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If you are hungry for change (or just hungry) The Feast is where you needed to be.

Behind the impressive design, the fun environment, the seriously delicious food, the motivating line-up of speakers, and the disruptive community of do-gooders; the star of the the show was the thoughtful and simplistic format that truly allows the Feasters’ to learn, connect, participate, and dig in to create real-world solutions to the challenges we face in the area of  health, learning and veterans.  The way they do this is by taking these complex issues and simplifying them by asking a few thought-provoking questions.  Sounds like a no-brainer, but for some reason other conferences have yet to get it.

The Feast asks its participants to think about the opportunities for change within each of theses challenges.  How can we create a breakthrough?  What do we need in order to create a breakthrough?  What would a breakthrough look like?  Then they do something different that sets them apart from all other social good conferences…they ask Feasters’ to take action by choosing a question and building a team to create solutions.

Challenge Questions:

Why is it so hard to turn what you learn at school into real-world skills?

Why is it so hard to be healthy every single day?

Why is it so hard for vets returning from war to connect with people and services they need?

Click here for more information on The Feast Challenges

 

Quotes that moved us, made us think and made us smile:

“Get out of the office, get off your computers and do things that don’t scale!” – Joe Gebbia of  Airbnb

“Vets don’t want a handout, they want what they had in the military – hard work, community and purpose.” – Spencer Kympton of  The Mission Continues #FeastVets

“There’s more smart people outside the room than there are inside the room no matter how many of us there are inside.” – Robin Chase, Zipcar Founder

“22 veterans commit suicide a day. Yet, in NYC there is access to over 400k services.” – Dan Brillo of Unite Us #FeastVets

“The future of news is collaboration, no one person can know all the stories.” – Lara Setrakian of Syria Deeply

“It’s a form of privilege to have social affirmation and role models.  Privilege is not evenly distributed.” – Deb Chachra #FeastLearn

“If you have ever taken a shower, you’ve had an idea.” – Joe Gebbia of   Airbnb

“Learning is something that happens inside and outside of school. We need to create a world of lifelong learners.” – S. Craig Watkins of University of Texas #FeastLearn

“Consumers have great taste, they just need better options.” – Jon Heath of   Chobani #FeastHealth

“When something is made with the only motive of love…that catches on.” – Brad Montague, Creator of Kid President

“Hesitation is the leading cause of roadkill.” – Joe Gebbia of  Airbnb

“We have 21st century kids walking into 20th century classrooms and there’s a disconnect between learning and students” – S. Craig Watkins of University of Texas

“It’s okay to be weird.” – Joe Gebbia of  Airbnb

Thanks to Joe Gebbia of Airbnb for ending day with the conferences funniest yet thought provoking sound-bites!

Click here for an extended list of speakers

Join The Discussion:

Just because you are not at The Feast conference, does not mean you can’t be involved.  The Feast Worldwide encourages you to think about these questions and join the largest do-good dinner party in the world on October 18, 2013 at 7pm (local time).  You can join the global dialogue by building your own team of friends or colleagues, invite them to dinner (after all it is a feast), chose a challenge, pick a question and dig in.  The Feast encourages you to share your answers and keep the conversation going.

Continue the conversation by following us on twitter with #ConsciousLive and #Feast2013 until Friday night!

 

Learn and Connect

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From the Editor

At Conscious, we are inspired by remarkable people, and so we set out to tell stories that highlight real human interactions and human dignity. You can read more stories like this when you pick up your copy of Conscious Magazine. Subscribe today via our Conscious Shop and sign-up for Conscious Updates.