Gathering ’11 was an event that brought together leading thinkers, change-makers and collaborators from across Australia and around the world to explore and develop ideas on how to solve today’s most pressing social and environmental challenges, together.

In this series of podcasts I interview the attendees about their personal experiences of Gathering ’11, as a way of exploring these topics further, and of continuing the conversation.

Last night, I interviewed Helen Mitchell — a Knowledge Manager intrigued by the possibilities that social media creates for collaboration, learning and knowledge sharing. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.

You can follow Helen on Twitter: @helmitch. She shares her thoughts (occasionally, she tells me) on her blog: Musing the universe.

During the interview, we talk about working at the edges; making small changes to make a BIG difference; being in the now and the importance of serendipity.

There are a couple of things Helen mentions, worth noting here in the show notes for clarity:

• The Creative Performance Exchange (CPX) is a Melbourne-based meetup group designed for the exchange of creative ideas and methods that are at the intersection of multiple disciplines.
• A Knowledge Cafe – is a conversational style meeting process popularised by David Gurteen.
• The reference to Even Chuck Norris Gets Sad is about Ehon Chan‘s Soften the Fck Up — a campaign to challenge the stereotype of a “real man”. Hopefully, I’ll get him on the show to talk some more about this.

I hope you enjoy listening.

Credits: Intro music by Sic Alps / by-nc-sa

Please consider donating via the Gathering ’11 website. Your contribution will ensure the team can pull together Gathering ’12 and continue to share what they learned from Gathering ’11. They greatly appreciate your support!