I am Ian Forrester
I do things in the grey area between established boundries
I tweet @cubicgarden
Senior Producer at BBC R&D, emergent technology expert and serial Manchester and London social geek event organiser.
- Who are you and what do you do?
I'm a senior producer in BBC R&D. I regularly speak/work on creativity, grassroots disruption and the advantages of the darknet
- How did you get into what you do?
I worked in a startup during 2000 and didn't really like the emphasis on huge amounts of profit. So after the dotcom crash in 2001, I worked as a lecturer in Ravensbourne college for 3 years before deciding to move to either the BBC or the Government. Months later, applied for 2 BBC jobs and got both, choose the World Service as a XSL developer. Later I moved across into BBC R&D through BBC Backstage
- Why do you do what you do?
I love finding the future in the grassroots tucked away from the mainstream.
- What advice would you give for someone wanting to follow a similar path?
Start a blog, do what you love, be prepared to inspire others and drop your ego. Its also important to go your own way... be inspired but if its not you, don't do it if you can help it. Finding your own path is the road to happiness, even if you get it wrong quite a few times.
- What has been your biggest achievement to date and why was it special?
I don't care to count my achievements by size... Some of the tiny discussions I've had, have changed peoples directions. It might only be one person but that person might do something incredible and become something they never thought they could be in the past... I'm happy that I can help inspire others to be the best they can be. Some of this might be through London Geekdinner, BarCampLondon/Manchester, my work at BBC Backstage including Hackdays, etc, etc. I expect there will be many more chances to inspire in the future.
- What has been your biggest mistake to date and what did you learn from it?
Biggest mistake is simply not taking enough care of my own health. Drinking stupid amounts of caffeine everyday was never going to end well.
Now I don't drink Coffee at home or work and even when I do have coffee, its not the super dense stuff made into triple espressos. I'm also very choosy about what drinks I have now. I won't drink it simply because its there, I'd rather hold out for something special which I can really enjoy- What inspires you?
I'm inspired by people who are passionate, open and unselfish about there ideas and thoughts...
