Focus Inside
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Focus Inside Program

Time for thoughts, creativity and inspiration to rethink our relationships with technology
​17-22 April, 2018, at 35-37 Church Street NW8 8ES London UK
The program is constantly updated, and you can check out our Twitter for the latest updates.

Tuesday, 17th April
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Opening night talk and panel 6.30 - 9.30 pm

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photo by Anna Radchenko

How is technology changing us and what can we do about it?

Presentation of the Focus Inside concept, announcement of art competition winners (by Anna Radchenko), followed by a panel discussion. 
​Panelists are:
  • Robert Elliot Smith, Senior Research Fellow of computer science at UCL, worker in A.I. research and development for the past 30 years, and author of Artificial Inhumanity: How "smart" tech works...against our better nature
  • Kwame Ferreira, CEO at Impossible.com
  • Anna Radchenko, award-winning artist, Melancholy Rooms project
  • Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, Consultant Psychiatrist at NHS, Founder and Director of the National Problem Gambling Clinic, Spokesperson on Behavioural Addictions for the Royal College of Psychiatrists
  • ​Moderated by Anastasia Dedyukhina, Consciously Digital
​Very limited tickets available here.

Wednesday, 18th April
​Children's and young people day

Digital detox space open 11am - 9pm for drop-in activities. For workshops and talks, register following the links.

School time 11.00 am - 2.00 pm

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Guided visits to digital detox space

Daytime reserved for a guided digital detox space tour for local school and college groups and discussions on mental health, creativity and healthy use of technology with exhibition curators.
Representatives of the schools, please get in touch here to reserve your free tour.

Workshop 2.00 - 3.00 pm

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Mindfulness for young people: how to follow your dream? 

Daytime mindfulness session with Davide Neri, founder of y-ourway.com. Davide is a life coach and mindfulness expert. He delivered more than 240 coaching sessions during 84 stops  in 23 cities, 11 countries and 2 continents as part of his Your Way Street Tour, a program that helps people to live their Purpose, their Dream taking specific actions on it. 
At Focus Inside, Davide will talk about how mindfulness can help taking meaningful decisions in an era of distraction, and reconnect with your dream and commit to it. At the end of the event, Davide offers several slots for his 1-1 free coaching.
Free event, but advanced registration highly advised. Suitable for those aged 20 and older.

Talk and Panel ​6.30 pm - 9.00 pm

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The Perils of Technology: How Can Parents Get Back in Charge?

‘Why do we need to supervise our kids’ screen time?’: a talk by Dr Anastasia Dedyukhina followed by a panel discussion on ‘How parents can get back in charge of technology”.
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Panelists are:
· Noel Janis-Norton (Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting): how to establish and follow through on screen time rules and routines
· Isabelle Delmas (Kinfo app): What can kids enjoy apart from the tech? Non-screen based activities that work for other families
Moderated by Liat Hughes Joshi, journalist and author of parenting books How to Unplug Your Child and Five Minute Parenting Fixes (Summersdale)

Registration: very limited tickets here

Thursday, 19th April: ethical tech day

Digital detox space open 11am - 9pm for drop-in activities. For workshops and talks, register following the links.

11.00 am - 6.00 pm. Ethical tech design hackathon 

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Designers are responsible for how millions of people will behave on a daily basis. Could we design technology in a more sustainable, mindful way to make us better people, and not steal human time and attention? 

What could new business models in the economy of distraction look like? What does a balanced use of devices look like from a designer viewpoint? What should and shouldn’t we optimize for?


​A full-day hackathon for designers, programmers, project managers and business people who care about how future generations will use their attention and time.

Facilitated by Aleksandra Melnikova, experience design director, Radley Yeldar, and Bill Tribble, lead UX designer, General Assembly instructor​.
Come and create something amazing that will help future generations be better humans. Please, register here to take part.

6.30 - 9.00 pm panel

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How can we create tech to help us be better humans?

Panelists are:
  • Aleksandra Melnikova, experience design director, Radley Yeldar and Bill Tribble, lead UX designer, General Assembly instructor will present the results of the ethical tech hackathon
  • David Asfaha, data scientist, Capgemini - Is data becoming "weaponized"?
  • Silja Litvin, Psychologist and Founder of PsycApps, Digital Mental Health - Mental health and technology
  • Adam Smith, senior technologist in fintech sector - Inherent bias in artificial intelligence (AI)
  • Linzy Nakorn, performer, producer and choreographer, BitterSuite - How tech is impacting the Body's natural instincts

    Advanced registration only! Too attend the panel, please register here.

Friday, 20th April: creativity day

Digital detox space open 11am - 9pm for drop-in activities. For workshops and talks, register following the links.

6.30 - 9.00 pm​ panel and experience

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photo by Anna Radchenko
Free and donation based-tickets, but advanced registration only 

Understanding creativity (and how tech is changing it)

Join us for the night of discussions on creativity and practical tips and exercises on how to be more creative in your daily life.
We'll answer the following questions:
How is technology changing our creativity? What do we need to be creative? Are constant distractions preventing us from original thinking? How can we unblock creativity? Can technology actually help us be more creative? 

Panelists are:

Dr Tereza Stehlikova, RCA: How we can use our senses to aid our creative process 
Tereza is an artist, senior lecturer at the University of Westminster and a research coordinator at the Royal College of Art, as well as a founder of Sensory Sites, an international collective generating collaborative exhibitions and research projects that explore sensory perception and bodily experience. 

Chris Rolls, 64 Million Artists: How to unblock creativity.
Chris Rolls is a Theatre Director, Creativity Coach and Psychotherapist. He helps communities develop their own creative projects focused around mental health, wellbeing and personal empowerment.
Dothinkshare.com is a website with everyday creativity tools as well as a gallery for people to share their work. The premise is simple: people DO a creative challenge, they THINK in a reflective way about their experience, and they SHARE their responses. 

Katerina Barampouti, artist and coach: Targeted Creativity: An effectiveness booster
Katerina is an interdisciplinary Artist, Curator, Mindfulness Coach and Change Facilitator, specializing in Site-Specific Acts, Experiential Learning and Mindful Transformation.
Does creative means undisciplined or not following any rules? Absolutely not! Katerina will explain, how to allow for creativity and creative freedom in the daily life/work-life within a specific framework/system, in order to shape one's choices and empower new habits. 

Lawrence Ampofo, Digital Mindfulness: Technology & Creativity: How can technology bridge the gap between intention and creativity

Saturday, 21st April:
"Slowing down" and mental health day

Digital detox space open 11am - 9pm for drop-in activities and is free.
​For workshops and talks, register following the links or get a full-day pass for 
£15 that gives access to all events on the day without further registration. Each event link offers both options so just choose what suits you best when registering.

10.30 - 11.45 am yoga workshop

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Disconnecting the mind and reconnecting to the heart

Start your day by getting in touch with yourself. Yoga is a way to practice by feeling, being centered rather than thinking and being in the head. Experience led by certified yoga teacher and holistic coach Chantal Di Donato from Urban Retreat Collective.
Mixed level so no previous experiences needed. 
​Limited spaces, advanced registration or free access to day pass holders.

12.00 - 1.30pm workshop

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Basics of Calligraphy

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Calligraphy is one of the most attention-demanding activities. Get grounded and calm down through this workshop. Practice letters and basic strokes and maybe practice writing one sentence
Workshop by coach and facilitator Orsolya Anna Toth. Orsi is a marketing strategy consultant and workshop designer who took up calligraphy, lettering and illustration as a hobby 4 years ago and had been pursuing it ever since. We will provide all the tools, just come and enjoy!
Very limited places so registration mandatory or free access to day pass holders.

2.00 - 3.00 pm panel and workshop

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We look forward to seeing you! Advanced registration only via Eventbrite ​or free access to day pass holders

​How to use your devices in a healthier way, explained by tech experts

​Practical tips from our tech-savvy panel on how to use technology in a more mindful way and integrate them into your lifestyle as opposed to allow them to dictate it.

Panelists are:
  • Lola Askarova, Propositions Manager at EE and happiness blogger: "Happy and connected - action plan to get back in control of your device" ​​Lola will share her experience of getting device use under control in the environment, where work and life revolves around the latest and greatest mobile devices. She will work with you to formulate a plan of action to clear headspace and manage time and energy to help you become happier, while not getting rid of her device.
  • Tim Moorey, cybersecurity and technology consciousness specialist and author of Tech Off book: "How to avoid being robbed online by using emails consciously". Tim will show you how mindful use of technology will help you to avoid becoming a victim of cyber crime. 
  • ​Adiba Osmani, owner of Inhere meditation studio: "Creating mental space in the tech world". Adiba worked in blue-chip companies and later in strategy & marketing in start-ups for over 15 years. She developed own meditation practice over 12 years and launched London’s first drop-in meditations studio in the City for busy professionals, opening another studio soon. Adiba will discuss how best to create mental space in a tech world full of rapid change, agile decision-making, and an always-on culture.

3.30 - 4.30pm workshop

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Vision board: Become the best version of you this year!

Moving your life forward requires clarity, vision and a plan. Vision boards are a powerful and productive way to create a clear vision of how you want your life to be so you can grow and transform yourself. By creating a visual collage of what you desire, you invite it into your world. And you don’t need to be arty – vision boards work for anyone. Louise Bartlett is a creative entrepreneur, yogini and mama committed to inspiring others to live creative, vibrant lives.
​​Limited spaces, advanced registration or free access to day pass holders

5.00 - 6.30 pm workshop

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Gong and sound meditation 

We close the day with a powerful gong sound meditation that helps you reconnect with yourself from The Mystery School of Sound.
Come to a performance of wonderful sound journey where you travel through your own inner landscape. A performance that puts you into a deep meditational state that will enable you to totally relax, de-stress and heal mentally & physically.
Mark & Paul Cummings are Gong performers who work together to bring you a sonorous experience.  
The workshop is free, but we kindly accept donations helping the musicians transport gongs to the venue. ​Limited spaces, advanced registration or free access to day pass holders

Sunday, 22 April - Closing day

Digital detox space open 11am - 6pm for drop-in activities and is free.
​For workshops and talks, register following the links or get a full-day pass for £15 that gives access to all events on the day without further registration. Each event link offers both options so just choose what suits you best when registering.

11.30 - 1.00 pm workshop

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Lego Serious Play: exploring the effect of tech on our lives

Come to play and explore your relationships with your devices.
In this workshop we will be developing our own goals for our relationship with tech, then growing into building a shared vision where can collaborate and ideate around where we are going and what we want that to look like.
A facilitator by trade, Camilla Gordon works with groups to create change, weather that is a group of young people in an inner city youth centre or in the board room with top execs. 
Lego® Serious Play® is one of the methods she uses to stimulate conversations and answer difficult questions.  
Very limited places, advanced registration only, or free access to day pass holders. 

1.30 - 2.30 pm workshop

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Art therapy taster session: Exploring the fear of missing out (FOMO)

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How do we manage our experience of being away from our devices? Is the fear of missing out (FOMO) something that plagues you? Do you feel worried about disconnecting from your 'online life'?
Art therapy can help us address our anxieties and fears and get back in touch with ourselves. Join us for a fun and engaging workshop with Taylor Smart, an art therapist from the London Art Therapy Centre. No previous art experience is needed, just a willingness to explore your natural creativity!
​Very limited places, advanced registration only, or free access to day pass holders.

3.00 - 4.00 pm workshop

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Learn dancing forro (brazilian dance)

Move your body, connect to music, feel happy in this free class by Pé Descalço London dancing school. Forró is a Brazilian rhythm danced in couples and it is accessible to everyone! 
This class is a beginners class and everyone can join - singles and couples!
Very limited places, advanced registration only, or free access to day pass holders. 

4.15 - 5.30 pm workshop

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Katja Rosenberg presenting 360
Advanced registration only, free access to daily pass holders

360: Night of storytelling

Storytelling has been traditionally considered one of the most bonding activities for humans. Can anyone tell a story?
Absolutely! In this workshop, a 
prepared crowd of people who can also be joined by spontaneous partakers are allocated 6 minutes each to talk about whatever they like. Dare to talk about everything, from fun anecdotes to philosophical thought to life experiences, personal secrets, illnesses you suffer etc. Forget to have a mobile phone to look at, sit and LISTEN. Presented by Jesse Wolpert, a creative technologist who makes darkly comedic contraptions, and art curator Katja Rosenberg (ArtCatcher). Live stories:
  • Ilona Brannen on being disconnected for two months in Cuba
  • Anna Borzello on reporting on a war in a three phone town
  • ​Artist Afsoon: Facebook Stranger - how seeing a strangers' photo on Facebook turned into a story
  • Batuhan Bintas: Technology is one of the ways how the soul is reminding its magic back to us.
  • David Isaacs:  Internet Contagion
  • Anne-Marie Isaacs: Bird on a wire:romance in olden times. 
  • ​Katja Rosenberg and Deb Scott-Lovric: "You are breaking up": 6 minutes in the modern world
  • Monica Capelastegui: While I was travelling in the bus... (three women were discussing odd things on their mobile phones)
5.30-6.00 pm Closing ceremony
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Official closing and drinks

Presentation of outcomes of the festival and recommendations for a more balanced use and creation of technology by Anastasia Dedyukhina, Consciously Digital
Digital detox space is opened 11.00am - 6.00pm, entrance is free.
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