DAY 39, THE STARTING LINE

|| day 39 || 21 February || THE STARTING LINE || The Campaigns &  Negotiations Team met at six o’clock in studio 2. ‘Good morning,  everyone,’ Alice said, standing at the centre of the conference table, close to the large windows at the back of the studio, not far from a freestanding blackboard. ‘We have a tight schedule this morning, but I’d like to take a moment to introduce each of you and to highlight your tasks within this team since not all of us have worked together before.’ Alice smiled at Andy. ‘I go by alphabetical order and start with you, my friend.’ Andy blushed and returned the smile with a nod while Alice continued, letting her eyes wander across the faces of her team. ‘Andy is the head of the Programming Team and my deputy. He has been an indispensable rock throughout the project, and,’ Alice looked at Andy again, ‘I’m very grateful to have you on board.’ ‘I wouldn’t be anywhere else,’ Andy replied, his blush deepening. Alice smiled and continued. ‘Andy will be responsible for the simulations we might need for our campaigns, and he will stand in for me whenever I’m not available.’ Alice’s eyes found Constance. ‘Constance is a member of the Crafts Team, a talented craftswoman and a person with a good business mind. Finding a viable role for crafts in our town’s composition is a major task of our project. Since craftspeopleship has a long tradition in the UK, we hope that putting a focus on crafts will increase the support for our project. Constance, welcome to the team, and thank you for being here.’ ‘It’s an honour, and I look forward to getting to know you all.’ Alice smiled and turned to Dana. ‘Dana. I know that you, too, would love to split yourself and be at the building site as well as here. I am glad you decided to prioritise this team.’ Dana smiled. ‘I want to be right here when the bleeding polluters and the short-sighted exploiters of the natural world try to argue against our project!’ ‘Good,’ Alice returned and addressed the group again. ‘Dana is the head of our Ecology and Agriculture Team. Apart from disarming the opposition, it will be Dana’s task to illustrate what coexisting with nature can mean and how the town will contribute to solutions for restoring the planet’s ecosystems.’ Dana nodded and added: ‘We’ll focus on those environmental issues which are particularly problematic in the UK such as the pollution of rivers, declining air quality, deforestation, unsustainable farming, overfishing.’ Alice nodded and turned to Dennie who straightened and let out an ‘Oops! Is it my turn?’ Alice chuckled. ‘Yes, it is. Dennie is a member of our Project Security Team and has been part of my security detail since last summer. Just a few weeks ago, he took a bullet for me—’ ‘—Ah, don’t mention it!’ Alice smiled. ‘Well, someone is bound to ask why your arm is in a cast.’ ‘Good point. But still …’ Alice and Dennie exchanged a smile, and Alice continued. ‘Dennie has always impressed me with his inherent ease. This makes him an ideal person to test ideas with because he treats each idea without fuss or bias. As the most chilled person I know, I tasked him to keep an eye on our sanity and to tell us off if we get too entangled in our ideas and perceptions. Furthermore Dennie will be available to answer all security questions by the public or by politicians. He is our main link to THE, the security company, who will provide protection for us and who will help with research. In addition Dennie and Jack will offer voice and acting training.’ ‘I was only a smalltime actor,’ Dennie commented. ‘Nothing big. Just helping out.’ Alice smiled and continued. ‘Emine. I still remember that day in Berlin when I stood on the roof of the team house, and you suddenly appeared, smiling your big smile, and you told me that you’d like to join the main team in London. I’m so glad you made that decision, and I’m grateful you stuck with us despite the lack of a site for our town. Emine, you and Javiera are excellent lawyers, and I’m glad to have you both in central roles: you working with us, and Javiera with the Building Site Team.’ Addressing everyone again, Alice went on. ‘Emine is a member of the Admin and Society Team. Her main tasks are to advise and protect us in all legal matters, to react to all legal attacks on our team and to be present at negotiations with the government. Emine, thank you for being with us.’ ‘Thank you for having me, Alice and everyone. It’s a dream. We’ll get so much opposition, and me and my team can’t wait to fend them all off.’ Alice smiled and turned to Hayley. ‘Hayley leads the Tech Innovations Team, a team, I realised over the weekend, which I have been taking for granted without paying them much attention.’ ‘Hear, hear,’ Hayley returned with a lopsided smile. Alice smiled back and continued. ‘All the more, I look forward to working with you, and I have high hopes that our tech honeypot will attract a lot of interest. The honeypot includes our top notch tech, supplied by our project companies highFly, straight forward systems, two wheels and the Hub. Also included is our balanced approach to tech which asks where tech is an advantage and where better options are available.’ Hayley nodded. ‘Just as info,’ she said. ‘I’ll have one or two people on my team who can help with tech problems you might have. You can talk to me whenever it’s about content for a campaign or for a speech.’ Alice nodded and Hayley added: ‘It’s really strange to be here. I’m glad I’m not the only newbie. I’ve heard so much about working with you directly, Alice. I hope I’ll not come across too bluntly. It’s just, I’ll have to get used to you lot. I can be a bit strange when it comes to new people, and I don’t know how you’re about lesbians. Also, yes, I am a wheelchair user. I was run over as a child and lost the use of my legs at nine. I don’t need anyone’s pity or help. I’m a happy tech geek in a great relationship. I’m glad to be on this project. And obviously a bit nervous about suddenly finding myself in this exclusive club.’ Dennie chuckled. ‘Nah, this is no exclusive club. We’re such a nicely weird mix of people. I looked us up. We’re from almost every continent, we represent most ages, all sorts of lifestyles, gender and sexual preferences, all sorts of abilities and so-called disabilities, all sorts of heights and sizes, all sorts of pasts and professions. There are stubborn and blunt people here, quiet and clever people, playful and reckless people — and at least one funny person,’ Dennie added with a grin. ‘You see, nothing to worry about. And I’m new, too. I know Alice, Andy and Jack. I’ve seen some more of you around. But this is my first time getting involved on the content side of the project. And, yeah, it’s a bit daunting. But we’re OK.’ Hayley chuckled. ‘Sanity boy, eh?’ ‘That would be me!’ ‘Thanks. That helped.’ ‘I’m gay, too,’ Marita said. ‘Oh, I didn’t know.’ ‘I’m also from South America,’ Navarro chipped in. ‘I, too, have special abilities,’ Heather said, taking off her sunglasses. ‘Me and Alice can easily match your bluntness,’ Skye added. Alice chuckled and said: ‘Maybe we can take some extra time over our meals in the first days to get to know each other a little better.’ ‘That would be good,’ Constance said. ‘Like Hayley, I feel a little overwhelmed, being one of the few new people on this team.’ Alice nodded. ‘We’ll do that. Now, I’ll press on.’ Alice looked at Heather who stirred and asked: ‘Are you looking at me, Alice?’ Alice smiled. ‘Yes. I’m looking at you, and I’m smiling, Heather.’ Addressing the team, Alice continued. ‘When I put together this team, I wanted people with a clear focus on one of our main topics, but I also wanted those who bring something special to our team. Heather is one of those people and that on many levels. Heather is the co-head of our project’s paper ripples news, she is our link to the media and she usually works with every town team on questions of accessibility, smells, textures, stability, sound and whatever else might impact a blind person’s experience in our town. But there is more. Because some of Heather’s senses are so fine-tuned, she can ask questions that don’t occur to me. Therefore, I suggest that we make a point of checking ideas with Heather for additional input. Heather, thanks for being with us.’ ‘Thank you for having me, Alice.’ Alice turned to Isabel who was sitting next to her. ‘Isabel is a member of the Business Team. She and her family are my neighbours in the Back House. Kuruk, her seven years old son, told me this morning: “If you need anything, you just have to say. Dad and I are on standby.”’ Several people chuckled and Alice addressed Isabel. ‘Isabel, I remember how we developed the dot.idea together. John was there, too.’ ‘Oh, yes,’ John (business) mumbled with a half-smile, and Alice went on. ‘To think that dot. is by now an established international clothing company and one of the foundations of our business networks — unbelievable. After that we didn’t get to work together much, and even as neighbours we often rush past each other. I’m glad to have this opportunity to work with you again.’ ‘Me, too,’ Isabel said with a smile. Alice continued. ‘Isabel is our art director and head coordinator for our campaigns.’ Isabel nodded and said: ‘Each campaign will get a team which will work closely with me and with our team.’ Dennie (security) raised a hand. ‘I’m a bit unclear on that point. The who is who with regard to campaigns.’ Isabel nodded. ‘Our first step is to collect ideas for campaigns which aim at increasing the support for our project. Next we dig deeper to explore the potentials of each campaign idea, and eventually we will select the most promising ideas.’ ‘How many campaigns do you have in mind, Isabel?’ Emine (lawyer) asked. Isabel picked up a note and replied: ‘We want to start our campaigns in a week. That gives us a maximum of thirty-two days for campaigns. We could start new campaigns every day.’ Some team members mumbled doubtfully, and Raiden (town simulation) said: ‘We’d cover a lot of ground that way, but we would probably lose the public’s interest halfway through.’ Several people nodded and Alice said: ‘I’d suggest a period of seven days in which we start four to seven campaigns each day, and after that we focus on the most successful campaigns.’ Several people frowned and Hayley (tech) said: ‘I think four campaigns a day is the absolute maximum, like every three hours a fresh bang.’ Isabel made a note and then said: ‘Valid point. Once we’ve chosen our campaigns, I’ll put together teams for every campaign. Each team will have a team leader who reports to me, and I report to our team. Any input you want to add to a campaign, you let me know. And that’s it.’ Dennie twitched his mouth to one side. ‘So, once all campaigns are set up, we can go on holidays?’ Alice smiled. ‘We hope the negotiations will keep us busy by then. And we’ll deal with the responses to the campaigns.’ ‘Ah, no holidays, then.’ ‘Nope,’ Alice returned and checked her notes and took a moment to collect her thoughts. When she looked up again, her eyes met Jack’s, and she smiled a little while his face was blank. ‘Jack. When I thought about these introduction, yesterday, I remembered our first meeting at the party in New York. And it struck me that you were the first person in New York I spoke to about the project, even before I met with Tom. You have literally been with the project from the very beginning. Back then, I told you that it would be great if you joined the team because while the team would need many experts, it would also need people with a playful mind.’ Jack smiled a little and returned: ‘I remember. You said you had seen my playfulness on screen and hoped it wasn’t all acting.’ Alice smiled and addressed the team. ‘That’s true. And I remember working with Andy and Jack on the simulation, months later, noticing that Andy and I have this slightly obsessive way of digging deep and being so focused on our work that we forget everything around us. In contrast, working with Jack is much more random, playful, like a dance, whirling in and out of ideas. I think, both approaches are needed for our town and for our Campaigns and Negotiations Team. I’m glad that every one of you has their own way of thinking, and I hope that we will make the most of everything each of us has to offer. Jack is a member of the Arts Team. Apart from working with us, he will be our link to the film teams. The film teams document everything that happens at Jellybridge Estate, in our companies and at our campaigns. The teams are also available to film anything we might need for our campaigns. If you have an idea for a spot or a short, Jack is the one to talk to. Plus, Jack will be our liaison to other celebrities and charities who might support our campaigns.’ Alice met Jack’s eyes again. ‘Jack, we haven’t always worked together, but whenever we did, we were an excellent team. I’m grateful that you are here. Thank you.’ Jack bowed his head. Alice smiled a little and turned to John. ‘John. I remember you from the first meeting we had at Tom’s estate. A businessman through and through, curious but also certain that I must be wrong.’ John inclined his head with a little smile and said: ‘I couldn’t have put it better myself.’ Alice smiled. ‘John is a member of the Business Team. Like me, he doesn’t like to be hugged and neither of us is particularly happy when a room is crammed with people. So, if you find us broody in such a situation, it’s nothing personal.’ ‘As such,’ John added. Alice smiled and went on. ‘While I was a little annoyed about John at that first meeting, I have come to value the clarity of his incredibly organised mind, and he as well as his partner Beatrice have become something like a safety net for me. If I can convince both of them of an idea, then I don’t have to worry. We might still be wrong, but no one could accuse us of sloppy thinking. Beatrice is the head of the Admin Team. She is part of the Building Site Team and will be our safety net at the Jellybridge Estate. She told me, yesterday, that the Building Site Team already contacted the mayors in the Jellybridge region in the hope of interesting them in our project. Back to John. John is the go-to person for all numbers, be it statistics, numbers to prove the viability of an idea, or numbers to substantiate our arguments. I’d like us to use numbers wherever we can because they are easy to understand.’ John nodded and said: ‘Since it’s a common practice to use numbers to whitewash claims, we want to be particularly transparent and coherent with regard to our numbers.’ Alice nodded and looked at Marita. ‘Marita is a member of the Economics Team and holds degrees in economics and psychology. Marita’s speciality is to read the room and to find twists and angles we can use in our campaigns and more importantly in our negotiations.’ Marita nodded and said: ‘As someone who is new in this group, too, and reading the room now, I’d like to suggest something unconventional for tomorrow. Would everyone agree to block ninety minutes in the morning for a meeting, and give us new people a chance to ask some questions?’ Most people smiled, everyone nodded, and Alice said: ‘Thank you, Marita. I am in turbo-speed mode, but, please, never let that stop any of you to call for a break or for a special meeting.’ Everyone nodded and Alice turned to Navarro. ‘Navarro. We first met in the team house in Buenos Aires, and we had the most intriguing conversations.’ Navarro smiled. ‘A person of short stature with a big head, you said.’ Alice chuckled. ‘To me, you are indispensable, both for the town project and for this team. I’m glad you’re here.’ ‘Now, you’re making me blush.’ ‘Good.’ Alice exhaled and addressed the team. ‘Navarro is a member of the Society Team, an incredible thinker and always a pleasure to talk to, to develop ideas with and to explore anything that might need a rethink. His main task will be to think with us and to add content and reasoning to our campaign ideas, to our speeches and to our negotiations.’ Navarro bowed his head and Alice turned to Raiden. ‘Raiden is a member of the Programming Team and will supervise the town simulation for the negotiations. That means, his team will listen in on discussions and negotiations, and whenever there is a point the team can substantiate via the town simulation, they will do it and sent the results directly to us. Raiden is also involved in a number of business simulations, so John and Marita, if you need any data, Raiden can help you. Plus Raiden is the go-to person when you get stuck. He has this kind of incredible mind which produces possible solutions in its sleep. On a side note: like me, Raiden is non-binary, and while we don’t mind the pronouns associated with some of our body parts, neither of us likes to be addressed as a person of a binary gender.’ Several people nodded and Alice looked at Raiden again. ‘You joined Andy’s team in September, and I remember, how, at first, I was a little dubious about you sitting in on some of my meetings with Andy, but I’ve come to fully appreciate your talents and your dedication. Thank you for being on this team.’ Alice exchanged a smile with Raiden and looked at her notes. When she looked up again, she found Robin’s eyes and shook her head, smiling. ‘Robin, when you joined the project team, in the first week of our project, I had no idea that the leading expert for progressive education had arrived from Cairo. When I heard about it, I couldn’t believe it. Then we met to discuss whether you’d be willing to head the Education Team, and I was blown away by your incredible mix of a sharp mind, a huge heart, and an openness to keep exploring even when you think you have found an answer. Robin, it is an honour to have you on the team. And as the most mature and most renowned person on this team, I have asked you to also keep an eye on our sanity so that we don’t lose our footing in the marathon ahead of us.’ ‘Alice, you’re too kind,’ Robin returned. ‘I love the town project, and everyone here has so much to give. I’m happy to support you in every possible way.’ ‘Thank you, Robin. Like Dennie and Heather, Robin will also be a tester of all our ideas. And she will be our direct link to Fran and her Research Team. Furthermore Robin will act as an advocate for education issues, and she will be our joker should any talks or negotiations include questions around the British education system. And this brings me to our next joker, tester and sanity watcher: Skye. As the head of the Care Team and as a former nurse, Skye will be our joker should anyone bring the NHS into play. As someone who gets easily passionate about critical issues, Skye will also be a prodder and challenger of our ideas.’ Skye smiled. ‘You bet! But aren’t you going to say anything nice about me?’ Alice laughed and with a lopsided smile, she said: ‘I want to. But I can’t decide what to say. I love the way you think. I love working and arguing with you. And I like your passionate sense of humour and your directness. But none of this paints a complete picture. I think you’re great, and I’m very glad to have you on the team.’ Skye grinned. ‘I think that will do for now.’ Alice chuckled and turned to Troy. ‘Troy, I can’t wait to see your work for our campaigns. The first time, I became fully aware of your talents was during our football matches at Tom’s when you did caricatures of the funniest scenes in the matches and of the best goals. I remember one caricature where Tom and I slipped, and you portrayed us in that moment of falling.’ Troy smiled and, smiling herself, Alice addressed the whole team. ‘Troy is the youngest member of our team, a member of the Arts Team, and an excellent illustrator. We want our campaigns to be as easy to understand as possible. Therefore I’d like us to use as many visuals as we can think up.’ Troy nodded and said: ‘I have a super talented team, and if we need more people, we can get them. We do everything from humour to totally serious, from icons to charts, from caricatures to complete comics. Oh, and billboards for campaigns and illustrations for ads, speeches and negotiations. You just have to say what you need.’ ‘Thank you, Troy,’ Alice said. ‘And thank you for being on our team.’ ‘Glad to be here. Really glad.’ ‘Great. And that’s us nearly done with the introductions.’ ‘What about you and your tasks?’ Dennie challenged with a smile. Alice twitched the corner of her mouth and said: ‘The negotiations are my priority and that includes talking to as many decisions-makers as possible. Other than that I’m prepared to be whatever is best for our campaigns. Though, I’ll not pretend to be someone I’m not.’ ‘Was that meant for me?’ Isabel (head of campaigns) asked with a half-smile. Alice shrugged. ‘Maybe. I don’t want us to go by a marketing playbook and become some smooth version of what we think people might respond to. I want us to be us. Just like our project is authentic and not something that  lures people into something. I want thinking people to support us not manipulated.’ Several people nodded and Alice looked at Rohana, who sat next to her. ‘You’ve all met Rohana, an excellent member of Leo’s team, my personal assistant for the coming weeks, head coordinator for this team, and already doing a great job. Rohana, you’re up.’ Alice sat down and Rohana stood up, saying: ‘I’ve assembled a team who will coordinate all your activities. Today and tomorrow, I’ll approach each of you individually to discuss what you might require over the next weeks, and I’ll introduce you to those of my team who will be working with you. Secondly, as you can see, my team prepared this studio for us and added desks, mobile cupboards, a simulation workstation with nine monitors, three conference tables, a bar and a stationary cupboard, as well as multiple sitting options: chairs, stools, squat chairs, cushions, yoga mats, hammocks, gymnastic balls, sofas, armchairs.’ ‘Love the hammocks,’ Skye (care), chipped in. ‘Thanks,’ Rohana returned. ‘On your desks, you’ll find a new laptop and phone, both with a live-connection to the simulations, both from our project company highFly. Also, feel free to make use of the three punchbags and the basketball hoops. But, please, check that no one in the studio minds the banging fists and balls. If there is anything else you need, let me or someone from my team know. We’ll move to the seventh floor of the Central Building on Friday, but we’ll probably  keep this space as retreat and workout space for our team. That’s all from me,’ Rohana said and sat down again. ‘Raiden, do you have news for us?’ Alice asked. Raiden (town simulation) stood up. ‘Yes, the new town simulation now uses the landscape data from the Jellybridge Estate. All town teams are adding data as we speak, and adjust their designs to the site’s peculiarities. The town teams hope to have completed the adjustments in four weeks.’ Raiden sat down and Andy (campaign simulations) added: ‘The workstation here is linked to the new town simulation and will also be connected to all other simulations we might use in our campaigns. From tomorrow on,  six programmers will be on duty at the workstation and process all our requests.’ Some team members nodded and Alice exchanged a glance with Dana (ecology) who stood up and said: ‘On Sunday and Monday, Alice, Raiden and I met with the heads of the town project to discuss the schedule for our town, should we get this site. We decided to complete the centre of the town first and let five to seven thousand people move in early—’ ‘—Why?’ several people interrupted surprised. ‘As a test,’ Dana replied. ‘There are a lot of unknowns in our plans and with the test we find out early what might need adjusting. We also hope that this precaution will earn us some additional trust for the negotiations.’ ‘Which areas will be completed first?’ John (business) asked, adding: ‘And what kind of timeframe are we talking about?’ Raiden (town simulation) replied: ‘We’ll prioritise the main street network, circle roads and star roads, the centre of the town, the neurological clinics and rehabs, the first two circles and the upper part of Central Avenue.’ Dana added: ‘If we start building on the first of April, we could open the centre of the town in September.’ Alice nodded. ‘This has the additional advantage that we would have something presentable quickly. And, next year, on April the first, the second anniversary of our town project, we could open the entire town.’ ‘That’s a tight schedule,’ Troy (illustrator) remarked. ‘It is,’ Alice returned. ‘But it will leave no one in doubt that we mean business and that there is an urgency involved in our work. We need that rethink, that reshaping, for our societies and for our planet. The sooner we can present viable results in our town the better.’ Heather (press) frowned. ‘This gives the Building Site Team less than six weeks to get ready for the building phase.’ ‘That might be a good thing,’ John (business) remarked. ‘We’ll need materials and machines. The longer our project is in the news, the more difficult and expensive it might become for us to get what we need. So our best course of action is to acquire both materials and machines now. If we have to wait months before we can use either, then our costs will skyrocket,  but if we can use them in six weeks, that’s workable.’ ‘Good point,’ Alice said. ‘Can you talk to the Building Site Team about that, and can you give us an update on the involvement of our project businesses for the town?’ ‘Of course,’ John said and stood up. ‘Alice, Rohana and I met with members of the project businesses to discuss which products we will need, for example: tools, phones, working clothes for the building phase, or furniture, crockery, paints for the future town. We can produce most of these products in our emerging business networks and decided to start the production of key items as soon as possible since all of these products could be sold to other customers should we not require them.’ Andy (campaign simulations) scratched his stubbly chin. ‘We should build a simulation to find out what exactly we need for the building site and also what exactly we need for our facilities and homes in town.’ John nodded. ‘I already talked to Daria and Light from your Programming Team, who head the  simulations team at the building site.’ Andy smiled. ‘Oh, good. Daria will have the numbers in no time.’ Alice nodded and said: ‘We also decided to push our international job shaking ideas to pave the way for our international teams and other international volunteers who want to help at our building site.’ Isabel (head of campaigns) smiled. ‘We could use this in the campaigns: Have a discussion about international work exchanges and the benefits for all involved.’ Heather (media) nodded. ‘And in a post: Illustrate  that we are an international team, working for everyone and with everyone, giving people opportunities to explore the world on their terms.’ Several people nodded and Dana stood up again. ‘I have more news. Alice and I met with Megan, head of Agriculture, to discuss the Agriculture Team’s progress with regard to food suppliers for goods like chocolate and coffee beans, tea, coconuts, spices and other exotic foods. Last summer several food and raw materials teams travelled around the world to find potential suppliers. There was some interest, but we put all bigger decisions on hold, until now. In the meeting with Megan, we had the idea to use our business networks to support suppliers. So far, many suppliers are dependent on corrupt contractors. But with our networks, we could create the sort of environment and distribution channels that allow the people to own their own lands, to sell at adequate prices, and to establish local economies. We could further support local economies by setting up dot.stations, book stations or any other of our future business stations, hubs for everything the community might want and need, and co-financed by a portion of the business’s incomes. This way farmers can protect themselves from exploiters and would have the freedom and means to set up local, slave-free and sustainable economies, take pressure off the plants by giving them time to rejuvenate and by restoring biodiversity. Restored nature, beneficial distribution channels and local economies will create ripple effects for the regions, too, as we’re already seeing at existing Hub and dot.stations.’ ‘This sounds good,’ John (business) said. ‘And these farmers would supply our business networks, too, not just the town?’ ‘Yes,’ Alice said. ‘That’s why we can sign contracts now. One way or another, we’ll have some demand for these goods.’ John (business) nodded and Raiden (town simulation) said: ‘Our team will build a simulation the farmers and distributors can use to determine sustainable output, habitat restoration, sustainable amounts for shipping, and viable pricing.’ ‘Good,’ Alice returned and Emine (lawyer) chuckled. ‘I must say, the concept of taking time off seems foreign to some of you, doesn’t it? I mean, Alice, you sent us on a three-days break.’ Several people chuckled and Jack (film) said: ‘I’ve been thinking the same.’ ‘I wouldn’t worry,’ Navarro (sociology) returned. ‘They will need rest at some point, and then we can present them with a long list of news the next day.’ Several people chuckled and Alice said: ‘One day I want to learn how to take time off — after we’ve started building our town.’ Several people laughed and Dennie said: ‘I’ll remind you.’ ‘Please, do. Anyway, these were all the updates on my list. Are there any questions or additions?’ Jack (film) nodded. ‘In between enjoying time with my children and resting, I spoke with some fellow actors who might be prepared to join our campaigns.’ ‘Great,’ Isabel (head of campaigns) said. ‘The more  recognisable people get involved the better.’ Alice smiled and said: ‘Thanks, Jack. OK. Let’s press on. From tomorrow on, we have another two days of seclusion, and we’ll focus on ideas for our campaigns and on the first press conference, which will be on Friday. And remember, our aim is to make it impossible for the government to ignore us. We want to give them good reasons to work with us, but we also hope to win enough public support to put pressure on the government so that they can’t refuse to negotiate with us. Let’s pop up wherever they go, in whatever they watch or listen to, and whenever they have their coffee or a snack. Plus, people like to talk. Let’s give them plenty to talk about.’ The team smiled and nodded. Alice continued. ‘On Thursday, we’ll  take a look at the reactions to the queen’s offer and probably make some adjustments to our ideas.’ Alice paused and looked at her team. ‘There is one thing, I forgot to bring up earlier. As a project we’re pretty transparent, but even we have a few classified corners, and in this room only Andy, Jack, Dennie and I know the details of what I’m going to tell you now. I spoke with the head of THE, the security company which provides security for our project, and we agreed that there are a few things you should know. However, we ask you to treat this information confidential.’ The members of the team nodded and many of them frowned. Alice continued. ‘At our first project conference, last May, and afterwards, Tom and I met with a number of influential people, most of them global players in the business world who hope to make some money with our town. These meetings were informal, and Tom and I left these businesspeople guessing whether or not we’d eventually open the doors of our project to their so-called investments. It was Tom’s idea to be evasive. He argued that our project should get stronger before facing backlashes from companies who usually eliminate their competition. THE kept an eye on these and on other players, and infiltrated a group THE calls The Illustrious Circle. Last summer, The Illustrious Circle ordered sabotages at Hub Stations, disrupted deliveries to our businesses, initiated the smear campaign, tried to bribe members of our team to leave the project, tried to infiltrate our teams, and attempted to put an end to our project. That changed when they discovered THE’s mole. Up to that point, the mole’s information meant that THE knew about attacks upfront and could prevent greater damages. With the mole exposed, THE gave the members of the Illustrious Circle a choice: “You can leave us alone, or we will bring you crushing down—”’ ‘—That’s blackmail,’ Navarro (sociology) interrupted. Alice nodded. ‘After my arrival in London, Any, the head of THE, whose real name I don’t know, and I had a long discussion about how to deal with these people. I’m not happy about the blackmail. But the power vacuum which would ensue if we put those people behind bars, would be less predictable.’ ‘Know your enemy?’ Constance (crafts) asked. ‘No,’ John (business) said. ‘It’s better, actually. Have leverage over your enemy.’ Alice nodded. ‘The Illustrious Circle still exists. Some notably ruthless members of this group have retired. But these people are still scheming. Only they can’t touch us, and they can’t do any major harm because that would be the end of them. My consolation is that our international business networks challenge the old narratives and practices of exploitation and profiteering. If our and similar projects can continue to inspire change in how we do business globally, then these players won’t have a footing in our societies for much longer, and we won’t have to worry about power vacuums any more. Saying all this, there are still other influential players who are not part of the Illustrious Circle and who have been reacting vehemently to our business expansion plans. We have no idea what anyone might throw at us now that we have the chance to get a site for our town, too. Why am I telling you this? We will have to meet with as many influential people as possible, and we will have to convince them that gambling and scheming is a fun thing in stories, but it has no place in the real world because at the end of the day, we all suffer the consequences. When we speak to people, THE will provide us with profiles of those people so we know a few things about them upfront. That’s where you might come across some associates of the Illustrious Circle, or some people Tom and I talked to. Generally speaking: I don’t want to make more enemies. I don’t want to play games. I don’t want to scheme or blackmail. Ideally, I want us to convince people that we are all in the same boat, and we can only get to that sunrise if we do a thorough rethink of practically everything instead of fighting and outsmarting each other. But beware that there is a lot going on behind closed doors, and also that there are likely to be people, especially politicians, who will try to use our campaigns to stir up fights, not necessarily with us but with some opposition. I don’t want to go deeper into this, but if you have questions, you can ask Dennie.’ ‘The attack in Russia, was that the Illustrious Circle, too?’ Skye (care) asked  quietly. ‘It doesn’t seem so,’ Dennie replied. ‘We never found out who the contractor was. But we guess that it was one of the global giant corporations.’ Alice nodded and looked at Navarro with a half-smile. ‘I know I’m rushing, but I’d like to start with ideas for campaigns before our first appointment. Are you ready, Navarro?’ Navarro (sociology) nodded, stood up, stepped on a platform next to his chair, near the blackboard, and said: ‘Alice and Isabel asked me to lead a brainstorming session for campaign ideas. And while I have a few questions regarding the updates and the revelations we just heard, I understand the need to make a start. Maybe we could include a daily team meeting for questions which had to be postponed.’ Alice and other team members nodded, and Rohana (coordination) said: ‘I’ll schedule it flexibly.’ ‘Thank you,’ Navarro returned and continued. ‘Leo’s street survey team have confirmed that we should focus our campaigns on the economy, tech, the environment and society. The team added that people are also worries about immigration. Last week, Alice made an important point when she reminded us that as a project we’ve been cooped up in a bubble, and that we need to step out of that bubble, even step away from our core arguments and find out which issues are relevant to people here so that we can illustrate how our project might be useful for them. And since we’re still part of the sitting-less experiment, I suggest that everyone who has an idea for a campaign, adds the keywords to the blackboard. Yes, Dennie?’ ‘Maybe we only write ideas on the blackboard when they pass something like a first test?’ Navarro smiled and several people chuckled. ‘I always thought that a certain laziness creates a practical mind. And I’ll do a U-turn on my suggestion.’ Dennie (security) smiled back. ‘Always happy to be of service.’ Navarro nodded. ‘Then let’s begin by just pushing out topics and ideas. I’ll make notes, and when we had enough of sitting and throwing around keywords, we’ll explore the most promising ideas further. Alice, will you kick off?’ Alice nodded. ‘Housing, homes, communities.’ Rohana (coordination): ‘Climate emergency, exploitation.’ Andy (campaign simulations): ‘Mental health crisis, polarisation, hate.’ Raiden (town simulations): ‘Water pollution.’ John (business): ‘Loneliness crisis.’ Marita (economics): ‘Bullies, traditions.’ Hayley (tech): ‘I’m supposed to say tech, right? But I want a millionaires boot camp where they can sweat out their unimaginative narratives.’ Several people chuckled. ‘Great. Keep it coming,’ Navarro called and Constance (crafts) said: ‘Connections campaign.’ Dana (ecology): ‘Food systems, food security, food waste. Private schools.’ Hayley (tech): ‘Whiteboards.’ Jack (film): ‘Clickbait.’ Heather (press): ‘I wanted to say that, Jack.’ ‘Sorry. I can say conspiracy theories instead.’ ‘Jack, you did it again.’ Heather and Jack chuckled, and Heather said: ‘I’ll take evolution then. A campaign that asks how we can evolve and rethink the mess we created. And I’d like to use Kahu’s universe stories. They are so powerful. Some of those stories address critical issues like failing governments, ending wars, restoring the planet, replacing crude oil. And they illustrate how people of other planets deal with these issues.’ Several people nodded and Troy (illustrator) said: ‘We could use comics to make our arguments.’ ‘What exactly do you mean?’ several people asked. ‘Say we do a campaign to dismantle narratives, the ones that cause harm. Comics could be part of that. We wouldn’t just visualise ideas in comic stories. We could take a critical narrative and pick it apart in a comic book, and make a case for alternatives.’ ‘I love it,’ several people said. Navarro grinned and pointed to the blackboard. ‘It seems we have an early entry for our blackboard.’ Hayley nodded. ‘I wonder whether we could get the gaming community on board, too. Have them create the sort of stories that make the adventure about finding out where a damaging narrative comes from and then develop the strategy to rewrite that narrative and see what the effects of the alternatives are for the planet.’ ‘Wow, that’s a good idea,’ Raiden said. ‘We could offer gamers input from our simulations.’ ‘Fantastic,’ Navarro applauded. ‘Keep it coming. Robin, you’re next.’ ‘Thank you,’ Robin (education) said. ‘It might be good to have three related campaigns: one for stories that dominate our lives and could do with a rethink, one for narratives, reviewing them and suggesting new ones, and one for comics, games, artworks, stories, focusing on visual and fictional cues for rethinking.’ Marita (economics) straightened. ‘Could we develop some kind of test that allows people to become aware of how stuck they are in their narratives and convictions? I mean most people know how to criticise others, but they are blind to the narratives that make them as bullheaded as everyone else.’ Robin (education) nodded. ‘We could give it a positive spin and create a test to see how flexible and empowering our thinking is and could become.’ ‘Fantastic ideas,’ Navarro said. ‘We need to increase our thinking flexibility to have the conversations we need to have. For that we need to know where we stand, and where we might need more flexibility. Great. That’s one for the blackboard, too.’ With a glance at Alice, Jack said: ‘When Alice told me, back in New York, that she needed playful people on the team, I got angry because I had buried that part of myself, and I didn’t quite get what she meant anyway. But I think, Alice called it, and she always nudges the teams to play with ideas, to test them, to dismiss nothing that springs to mind. I wonder whether we could have a campaign or event where people can experience this combination of thinking and exploring with a playful mind.’ Many smiled and Navarro clapped his hands. ‘More for the blackboard. Fantastic thoughts. Playfulness in thinking opens doors to discovering — often more than we were looking for. We could add games that let people experience how mistakes and failures improve our chances to make a discovery.’ Robin nodded. ‘Playing is a powerful way to nurture a thinking mind, much better than learning by heart and simply parroting what others made up.’ Jack finished writing Playfulness for thinking explorations on the blackboard, and Navarro turned to the group again. ‘Fantastic. Let’s continue. I think, it’s your turn, Dennie.’ ‘Thanks Navarro. I’d like a Your powers campaign, or a You can shape campaign, like inviting people to test what happens if they boycott a company or a game or an institution. Or what happens if they go on a general strike, if they refuse to partake in the economic and social everyday doings.’ ‘I didn’t know there’s a rebel in you,’ Alice teased. Dennie (security) shrugged. ‘Usually my rebel is a bit of a lazy dude. And since you hired me as a sanity joker, I won’t pull him up to full size. But yeah, I have a bit of rebel in me.’ Alice and Dennie exchanged a smile, and Jack (film) said: ‘Culture, identity, race and gender could be discussed in our campaigns.’ Skye (care) put her glass of water back on the table and said: ‘We should have a Campaign Square on the Hub where all our campaign teams can post and interact with the users, and maybe the users with each other.’ Several people nodded and Andy (campaign simulations) said: ‘I send a request to Daria and Noel directly. They can start setting it up now. The square could also be used for the live coverages of our press conferences and the Q & As.’ Several people nodded and Jack said: ‘The documentaries we want to shoot can be posted there, too.’ ‘Very good,’ Navarro said. Emine (lawyer) smiled: ‘I can’t believe family still didn’t make it onto our list. As a mother, I’d love a campaign either for kid’s welfare, or for our motto: Happy parents make for happy children.’ Rohana nodded. ‘I’m for the latter. It always angers me when people talk about supporting children while overlooking that happy, healthy and content parents are the best protection you can give a child.’ Navarro nodded. ‘I’ll write it down. What else? Ah, I have one myself: Hello questions. A campaign about the trouble with answers, and how answers can be in the way of explorations. And I have another one. Last year, Alice brought up the idea of a demand-time-to-think campaign.’ Alice chuckled. ‘Press pause. I forgot about that. We leave so many decisions to a few players because we don’t have time to think and engage. So, I thought that governments should give people the opportunity to come together and voice their concerns, search for solutions together, and shape their societies.’ ‘I wish that was possible,’ Skye (care) remarked. ‘Maybe we can make it possible,’ Jack said. Skye frowned. ‘Hm. Anyway, I want a public town simulation. Can we do that, Raiden?’ Raiden thought for a moment. ‘I could spare three people to strip down our original town simulation so that a user could, for example, experience life in our town as a nurse or as a teacher.’ ‘Great,’ Skye said. ‘And then we can make the simulation available on the Hub’s Campaign Square. People could practically walk through our town and see what it’s all about. We can’t turn it into a game, can we?’ Andy (campaign simulations) grimaced. ‘No. It’s a simulation, a scientific tool, not a plaything.’ ‘Just asking. And I read this article the other day about people who get really old, and how humans have always been trying to find ways to live longer, like forever. And I thought, we could do a longevity campaign because, hey, in our town, if we do a good job, then a hundred years will be some kind of middle age.’ There was laughter and Navarro said: ‘I think, we have another entry for the blackboard. Blimey! This is perfect! The quest for longevity! It doesn’t have all the ballast of people fighting some ideology wars, there is no us and them, good and evil, nor any self-righteous indignation. It’s so basic and so incredibly fitting.’ Blushing a bit, Skye added: Longevity campaign, town simulation (not a game) and Campaign Square (Hub) to the blackboard. Navarro smiled. ‘You inspire me, Skye. Maybe we can even get a bit poetic and have a to-be-or-not-to-be campaign. What do you say, Jack?’ ‘Hm. Street theatre throughout London, artworks that explore the existential questions of our time? I like it. Hamlet though seems to be contemplating suicide in that famous scene, and while we are ready to take up arms against the sea of troubles, which surely awaits us, I am confident that by opposing them we have a chance to succeed.’ There was applause and Dennie teased: ‘Spoken like a true actor.’ ‘Suicide?’ Navarro asked. ‘I didn’t know that. I always thought the line sounded rather romantic, rather like a call to defy. Hm. Well, maybe one of Shakespeare’s comedies will serve us better.’ There were some chuckles and Dana (ecology) said: ‘A consequences campaign might be interesting, illustrating which consequences people’s actions have, like what are the consequences of using your phone all the time? What are the consequences of eating avocados every day?’ Several people nodded, but Dennie remarked: ‘I thought we want to win people’s support and not make them feel miserable about avocados, their favourite fruit which they regard as a vegetable because it’s just not sweet and juicy enough to qualify as fruit.’ Several people chuckled and Marita (economics) asked: ‘What about a Happy mistakes campaign? Illustrating how useful mistakes can be. It could be part of the Hello questions campaign.’ Dennie shrugged. ‘Again, I think we’ll achieve more if we find ways to make people feel good. That’s the cool thing about Skye’s Longevity Campaign. It’s a hopeful, non-judgemental thing, even though we can use it to include pretty much every critical issue like water pollution, housing crises, discrimination, exploitation, NHS, education, cost of living, loneliness, austerity, speculations. Because all of these things, when improved or replaced, will increase our chances to live longer and that has hope value.’ Navarro smiled. ‘Kudos, Dennie. I didn’t quite get why Alice wanted you on the campaigns team, but now I can only say, I’m honoured to be working with you.’ Dennie grinned. ‘I wish I could say the same, Navarro, but I know exactly why Alice wanted you on the team. And I knew beforehand that it would be an honour to work with you.’ ‘OK, OK,’ John (business) chipped in. ‘That’s enough schmoozing. I think we should add a transparency campaign. Being open about our numbers and procedures has, so far, served us well.’ Alice twitched her mouth and said: ‘Do we need a campaign for that? I mean we will cover everything we do in Jellybridge with our vlogs and posts. Same goes for our business expansions. Can’t we just check what else could be used in this category and make the data available without doing any actual campaign on transparency?’ John nodded. ‘You’re right. I’ll ask Beatrice to run a check where we could add more transparency.’ ‘Good. Thanks,’ Alice said and continued ‘Hope value is great. Maybe we could add a spectacle or spectacles. Positive. No attacks. Challenges which engage. Humour. We could try to find the hooks that make people laugh. Lightness.’ Alice chuckled. ‘I have a fun idea. What about a faces and feet photo campaign on the streets of London? Everyone is invited, everyone can participate, and we collect a great variety of face and feet photos. We’d engage with each other and celebrate just how incredibly diverse nature creates, and how we are nonetheless all humans and fellow humans.’ ‘I want to do this!’ Troy (illustrator) exclaimed. ‘People could photograph each other. We provide the printers, and then we create the longest gallery ever by fixing the photos to strings and the strings to lampposts, sculptures, doorframes, balconies, and that as far through the streets of London as we can get, maybe starting several lines from Trafalgar Square.’ There was applause and many smiles. ‘Why feet, though?’ Dennie (security) asked. Alice smiled. ‘Because we don’t usually take the time to look at each other’s feet. Anyone can do faces. But faces and feet, that’s special.’ Dennie chuckled, Navarro put the idea on the blackboard, and Raiden (town simulations) said: ‘We can get people involved with the town simulation, too. We could open a test version of the Hub Town features.’ ‘Oh, yeah,’ Dennie said. ‘I did some tests in January. They are fun. And you get an idea of how the town will work on the admin side but without getting bored. I got to pick different characters. That was fun, too. And not at all a game, Andy.’ Dennie added with a grin. Andy (campaign simulations) rolled his eyes and returned: ‘We don’t need more testers. But it might be good for transparency to open a public test version.’ Raiden nodded and said: ‘We can add the town features to the town simulation. Then people could register as one of the simulated characters.’ Andy (campaign simulations) nodded and Heather (press) asked: ‘Could we have a simulation which demonstrates how much we lose by increasing the cost of living? Or a simulation which compares the effects of austerity to the effects of a balancing economy where people have the means to live their lives without constant worry?’ Many nodded and Skye said: ‘I bet that austerity increases health costs. Worry makes people sick. No access to culture, healthcare, education, sports, gardens, travelling, makes people sick. We’re healthiest when we have the means to eat healthy, to be in nature, to afford spending time with friends.’ There was a grim applause and many nods. ‘Is anyone going to bring up Brexit?’ Rohana (coordination) asked. All British people: Andy, Jack, Heather and Dennie shook their heads. The others shrugged. Rohana smiled and crossed Brexit off her list. ‘That’s a clear enough No for me. I guess colonialism, the British class system, landownership, child poverty or disparities between British regions don’t qualify as subjects for feel-good campaigns either?’ Several people shook their heads. ‘Alright. What about setting world records?’ ‘Like the longest open air gallery in the world?’ Constance asked. ‘Exactly. Or could we point out which records we plan to break in our town?’ ‘Which records do you have in mind?’ John asked. Rohana smiled. ‘Have you ever heard of a town that was built in a year? And with the least possible damage to nature? Or a town with the highest health, education and equity levels?’ ‘Oh, that,’ John returned with a smile. ‘But that sounds more like a good piece for ripples news than for a campaign. What do you think Heather?’ ‘I agree. I’ll pass it on to my colleagues,’ Heather replied. ‘Besides record breaking might be too close to the competition narrative we want to debunk.’ Raiden put his head to one side. ‘Competition. Compete to dominate. Dominance. These are related. I know we said hope value, but maybe we could add a campaign that questions the usefulness of dominance.’ ‘Or whether competition needs to be about dominance instead of being just for fun,’ Dennie remarked. ‘Fantastic!’ Navarro said. ‘Competition for fun is fun. But dominance destroys and holds back. If we unearth each other’s potentials instead of competing, if we empower and give all our potentials room to unfold, then our world will thrive. And that reminds me of something you, Alice, said: “True power is in creation,” because there is nothing more powerful than to create and nurture a living, breathing and thriving world.’ Alice nodded. ‘Yes. A poet from Lebanon said this to me last year, and it’s been on my mind repeatedly every since. And yes, let’s have a True power campaign. It won’t be quite a feel-good campaign, more a sharp edge but with hope value because we don’t have to act competitive or dominant. Animals don’t bother with either. Nature thrives on diversity, on digesting, on cycles, on balances not on dominance or competition for its own sake. A leader of the pack acts as a balancer, provides guardianship and maybe guidance, but leadership in nature is not a means to oppress, betray, sell out or exploit the pack.’ Alice smiled. ’I recently read another of Kahu’s universe stories, one about ending all wars. In the story, the thinkers talk about predator and prey, and rewrite that narrative with a much more logical explanation of why some animals kill: “If the planet had no carnivores,’ the thinkers say, ‘it would have a great problem with carcasses. That carnivores hunt is not a manifestation of strength or superiority, it’s simply an important task within the ecosystem.” In other words, predators clean up before the old or weak animal dies. It’s a perfect system and has nothing to do with dominance for its own sake. And strength, the story suggests, might be a natural kind of birth control, making sure that not too many animals breed. The story even suggests that animals marking their territory might be nature’s way of avoiding overpopulation and with that a way to keep waste in any given area manageable. Nature is amazing, and maybe we could have another campaign which focuses on reconnecting with nature and with each other.’ Several people nodded and scribbled notes while Troy (illustrations) said: ‘I don’t think I know Kahu.’ ‘Kahu is one of our special transfers, like Navarro and Emine,’ Alice replied. ‘She was a member of the Aotearoa New Zealand Team and joined our main team in September. She is of Maori origin, an oceanologist and works with the Ecology Team. Kahu and some friends from several countries started a collection of thoughts and stories called Views from around the universe, some years back. They imagine how the people on other planets deal with issues like war, work or water. I’ve only heard and read bits of the collection, but it’s amazing, and I’m sure the authors would support us. We could probably send them keywords and let their imaginations create some responses from different planets for us.’ ‘Like what do you think about taking photos of feet?’ Dennie (security) teased. Alice laughed. ‘Actually, they would love that. They like adding funny bits, like zebra because someone insisted on having an entry for Z, or wondering what it is with humans and feeding ducks.’ Several people chuckled. ‘Sounds fantastic,’ Navarro said and added: ‘I’d love to hear more, but we should keep going. Constance?’ ‘I’d like a crafts campaign which demonstrates how much we win when we work with our hands, when we are creative — and that branding, mass production and AI take so much away from us, both from us creators and from us customers.’ ‘Maybe this could be part of the Your powers campaign,’ Dennie suggested, several team members nodded, and Navarro said: ‘I’d like a campaign called: How to turn I can’t into I can?’ Several people smiled and Heather (press) said: ‘We could give that a spin in a Benefits of empowerment campaign. And for both we could build simulations which demonstrate how much we win if we empower people instead of keeping them down, and if we turn can’t into can.’ There was applause and Navarro said: ‘Heather, everyone is smiling.’ Heather smiled, her milky eyes shiny. ‘Thanks for the translation.’ ‘My pleasure.’ Alice frowned. ‘Maybe we could have a discussion about rethinking immigration within the empowerment campaign. Something about dealing with each other as humans and fellow humans, and something about what makes a community, how to support those who have to flee their country, and how to support them in dignifying ways.’ ‘And how our town will deal with immigration?’ Constance asked. Alice shook her head. ‘Not really. In our town we don’t ask where someone comes from. We are interested in bringing people together who share an interest in neurology.’ Alice scratched her chin. ‘I think a lot about immigration needs a complete rethink and that includes a rethink on what makes a community, and that’s the point our project can contribute to.’ Jack (film) straightened and said: ‘How about a campaign about the benefits of rethinking?’ ‘And about the fun of thinking.’ Robin (education) added. ‘We could show the potential we unearth if we rethink and actively shape our world rather than repeating what already failed us and our ancestors, including the way we deal with those we perceive as strangers.’ Several people nodded and Robin (education) said: ‘And here is a question from me: Will we include the sex talk as a campaign?’ ‘Oh,’ Rohana uttered. ‘Do we have to?’ Troy shook his head. ‘We, as a project, have only started this conversation, and I’d say it’s too early to drag it into the open.’ ‘You might be right,’ Robin conceded. ‘Though it could be a chance, especially with respect to domestic violence and gender inequality.’ Hayley (tech) shook her head. ‘I agree with Troy. We only just started those conversations. It feels too personal. But, will we do anything on the big fairy tale of growth?’ John (business) raised his eyebrows. ‘Not if we want to include a happiness potential in each campaign.’ ‘Didn’t we say hope value?’ Skye (care) asked. ‘Same, same.’ Hayley nodded. ‘OK. I have a number of ideas for tech challenges such as staying off tech for three days, experiments where tech enhances our abilities and where it makes us dependent and potentially stupid because we aren’t sufficiently challenged any more, and so on. But I’d rather include all tech honey drops in bigger campaigns, let tech challenges have a practical relevance for the True Power is in Creation Campaign or for the Longevity Campaign.’ ‘Good point,’ Andy (campaign simulations). Emine (lawyer) looked up from her notes. ‘I have one more idea: rethinking laws as a kind of challenge event where people can name laws, and we give them a taste of how we would go about rethinking that law.’ Jack drummed his pen on the table and said: ‘At Jellybridge, I met Betsy, the cook. An amazing person. A soul, Jazz said. Generous. Lively. Welcoming. But I was surprised about how supportive of the town she is. She has spent most of her life on the estate. And now we come along and propose to transform the estate beyond recognition. So why does she welcome us? Part of her support originates in her fears of greedy investors. But she is also genuinely interested in our project and seems pleased to have become part of it. I keep thinking that there must be more people like Betsy. People who’d rather choose the uncertainty of change that aims at benefitting humanity and the planet than to continue with people and practices which have already proven disastrous for humanity and the planet. Maybe we can keep that in mind when we choose our campaigns and add issues which will give people a reason and a way to support us. For Betsy supporting us means teas and pies. For Jimmy, the master of horses at Jellybridge, it’s riding lessons and getting more wagons ready for us. What will it be for the Londoners? What will it be for the people from the Jellybridge region? And there’s another question. It makes sense to do campaigns in  London, and in other big cities. But could we add a nod to the Jellybridge region? I mean, in addition to the campaigns the Building Site Team will do for the locals—’ Noises made everyone at the conference table look towards the double door of studio 2 where some thirty people where filing into the studio, some faces known, others new, all of them meeting the team’s gazes. ‘Thank you, Jack,’ Rohana said, standing up. ‘We’ll have to postpone further discussions. Please, allow me to introduce you to the cook and household team, to the health and workout team who will offer strength training, yoga classes, massages, breathing sessions, meditations and therapy sessions around the clock, and to Jazz, the head of Project Security, plus the security team assigned to our Campaigns and Negotiations Team.’ Over the next hour the teams discussed the practical background support for the Campaigns and Negotiations Team. Afterwards Jack and Dennie split the group for the first voice trainings. And about an hour later, the dot.designer Hachiro and his team came to discuss what kind of outfits the team were likely to need in the coming  weeks. This settled, the Campaigns & Negotiations Team returned to the conference table and continued to discuss the potential campaigns. In the late afternoon, the team split. Some worked on campaign ideas, others on speeches, and Alice, Andy and Rohana met with the Hub Team to discuss how to involve the Hub (an internet within the internet, a save haven with everything an internet can offer minus the bullshit, exploitation and profiteering of other platforms) and the Hub Stations (physical social hubs worldwide which provide local communities with spaces for crafts, arts, health and education financed with some  of the income from the Hub) in the campaigns, what the Hub Campaign Square should include, and the Hub’s involvement in the expansion of the project businesses. Afterwards, Alice, Andy and Rohana met with the heads of the transition teams. Transition teams was a term Alice had coined because these teams were an addition to the original town project teams, and their main task was to transition the town project from theories and a few project companies to a fully fletched operational town and an international businesses network. The four transition teams were: the Campaigns & Negotiations Team (CaN), headed by Alice and Andy, the Building Site Team (BuST), headed by Olivia, the Business Expansion Team (BET) headed by Alice, Seth and Fi, the Alert Team (AT), headed by Lucy, whose task it was to protect the project businesses from backlashes which might be caused by the Campaigns & Negotiations Team’s activities. Also present were the Media Team (MT), and Towns and Cities International (TaCI) who coordinated the input by the project’s international teams, plus the Conference Team who would continue to prepare the second Easy Town Conference which was scheduled for the end of May. The news which boosted the teams’ mood most that evening was that thousands of professionals and helpers had already applied to help build the town. Some wanted to use their holidays, others wanted to take unpaid leave, and some wanted to come for the whole run of the building phase.

© Charlie Alice Raya, book 4, building, 2025