TOOLKITCREATIVITY FOR THE COMMON GOODMARCH 4-11

During 7 Days of Genius, people around the world come together and, through the arts, design, technology and more, explore new genius ideas to improve lives.

WHAT’S YOUR GENIUS IDEA?We believe genius ideas can come

from anyone, anywhere. By being

part of 7 Days of Genius, you help

create a culture of genius that

connects people across borders

and interests, inspire intellectual

inquiry and provide the space

where new solutions to some of

our biggest challenges can emerge.

PLAN A 7 DAYS OF GENIUS EVENTThis toolkit provides you with resources to host a 7 Days of Genius event, including:

1 . Overview

2. 2018 Topic Areas

3. Sample Events & Activations

4. Social Media Messages & Tips

5. Using 92Y to amplify your 7 Days of Genius event

6. Marketing assets & logos

7. 92Y Contacts & Timeline

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C R E AT I V I T Y F O R T H E C O M M O N G O O D

Your genius event can be a public lecture, a workshop, a community activity, an art project or even a Twitter chat or Facebook Live. It can take place any time during the week of March 4-11, 2018. Let us know what you’re planning and use #7DaysofGenius so we can share your event.

OVERVIEW

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7 DAYS OF GENIUS CHECK LIST ■ Pick Topic

■ Choose an Event Format

■ Set a Date

■ Let us Know. Submit Your Event at 92Y.org/genius

Whether you’re interested in science or the arts, civic engagement or city design, there are many paths to genius ideas.

For 2018, we’ve identified 7 genius “tracks.” Choose one of the following areas as the focus for your genius event or activation. Once you’ve chosen your area, you can use some of our sample events to plan your own.

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• How can the arts bring people together in a new way? • How can the arts address a local or global challenge? • How do artists offer a new way to explore, process and ultimately address these challenges?

• How can design address inequality? • How can design improve the lives of people in need (for example hospital patients,

the homebound, refugees or prisoners?) • How can design encourage people to become more empathetic?

• How can entrepreneurs improve quality of life around the world? • What are new enterpreneurial ways to help people live healthier lives? • What local problem needs fresh thinking or a new approach?

• What are new ways to achieve a more equitable environment and fairness for all people? • What is an issue people in the community can rally around? • How can creative thinking bring disparate groups together to address a social concern?

• How can we use science to tackle worldwide challenges like poverty, hunger, climate change, the refugee crisis and more?

• What scientific breakthroughs will improve our lives in the future? • How can we ensure all people have access to scientific advances?

• How can cities address the challenges we may face in the future? • How can communities better serve all members of society? (for example by being more

accessible for the eldery or the disabled) • How can communities be better designed to bring people together?

• What is a new way to use technology to bring people together? • How can technology solve a local challenge? • What can and should technology and social media companies do to address the spread of disinformation and polarization?

Arts & Culture

Design

Entrepreneurship

Civic engagement

Science

Architecture & urban planning

Technology

TOPIC AREAS

Host a community event that takes on a local or global challenge. Have an event where people collaborate on a creative way to solve a local or global challenge.

• 2017 Case Study: In Hungary, local entrepreneurs at Impact Hub Budapest presented ideas to better welcome migrants, including a public platform to match refugees with volunteers.

• 2017 Case Study: In Nairobi, Kenya, students with the educational organization Global Minimum created mod-els for homes of the future that will help advance sustainability.

Organize a public lecture or keynote. Invite an expert or group of experts to talk about the new ideas in their field that will have a lasting social impact. Be creative! Mix people across industries and areas of expertise. Have a scientist talk with an artist or a musician talk with an architect.

• 2017 Case Study: In London, at the RSA (the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), journalist, Rutger Bregman, author of Utopia for Realists, discussed how imagination and creative thinking can be used to address some of the world’s biggest challenges.

Curate a group art project. Bring your community together and use art to solve a local problem or draw atten-tion to pressing social issues.

• 2017 Case Study: In Nepal, local arts nonprofit Spiny Babbler held 2 weeks of workshops for grade school students in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur and Sindhupalchok in which young people created art around social issues including inequality, migration, health and more. Their work was then featured during 7 Days of Genius in a pop-up exhibitian at the Patan Museum, and was viewed by more than 500 people.

Host a genius pitch night. Identify 2-3 people in your community working on new ideas that have the poten-tial for social impact. Invite each to describe their innovations. Open up to audience questions.

• 2017 Case Study: In Rome, Impact Hub Roma featured the founders of new start-ups on work, travel & food for good, including services that make it easier for local people to volunteer, help refugees and support job training for incarcerated people.

Design a workshop. Invite experts in a field to work with students or people new to it. The experts can discuss their own projects while mentoring others as they develop new ideas.

• 2017 Case Study: In Romania, local architects and architecture students with EcoWeek held workshops on how sustainable design and “healing gardens” can be used to rehabilitate aging hospitals in their city.

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IDEAS FOR EVENTS

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Pre-event:

• Announce your event on social.

• Sample tweet: “So excited to join @92Y & partners around the world celebrating #7DaysofGenius.” Link to the event announcement on your own website. If you don’t have a website, consider using Meetup to advertise your event.

• Plan to livestream your event? Let us know at least 24 hours in advance so we can alert our audience and ask them to tune in.

During your event:

• Share pictures on Instagram and Facebook of your speakers and partic-ipants. Post powerful quotes and use #7DaysofGenius.

• Livestream your event. Facebook Live is an easy way to stream. Consider doing pre or post Facebook Live interviews with guests.

• Sample Facebook Live post: “Live now! We’re at {Blank} exploring the power of genius and creativity to change the world. Tune in as part of #7DaysofGenius w/@92ndstreetY.”

• Record a short video of your event. Gather some comments from speakers, participants and audience about the topic you are exploring and the event.

Post-event:

• Share pictures and/or video and a quick recap of the ideas and topics you explored. We will post these on 92Y’s 7 Days of Genius blog.

7 Days of Genius is a digital festival, and we encourage everyone to use #7DaysofGenius to join the conversation.

Follow @92Y social accounts and tag us so we can share your content

@92Y @92ndstreetY 92ndstreetyFacebook “f ” Logo CMYK / .ai Facebook “f ” Logo CMYK / .ai

Host a Facebook Live

• 2017 Case Study: Public Radio International hosted a Facebook Live on how journalism can evolve beyond fake news. PRI reporter Ruya Shenoy and Nieman Journalism Lab’s Joshua Benton discussed fake news and the structural, technical and cultural innovations being made to combat it.

Host a Twitter chat

• 2017 Case Study: The Luz Maria Foundation engaged the online community in a Twitter chat focused on new ways to achieve gender equality, amplify and strengthen women in positions of power.

SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGING & TIPS

We want to share what you are doing in your city or town. Make sure to keep us posted as your events come together. Some things to remember:

• Use the form on our website to submit the date/time/topic and format of your event so we can add you to our 7 Days of Genius map and events roundup. Don’t worry! We will remind you closer to the festival about what details we need.

• Follow up on social media and tag us in posts so we can share.

• Post-event, send us pictures, and a recap.

Marketing assets and logos: Download the 7 Days of Genius logo now

92Y timeline: January 2018 • Review the toolkit

• Choose a date between March 4 and 11, 2018, for your event

• Identify a topic and a format

• Contact potential speakers and participants

• Register your event as soon as possible at 92Y.org/Genius

February 2018 • Announce your event on your site and social media. Use logos and the hashtag #7DaysofGenius

• Share the details with 92Y

• Reach out to any local partners who can help amplify your event

• Late February: Consider sending out a short press release to local media

March 4-11, 2018 • Host your event! And follow #7DaysofGenius to see what others around the world are doing as well • Send us a recap of your event so we can feature it on our 7 Days of Genius blog

TELL YOUR STORY AND GET INVOLVED #7DAYSOFGENIUS

For questions, ideas and resources, contact Julie Mashack, 92Y senior producer, at 212.415.5607 or JMashack@92Y.org.

AMPLIFY YOUR 7 DAYS OF GENIUS