Craig Mod on Do

Craig was one of the stand-out speakers at Do 2010 - clear, compelling and concise with a bubbling, gentle humour. Here's what he had so day about the experience:

In September I flew to London — popped into Paris for an intoxicating first visit — then hopped into a car in Slough to drive up to Wales for Do.

In that car, I sat next to one very unassuming Maggie Doyne. I asked her what she did and she shrugged and said, "Oh, I just help out kids in Nepal." Well, help out kids, indeed, she did do. If you want to talk about feeling that diffuse, impossible to neglect energy in your chest, talk to Maggie. Watch her Do Lecture for the backstory. Suffice to say she runs a 200+ child orphanage in Nepal. And made it happen before she turned 25. And she's just getting started.

I turned 30 in November and decided to gift ten years of education to one of her children. Together, with your help — dear followers and readers — we raised $3,000 in the blink of an eye. And little orphan Nani is now set for life.

So, to say Do Lectures was a highlight of this past year would be a gross understatement. The people I met there continue to inspire me. I’ll keep saying it ‘till I’m blue: attend if you have the means (and if you don’t, email me why you should be there and I’ll try to help you find the means).

Books in the age of the iPad

Craig Mod is a designer, thinker and writer based out of Tokyo who is speaking at this year's Do Lectures. In this article, he robustly challenges the idea that 'flying dead trees around the world' is a good thing, and suggests that the first, and best thing to start pushing up daisies is the  'disposable' book - the supermarket and holiday reads that fill bookshelf space and landfill, but not your mind.

I'd have to agree.