A remarkable event in world affairs is taking place this week in London, as the first One Young World conference is set to convene.
This gathering assembles a thousand leaders from every country on the globe, represented in proportion to their countries’ populations. They are meeting to deliver responses to six major issue areas, including healthcare, economic development, environment, and religion, with an urgency and perspective conspicuously lacking at venues such as Copenhagen and Davos. And they are all in their mid-20s.
The One Young World conference is the brainchild of David Jones, CEO of Havas Worldwide and RSCG Worldwide, Europe-based creative marketing firms, and Kate Robertson, chairman of Euro RSCG UK. It has attracted a slate of celebrity “counselors” including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, U.S. Senator John Kerry, and philanthropist and one-time musician Sir Bob Geldof.
If that sets off your “PR boondoggle” alarms, I don’t blame you. One Young World bears more than the slight whiff of corporate “greenwashing” -- or whatever the equivalent is for social issues broader than just the environment. But there’s more than that going on here. One Young World, whatever the motives of its organizers, represents an important step forward in the development of a global movement that marries commercial and social entrepreneurship to the ambitions of a global generation that has been marinated in digital media and is eager to redress the messy legacies bequeathed to it by its elders.
Given the scope and the target audience, it’s no surprise that social media played a big part in organizing the conference, selecting the delegates, and broadcasting the proceedings this week.
Delegates to the event were nominated and selected through Facebook, in a process organized by U.K. social media recruiter BraveNewTalent, whose hyperkinetic 25-year-old CEO, Lucian Tarnowski, told me in an interview last summer: “These are the brightest young leaders, born 1984-86, from every country in the world. We’ve got every country that’s recognized by the UN... It is the most ambitious use of social media for the youth leadership cause globally – maybe the most ambitious social media effort used for anything.”
Delegates include young entrepreneurs, students, political organizers, social activists, religious leaders, artists, and other young people from all walks of life, many of whom have never traveled abroad or met their global peers face to face.
As the conference unfolds this week, the event’s Website will feature streaming media of the plenary sessions, blogs, and videos from delegates, a live Twitter feed (#OYW), a Flickr photo archive, and a host of interactive polls and sidebar conversations.
One Young World is no mere “model UN” for precocious college kids. The attendees represent young people of serious purpose and accomplishment. Particularly in emerging parts of the world, their talent will guide the future of their societies, and the approaches they take will have consequences. The relationships formed this week in London may well result in business partnerships, political alliances, cultural innovations, and technological breakthroughs over the next 10 to 25 years.
It is not entirely clear what the sessions will produce in terms of real output, although Tarnowski emphasizes that the representative nature of the group “is of quite significant authority as a youth voice.” He and the organizers hope it will be taken seriously by the long list of sponsors, and by speakers like Geldof who admonished the audience to can the “young leaders crap” and get to work.
Even as a PR event, the scale of One Young World represents an important step in the emerging self-consciousness of the Net Generation as a transformative force in world events.
In my research, I discovered that that young entrepreneurs around the world recognize that they need to creatively align public, NGO, and commercial interests to succeed. An event like this not only represents an opportunity to participate in high-minded policy discussions, but also models the blend of commercial and social purposes with new technology that many of these young leaders are attempting to harness in their own organizations.
I agree. In fact, it's been a common theme I've noticed throughout my life. It's especially true in politics, whether public or private. For example, Rose-Hulman only allowed women entrance in the late 90's because one of the elderly board members who vehemently opposed it died off. Many state and local Democratic Parties fail miserably in today's modern climate until the "old guard" die and some young blood who actually connect with today's base takes over. It's sad, but it's the way of life: some thing simply can't get done until new leadership takes over.
While I applaud any and all attempts at engaging the youth of this world, I'm wondering how much stock we should be putting into the 15 to 22 year-olds who change social networks faster than they change their clothes.
Case in point, the recent Teens in Tech 2.0 conference was focused on the viability of teens and how to take advantage of the demographic.
Best Buy's Tim Showalter-Loch opened the discussion by linking the success of the brand's @15 program to its consideration of teens as legitimate investment-worthy entities. He also raised the familiar contradictions underlying the social dichotomy between teens and adults – with adults simultaneously regarding teens as "naive," "inexperienced," and relatively not "knowledgeable" in a normal context, but in contrast viewing them as experts in technology and technological trends. It was noted that teens are the ones who dictate what gets bought when mom and dad go to a computer store, and serve as a cheaper and more convenient alternative to tech support. In short, without teens, many adults would be lost, yet they are still a relatively voiceless segment in society. Thankfully, companies like Best Buy's increasing interest in the opinions of teens is starting to change this.
Although, the biggest takeaway of the conference seemed to be French Vanilla Lattes. <sigh>
But in a way, isn't that what most older generations say about the younger one? :) Every year brings a newer generation that has it easier and wants it all, right?
The 'Net Generation' have a lot to live up to. So far I have to confess I'm not that impressed by their efforts and I fear that this event is merely another piece of evidence that we're into a second (third or fourth) round of Internet related hyperbole. After all this is the generation that wants everything for free, until they leave home that is.
That phrase is part of the tittle of a cult psychology classic by the late Julian Jaynes: The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Don't worry, I'll not enter a theme paper on it.
however, the importance of this conference strikes me as something related, that is, the beginning of the creation of an actual new consciousness by the NEXT GENERATION in humankind aptly named: the Young World. What it will bring forth? I don't have the slightest idea, and this makes it wonderful. What I expect from it? Almost limitless possibilities exists because the minds gathered there are fresh new ones who have become young adults under the Internet which by itself is a whole new step in human culture evolution.
From my personal point of view I will pray for them for a successful meeting. This event reminds me of the late Pope John Paul II (The Great) who decades ago from his beginning focused his agenda on the youth and started what has become an annual revolution in itself by showing respect and care for the young amidst an age old Church. His insight was correct for the Church and it seems for the world.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention Rob. KUDISIMOS...! (A lot of Kudos!)
I really hope that this conference touches everyone who attends. They discussed some pretty big issues and I feel that in order to change the things in this world, the old regime has to die. It may sound morbid, but the old adage of not being able to teach an old dog new tricks is very true.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Rob. At first, I wasn't convinced this kind of confab could be more than a sort of glad-handing job fair on a grand scale.
I've changed my mind. By reaching out specifically to talented youth worldwide, this conference brings together just exactly the kind of people with the energy and perspective we're going to need to get us to where we need to be over the next decade.
its heartening to know that such initiatives are being taken to encourage global partnership amongst the future business leaders.What differentiate this conference amongst a plethora of international yourth conferences is the role played by social networking website in gathering the talented youth from around the word.
The youth of Haiti deserve a special mention in this conference for they have been instrumental in the rescue and rehabilitation work.
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