May 15 2011 May 15, 2011 February 13, 2012 19Comments by ben

Join me on Course number two

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I don’t just do a writing course.

I also do a course which has resulted in my Water project (don’t forget to check the blog. There is now an app on the way:

Thanks to Hayden Stainsby for this. He's an absolute effing star. As is Crystal Lee who is doing the design work.

…along with a top TV/Online/Cinema commercial. The very good people at Academy, particularly George and Lizie, are fully up for supporting Water Water Everywhere. Hats off to them).

So the course is called the Landmark Forum, and other projects that have come out of it include Fight Club, The Matrix and Pret a Manger.

In the first stage you sit in a room for three days with 150 other people. From there on in it’s quite difficult to describe, but you can check out this pretty accurate explanation in The Observer (more articles in Time, Wall Street Journal, New York Times).

The second part is broadly similar, but involves putting what you’ve learned in the first part into a wider context.

Then in the third part you choose a project that involves one of your communities (you have different communities, such as ‘neighbours’, ‘work colleagues’, ‘family’ etc.) and see it through for about three months (although if it goes beyond that, great).

So I’m about 2/3rds of the way through part three, and it’s been absolutely fascinating, with far more benefits than I can outline here. Several very high profile people in advertising have done it; in fact, at least three very successful agencies have been founded as a direct result of people completing its curriculum.

Anyway, I just wanted to share it because if you haven’t done it before I think you’d get a lot out of it. The website is here, but it’s a pretty poor indication of the reality of what you get on the course.

The other reason I’m mentioning it on this blog is that I get the impression that some people who read ITIABTWC aren’t exactly sure what they’re doing now, why they’re doing it or what to do next. If you’d like some clarity on that, have a look at the website and think about doing the course.

Alternatively, this Saturday there’s an introduction that I’ll be attending because it’s part of my project. From 10am to 1pm the other 55 people on my course will be explaining why they’ve done the Forum and what they’ve got out of it (here is an independent survey of what those benefits are). If you’re free at that time and want to come along (whether you know me or not), just drop me an email (bwmkay@gmail.com) and I’ll make sure they save you a seat.

xxx