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Our think-tank members, aka Transformers, gathered in rainy Vaduz on 31 August for the annual Transformers’ Day. We escaped to a remote house on Sevelerberg, on the opposite side of the valley across the river that parts Liechtenstein and Switzerland. We consciously stepped “out of the box” for a day of connecting with our dear members who came from more than six countries.
The venue was a 500 year old house that has been carefully renovated by a passionate local from Vaduz for the past five years. Perfect for a thoughtful gathering, this beautiful building supported us by affording a place of calm, and a touch of mysticism with the fog lying around the trees and hills that frame the land.
It is important to us that we create meaningful experiences rather than just meetings and workshops like those ones we’re so used to. We jointly tackled the challenge of having a barbecue over open fire with rain pouring down non-stop. With our joined forces there were fires burning within minutes and we prepared our veggies and bratwurst from a local butcher on sticks we cut from the Hazel trees growing around the house. We sat down as a family manner to enjoy our self-prepared meal and get to know each other even better.
For the official part of the Transformers’ Day, under the motto “know thyself”, we digitally connected with Chris Dancy – referred to as the most connected human being – for an insight into his research and knowledge around self awareness in the digital modern. Chris became the “mindful cyborg” through tracking every minute of his days for years, collecting data on his everyday behaviour and performance to then optimize it for the better. “Gaining such insight into my own life has definitely shown me many things. For example the simple cognition of how much time I spent being angry or sad, would let me understand myself and improve life for the better.” Chris has used all kinds of digital tools and apps to get as much data about himself as possible – an example of a fearless intercourse with the possibilities offered by advanced technology.
The second part of Transformers’ Day was getting to know each other in a more hands on way. We held a quick introduction session to match names and faces with three hashtags – all captured on a long piece of canvas – that by the end of the day was full of quotes and drawings. We then had the pleasure of partaking in a workshop around the Sustainable Development Goals with Marc Buckley. Bringing our own context into the larger context of “the blue marble”. His speech was another reminder that it is time to actively do something for a better planet. Marc emphasised the importance of revolutionising the food and agriculture industry. “The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) are a planet protection plan and all the goals are intrinsically tied to food. In the context of the Maslow’s hierarchy, where food and nutrition is the bottom layer of our basic needs as humans; agriculture, food and beverage revolution is basically the highway to stop and reverse global warming.” Marc pointed out that we must find a systematic view of, and approach to, the world’s problems and integrate the SDGs in our lives and how we do business. With responsible air, food and agricultural approaches, humanity must find new ways to manage the finite resources.
Looking at all these faces, we can only be utterly thankful.
Thank you, Anton, Arthur, Arun, Bill, Claudia, Dmitry, Eva, Henri, Julia, Julia, Kai, Marc, Pico, Ralf, Reto, Rudi, Regina, Selina, Tobias & Yang!!! Thank You.
And with a little sentiment, we left the beautiful “Hostet” and returned to Vaduz for a dinner with (new) friends. At Njord Restaurant we connected our Transformers with the broader network of THE HUS and once more experienced the exceptional hospitality of our Transformer, Claudia!
The transformers community is global and free of denomination or any heritage. It is driven by its contributors’ energies. It’s about their ideas and the spirit that emerges from their peaceful, respectful and resolute collaboration. Transformers join the community for a period of time – and leave once they feel their mission is accomplished.
The community lives as a swarm of like-minded human beings without a central steering committee, but instead a little nudging here and there from its spiritual founders.
– Outtake from the Transformers’ Program by Christopher & Rudi