a wonderful journey shared with Dino Bendiab, who is making the movie. Our collaboration and complicity, his patience and boldness, his wisdom and insights provide quite a container for expression. Immediate expression for Barbara and I, and creative expression through the movie he is going to make out of this journey. It is a blessing for me to see these first footages and excerpts, not just because of the images themselves, but because they come from everyone’s right placement, joy and creativity. This is pure blissipline.

I attended Mark Shuttleworth keynote presentation this morning at the Open World Forum, Paris. Mark is the founder of Ubuntu.

During yesterday’s post, I wondered whether I would connect with him and give him the opportunity to explore and our work on free currencies.

The conclusion is I liked what he said, I liked his simplicity.

So I gave him the note on a piece of paper…

Paris, 1st October 2009

Mark,

We are about to launch the free currencies. Free currencies will be to money what open source / free software is to proprietary software.

In the next years, millions of currencies will flourish on the Net and through our cell phones. They will serve for markets (buy/sell), but also for building intangible wealth such as trust, expertise, attention, reputation, recognition, and so on. They will free humanity from the current scarcity models based on Pareto laws of condensation, that leave full regions and sectors undermonetized.

We are a group of people committed to make it a reality. Very very soon.

For the protocol and infrastructure: check http://MetaCurrency.org
For the spaces where these free currencies will flow: check http://flowplace.org
For our work on collective intelligence: check http://TheTransitioner.org

As for my own commitment to these next currencies, I will soon fully leave the conventional monetary system to enter in the next open one, next 2010.

Your contribution to this process would accelerate and strengthen the process.

You may contact me on my cell phone at XXXXX

Warmest regards,

Jean-François Noubel
Founder & President
TheTransitioner.org

As usual I have no attachment and no expectations, it was just about threading an opportunity in the universe, and not presume anything.

Now let’s see where this will go…

I just went by the Open World Forum this afternoon, it takes places in Paris Oct. 1-2, 2009. As I will speak tomorrow Friday 2, from 2 to 4pm, I wanted to feel the atmosphere. I confess I was surprised by some sort of “grey” energy. I felt no joy, no jubilation. There were only men almost, the whole event being packaged in one of those congress centers, with carpet everywhere, and wifi, and hostesses, and badges… I just felt only conventionalism. No energy of conquest, no youth, no new things…

It’s the opportunity to question myself on what’s next. Tomorrow morning, Mark Shuttleworth , founder of Ubuntu, comes as keynote. I usually don’t like to spend time in plenary sessions because usually I get bored and don’t learn many things. The reason why I will get there tomorrow is to feel the guy. If he comes, of course, because it’s quite common that keynotes are announced and they appear as visio-conference.

I feel intrigued by Mark Shuttleworth. He seems t have had a real vision with Thawte, then Ubuntu. Would he be open to free currencies? Would he understand them? How prepared is his consciousness? Would he be a selfless supporter? Or did he, like so many others, fall back into “mainstream”, once conquests for reputation and power are done? That’s what I would like to feel tomorrow.

I even prepared a small note for him. If he comes, I will then decide. I don’t wish to convince him, as we don’t need him to succeed in our project. On another hand I want to remain open to opportunities, and let them manifest if they have to manifest. Mark and his organization could become a wonderful leverage for free currencies. So… I will feel into this tomorrow, and let integrity decide.

For now… brrrr… this open world forum seems quite closed in regards to the human adventure it is supposed to embody…