GES 2009 Nathaniel Whittemore Keynote: “A New Story About Our Generation” from Nathaniel Whittemore on Vimeo.

One of the most important responsibilities of the Content Team is to select two keynote speakers for the conference: one who will talk at the opening banquet to the GES community (staff and delegates) and one who will close the conference with a speech to the entire Northwestern community. Last year GES hosted Nathaniel Whittemore and Premal Shah as opening closing keynote speakers, respectively. This year, Content wanted to follow more or less the same model, choosing a young, inspiring storyteller that can connect immediately with the delegates, and a pragmatic, accomplished individual recognized in the social entrepreneurship sector who can draw from his or her experience to encourage Northwestern and GES members to pursue similar work.

Nathaniel Whittemore and Premal Shah were such inspiring keynotes that the task of choosing keynotes for GES 2010 seemed overwhelming at first. We had to take a step back and ask: what makes a good keynote? Is it a big name? Accomplishments? How recognized the person is? The truth: there is no such formula. That “something” that you feel when you see an inspiring speaker can’t be defined by prominence, big names or accomplishments. We will simply choose people who have passion to change the world through their own innovative approaches, and who can effectively transmit their passion to GES and Northwestern.

Next week our team will start meeting with Northwestern organizations such as NCDC and The Global Engagement Summer Institute so we can get ideas to improve our curricula and expand our contacts. This way, we will have a wide range of possibilities when we choose facilitators. Our staff is currently brainstorming for new workshop topics for next year. They have great ideas. We have discovered that students new to GES and unfamiliar with the social entrepreneurship sector offer a less limited, creative perspective when suggesting topics and organizations.