Latest / WHAT I'VE LEARNT / Beyond Words - Benjamin Syner & Stefan Houghaerts (My Name Is Ink Initiative)

Transcript

Beyond Words - Benjamin Syner & Stefan Houghaerts (My Name Is Ink Initiative) · WHAT I'VE LEARNT

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, in a distant future, the last human on earth able to read and write has decided to restore the written word to civilization.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: This young girl's name is Ink, named after the stains of the dark blue liquid that covers her fingers.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: She lives in a reclusive community in the mountains with no access to technology.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: After the Great Revolution, humans abandoned reading and writing, choosing instead to communicate solely through thought.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: This was enabled thanks to neurotransmitters lodged inside the brains.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Humans thrived on this technology as everything went faster.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: But the price to pay for this techno-utopia was heavy.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: The growing illiteracy rate robbed them of the ability to communicate complex ideas and deep emotions, erasing their capacity for critical thinking.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: The leaders of this new world took advantage and started spreading fake news and false truths across the globe to rule as dictators.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Unable to discern reality from fiction, society slipped into chaos, mayhem, and was on the brink of collapse.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this is just the beginning of the extraordinary innovative and creative resource that these two have created as part of an extraordinary attempt to basically educate, engage, and entertain people as they explore the issue of, which is a huge issue of illiteracy, which is really a major problem in our community.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Innovation is the key to change, finding new ways to educate, expand, and engage.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: And this new global literacy campaign is a powerful, clever example of creative thinking.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's a collaborative art project for a good cause.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Buy your sentence, co-write a book with 5,000 people, from strangers to renowned artists.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: 100% of this profit is donated to the World Literacy Foundation.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I would like to welcome Ben and Stefan, the innovators who have created this extraordinary project in collaboration with the World Literacy Foundation to the Beyond Words Literacy podcast.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: So tell me where this began because it really is very innovative.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: And oh, I've I found it great to go in and go into that website and to be able to write a sentence and contribute to this journey.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: But for our listeners, could you just tell us a little bit about how this came to be?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, of course.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_02: So the idea first came to write a book with 5,000 people.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: That idea was always there on an exquisite corpse.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, like the technique of the exquisite corpse.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: And the idea is was to do it with multiple strangers across the world.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_02: That was thanks to digital possibilities.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: And then we pushed on and pushed on and pushed on.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: And talking together, we realized that if everybody would write a sentence, every sentence was nearly like a piece of art.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: And there was something powerful about the words written and what we could do with those with those words.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: And so, yeah, talking together with the whole team, we thought, could this be a project for good?
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: Could this be a project to fight illiteracy?
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: We should talk to different charities.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_02: So we did talk to about 10 different charities.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um and finally, the World Literacy Foundation got really involved.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, they invited us to Oxford to the summit um against uh illiteracy.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_02: So we had the chance to present the project, meet some amazing people who helped us uh move forward.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and today it is what it is.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: It's uh yeah, we're really, really passionate about it.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um and we're launching on Friday, the 8th of September.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: The book is the writing of the book is starting on the 8th, but it will take about 12 months to be written.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: So tagging on, hop on whenever you want, uh depending on where the story is going.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, so just for our listeners, so they understand, my name is Ink.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Can you explain how the logistics of it work?
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because it is quite a when you go in to be part of the the journey, maybe talk about.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that must have taken a lot of processing to come up with the best way because it's actually quite ambitious, isn't it?
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: And and probably daunting in some ways to create something like this.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: You are absolutely right.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: There is quite a lot of technique and thinking behind it, but we made it as simple as possible for the user.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: So actually, it's only a few steps to participate to my name is Inc.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: The first step is to go on the website and purchase the sentence, which is only if you click adding your credit card.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: And for$25, you can purchase the sentence.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: If you add an extra 75, you can have your name that will be written on the phone book cover alongside other people and celebrities.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: Then once you have done that, you go to the next screen where you have the opportunity to write your sentence.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: What will happen is that you will be able to write the 10 sentences with been written before you.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: Able to read, sorry.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, to read, sorry, able to read the 10 sentences who have been written before you so you understand where the story is heading, the direction is uh is is being uh taken.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: Then you have 10 minutes to write your sentence so you can think about it, write, edit a little bit, correct, improve it, and you submit, and that's it.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: You have registered your sentence in the book, it will be recorded on the blockchain, and you are part of an extraordinary adventure.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really only a few steps.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: The last step that I should mention is we would like the people to share the sentence on their social network so it attracts more people, and it's truly becoming uh a community, yeah.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Movement, you know, movement of a community who believes in the power of creativity, reading, and writing.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: So truly it's easy for the user, the technique is quite complex.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: You're right.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and and I can actually see so that first, as I read in my intro, that first part of the story, which I actually think how long did that take and who where did that come from?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm reading it going, this is really great.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: The way, yeah, I love that.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna say, was that you, Stefan?
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's me, it's with input of the whole team, of course.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's always the most difficult part for me when writing an idea of a for a series is getting that pitch exactly right.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: So those few sentences.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_02: Normally a pitch of a series is shorter, but here we wanted to give some more context of what's happening.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: We want it to be broad enough, we wanted to talk to a younger generation as well, uh, because it's very important for us uh to talk to them.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: And that's why the inspiration comes from some sci-fi movies, some sci-fi books.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, 1984 comes to mind.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, George Orwell.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was yeah.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Viva Vendetta, uh is also a big uh inspiration, and then yeah, Star Wars, Harry Potter, the hero who wants to uh overthrow the overlord.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: So that's kind of the idea.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I noticed that.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the importance of having uh yeah, the metaphor of writing.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: So her name is Inc.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: and it's the last human to read and write.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: And we thought that was every time we pitch it, we can see to the people who are listening that uh yeah, it hits uh it hits the emotion.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm happy that that you like it as well.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: I do.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was quite sorry, you were saying if it was it quite a um because distilling what is sometimes quite an esoteric notion is what you've done because it's quite esoteric to um frozen.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Ben, do you want a glass of water?
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because I've stopped it if you'd like.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, grab just grab grab a glass of water, it's so fine.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'd rather you you not struggle.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: I know that feeling.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, when the cat gets shadow like go as we say in French, and then it's and also it's hot, and so for you it's yeah, a little different dehydrated, maybe it doesn't look hot.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's the thing, you guys don't look hot, except that I you've told me and that you've got we've got ventilators coming from.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, do you?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we're very yeah, if you could see here, we're very spring like here.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um okay.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: But actually, you can see so in the just while we're waiting, so in the background of what I my this is a huge, this is an Australian artist.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's a Patty Smith quote.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so the power of words is very much in team, but it says, Everything distracted me, but most of all myself, which is a famous Patty Smith quote.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: And this artist, David Bromley, does I don't know if you know that quote, but it's very famous, and he does these extraordinary paintings.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, I was just showing you that because it's all about the power of the word.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna re-record record you again because that was important.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um so so just tell me, in terms of the notion of distilling, as we were discussing, distilling the idea, which is often esoteric, is what you've tried to do.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I read it in the intro, because it is a little bit hard for people to understand the crisis and the level of um uh disaster in terms of people not being able to read and write.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's only recently that people have really taken action.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And this, it's almost like a revolution that seems to be I don't know if it's in Belgium, it's the same, but certainly in Australia with the World Literacy Foundation, there's a very big movement to try and change this trajectory for many people.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: It is here, um, it is a problem as everywhere in the world, and it's something that for us is important in the sense we come from a world of communication.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: We both work in those areas, in those fields.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so we see how important, yeah, being able to read books and write correctly is very important for the critical mind.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's why we wanted to have it in the pitch as well, and to think creatively, think outside of the box.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: And we know that's why reading and writing for us and for the Chapter 7 collective is something very important.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: But again, what we are trying to do, so on bigger picture, there's my name is Inc.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: is a starting point for us, but it's to bring creativity, innovation, and fun and entertainment to fundraising.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: That's something that's very important for us, and we hope we can make it playful for people.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: We've tried, of course, within sentences on the better version of the site.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's it's just fun, just fun to do, and uh, and and it's fun to fundraise money this way, we think, we hope.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, just so clear, and I agree with you by the way, because I think one of the problems is people switch off with, I don't know if you get it there, but there's so much that people are trying to absorb philanthropically.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: So being innovative in that way, which is very much part of what I see you uh representing, is important because then you're actually bringing people into the journey in quite a unique way.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: And in terms of the fundraising, the funds from when you buy a sentence go that goes directly to the World Literacy Foundation.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: But also, I was reading this is going to be published as a book, which I which just tell me, is that going to be sold or is that how the book will be?
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: I saw there's 10 copies or something of the book that will be.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: So there are different ideas on how we will publish and produce the book.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: So the main idea is that everyone can purchase the book once the story is finished.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: We also want to collaborate with 10 artists to do a limited edition of the book that will be sold.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: We're still finalizing the detail, but that will be sold in an auction that we are probably likely to organize with our main museum partner, Mont Blanc House.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: So, Mont Blanc, the the pet company who has a foundation who has a museum and a place in Germany in Hamburg, and that's where we would like to organize uh the sale of those uh TED Limited Edition of the book that we'll be doing with artists, maybe with the artist who created that amazing piece of art.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think he would oh David would be on board.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have no doubt.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: He's a big artist in Australia, and he David Bromley, he would love that.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: He does some amazing work, and I love that idea, the way that you're you know, bringing the creative community into this story, literally.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in terms of education, yes.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, just on that, I think what's important about this project, yes, it's creative, it's innovative, but also for us, it's an organic process.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: So we are very much listening to the community, very much listening to the new partners, entering that movement, that that mission, and evolving the project as we have those conversations, as we brainstorm.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: So new ideas are coming along.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: So we we the project as a foundation, we which is to write a book with 5,000 people, but as new ideas are coming up, we're extending it organically developing it, which is something we really like to do and that energize us and the people around us.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's actually a good point.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: So when you've got new uh partners coming on or supporters, the logistics of that is that challenging, or is it so how how logistically do you let's say the sponsor comes on, you obviously what I love is the purity of the project.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: I can see it doesn't look like you don't have all these logos, and it doesn't feel like you know, often these philanthropic uh projects become a little overwhelming with all the, you know, the different logos and the sponsors and the which is fair enough, but I've noticed you've kept it quite clean and pure in its visibility.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, how hard was that to ensure that you maintained the it's clean and pure, and it's truly a project driven by passion, but it's not our daily job.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: So we all have a daily job, so it's a side project.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it's time that we are taking after the work during the day, during the weekends, and yes, so logistically it's us putting uh effort and managing to convince other people to tag in.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: So we started with three people, now the core group is ten people and extending as as we speak, you know, with more people being excited by the project and and wanting to uh to tag on.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: So really try to leverage the power of the of the community.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'd like to add to um the facts and how we we bring partners to the table.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_02: There is uh a relevancy importance, relevancy, is that English?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, it's you know, to be relevant to uh for the partners who are around the table.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's why Mont Blanc was important for us, uh, of course, the World Literacy Foundation.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: We are also uh partnering up, or we are partners with limited space, which is I've interviewed them.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um that's it, and that's because yeah, they work with World Literacy Foundation, they are also they have links with the fight against illiteracy, and so we we received a two-week campaign on the digital out-of-home uh network.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and that's just very simple.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: We're not gonna get much more partners, we think, and but again, the partners who will sit around the table with us, or who will be able to sit around the table with us, will be relevant partners uh for the project.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: We however we we are looking for a partner to help us publish uh the book.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: So it's still one of the last pieces of the puzzle that that's missing and that uh we are looking for.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: So if you have ideas, send us any bags.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: I actually do have an idea.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: So it I like the idea that the end product will be quite a beautiful piece of art that people can buy, even if you've only got 10 special editions, but then you're saying there'll be digital versions available.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: Is that correct?
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, so the 10 versions are will be high-end uh books that we will sell at auction at Montblanc House.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's the idea today.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we are playing with the idea, yeah, to have uh paperback uh books.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: If the people get really um yeah, involved, people maybe don't want to write in the book but would like to own a piece of idea.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: So maybe paperbacks is an idea, but I think this will be decided in the course of uh yeah, the writing that's it.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, what track we will take, but the 10 high-end, sorry, high-end uh versions of the book will be uh something that we will do because that's a promise we have.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: No, but we are also selling the book, the paperback version, also because the name of the people who have participated for some of them will be on the front cover, the rest inside the book.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: So we expect a lot of the people or a lot of the participants who to want to own.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: Correct, they will.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: I certainly will.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was thinking that everyone's sending their library at home and they can show it off to their friends and read the book and have fun and explain the project and talk about the importance of literacy and uh and all of that.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: So, but they will have to to buy it.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: And this particular this potentially has scope to expand to other countries, other environments.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think it's something that you know you could take further?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, it is it is global, so it's across the world today.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: So the project is global, it's for every market uh in the world, and that it's by design, it's also one of the reasons why we picked uh the World Literacy Foundation.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: As I said, it's an organic project, so we brainstorm new ideas are coming up.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: So, Stefan, the very early stage of the project, had an amazing idea to expand it.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: So let him explain.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: But uh so the idea here is uh that we had that moment was there are going to be sentences maybe that will really jump out and that will be amazing pieces of art on its own.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and once the book is finished, one of the ideas would be to take one or two five sentences and create a spin-off and create a whole new story based on that sentence.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: Do the same project, the same kind of project, redoing a site, getting a you know the whole branded uh content around it, and then uh having a whole new project around it, depending on the success of this one.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: So that was the idea, but again, this is something completely new uh in the way we are doing it, the way we are writing this book in an exquisite corpse for the good cause of literacy.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: So we can reproduce this with schools in England.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was just thinking that exactly.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think that's got a that's a very uh that's exactly what I was thinking.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: You could reproduce it, or or alternatively, I suppose there's no reason why you can't have a school version of it as well.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, getting all the schools to um to do the same thing.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's got the potential of the idea, it's already global, it's already broad, it's already creative, but it it does have scope to be expanded.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: And in terms of the World Literacy Foundation, how have you found working with that organization, our organization, um, because you've obviously met lots of people at the summit, but you can see that then we've got a task force going in September to the United Nations to put the issue of literacy on the front and center.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Is this is this an organization that you have found that you resonate quite well with because they have a similar vision?
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, of course.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, from Andy uh Rosario, with who we've been working a lot these past few weeks, and we met Sam, who's not part of uh the World Literacy Foundation, but who is involved.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um we also met uh Andrew's son.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they're doing great work, yeah, amazing what they're doing.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: Great work on other projects.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so no, there is like a positivism that's really uh invigorating for us.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that's the way we like to work as well.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I think you have to have that kind of utopian way of thinking a little bit to have a charity and to to and of course the way we made this project, it there is kind of a crazy side, uh but utopian and positive.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: But that's what we found uh with the with the organization and and surely with Andrew as well.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: I love them, they're they're very passionate about what they do.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: They are global, so we're talking with people like everywhere in the world, yeah.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Panama, in the UK, in Australia, Africa, America, yeah, everywhere.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Just amazing.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, they're actually quite easy to work with, they really act as a startup, so they move fast, they take decisions.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: Andrew is involved, and then the rest of the team.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: So this is very interesting the way they operate, so they are very effective, uh, and efficient, and uh, yeah, just lovely people to uh to work with.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: So we we talked, like uh Stefan said, to at least 10 charities, and they really were the ones who who stood up and uh were really driven by passion and gave us the envy to work with them.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's a really good point, Ben, because obviously I work with them and I do the podcast regularly.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: But I think your point is really valid, and it sounds like you're also of a similar ilk, both of you, in that you've actually you've actioned something.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like a lot of people talk about things and a lot of people, you know, come up with ideas, but that's one thing the World Literacy Foundation does is they action.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: If something works and resonates for them, they will step up and step in, which is what you're saying they've done with you, with this incredible collaboration.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: In terms of what you've learned through this process, what have been the greatest challenges trying to get this up and trying to get it on slave, you know?
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think something you said in the beginning was one of the biggest challenges to make something very conceptual, uh tangible.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: So that was uh complex to make every step easy to pass for every person who wants to participate.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then, yeah, creating something visually striking.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's why we got our own font.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, there's a my name is Inc.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: Font.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: You can download it on the site as well.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: I like that font.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: I really like that font.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: I wondered that it's like a chalkboard.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's our uh graphic designer Loja Menocchi, uh, who created it.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that's why we called it Binochink.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it's on the website for download.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: So it was that idea of okay, we're gonna try and use as um less visual visuals as possible because you're trying to push the written word, but we live in a visual world, Instagram, so that was a challenge to try and find that balance between only words and and and still have something striking, and and as you say, pure and and and nice uh with the website.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I think for me, one of the key challenges is the bandwidth.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, as you can see, we're very passionate, so a ton of ideas were coming out of this head and this head, and the heads I can say for the five other people who are with us, and to channel this, to organize this, to be able to deliver on all this energy when it's a side project is is uh is sometimes a challenge that for now is working well, but for truly to truly make this a success, we need the support of more people.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why we are so happy we have the opportunity to do the podcast today.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's why limited space is amazing and they are giving us uh a part of their network.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: That's why Mont Blanc is great.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, but we need more of those to make it a success.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: We started something, we planted the seed, but it's really a group effort, you know, it's a humanitarian effort.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: So we need more people to support by participating, by talking about it.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's how we will make it uh a success.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: So we're giving everything we can in terms of time and passion and energy, but for this to expand, we need everyone to participate and uh and tag along.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, all I can say is thank goodness that you too do have the energy and your team, the energy and the passion to do this because I I do think it's innovation is very much to your point, um, Stefan, that you know, a lot of what we see is highly visual, and what you've done is quite streamlined.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I found quite impressive.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: And the consequence of that is you're engaging in a new and different way.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so I found it really accessible.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's why you'll get more people coming on board because of the way that you have presented it, and it's not easy.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I I have, you know, I have great respect for what you've created, and I'm very excited.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: I have a feeling this is just the beginning of something quite extraordinary in the literacy space.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: There's something in that order, just uh there's something like this project is now has it life, his life of its own or her life of its of her own.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and uh we are tagging along, like it's it it's been so organic in the way it was created.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: Now it's here, and so many people are getting involved.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: And as Ben just said, and it's fun.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's like okay, now we're holding on and seeing where it is going.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_02: But as you just said, we feel like it's going to be something bigger than uh than we are expecting.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, I'm very grateful and thank you so much for giving us a really great insight into what you are, what your mission is, and you're like little revolutionaries, you know, driving this very, very important issue out into the stratosphere.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: And that takes courage, time, and energy.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I know because you're working on two major other full-time projects and work and everything, but it shows that if we all just did our bit in this way, what we can we can change the world.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: And let's hope that that this literacy revolution, as I call it, is is going to get the momentum that we want because it's a travesty that there are people out there that can't read and write.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: And the World Literacy Foundation and yourselves are on a mission to change that.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd like to thank you for joining me on the Beyond Words Global Literacy Podcast.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure we'll touch base again in the next few months and see how you're how you're faring and how you're tracking.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: Great.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you a lot for uh the opportunity, Libra.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks.