nabil laoudji

poetry, prose, design thinking & entrepreneurship

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Choosing a Story to Tell

May 9, 2010 by Nabil 2 Comments

Lately I’ve had some great brainstorms on how to frame my storytelling project this summer.  My friends, sis, and I have come up with a list of eight ideas that I’m excited about and, the longer I sit with this list the more excited I feel about one idea in particular.

The question that I want to answer is: Why will people be excited to move to Los Angeles in 10 years?  In an era where Hollywood has been killed by distributed content creation and distribution (a la YouTube), where foreign investors are no longer pouring money into skyscrapers in Los Angeles (but rather new megacities in the Far East), where Americans are immigrating abroad for blue collar jobs, why will people still pack up their lives and move, with excitement and purpose, to the city of Los Angeles?  What is it about LA’s DNA, its lifeblood, that will continue to draw both fresh immigrants and tourists?  What are the immutable, timeless values that can be found in LA and nowhere else?

I like this question because it’s one that I’m genuinely curious about, and it’s one that I feel that Los Angeles, and America more broadly, will really have to grapple with if (when?) it’s overtaken, economically, culturally, and militarily, by the rising tigers of the Far East.  Other former superpowers — take France for example — have gone through this introspective process (arguably after WW2), and have done a pretty good job at finding their core values (or articulating their story).  Over 80 million tourists go to France annually (more than the country’s population!) to fall in love with French culture — that timeless, unique, immutable set of values that can only be found in the alleyways, boulevards, parks, and art galleries of France.

So why will people come to Los Angeles when its skyline is unimpressive, its economy is stagnant, and its cultural impact is negligible? What are LA’s other assets that fill a big hole in the hearts of its residents, many of whom may not be interested in Hollywood, or a glam lifestyle, or may have better job prospects elsewhere, but stay in LA because they love the idea of raising their families there? If I can help LA to answer this question, perhaps I can help America to find itself in a world where its economy is second to China’s (or, according to the Wall Street Journal, in 10 years).

My main concern about this story is that it’s so big.  I have this hypothesis that the more specific the story, the more compelling it is.  And so one of my challenges is how to tell this story in a way that’s extremely personal, and yet speaks to the larger narrative.  Here’s to figuring that out-

A few related thoughts:
– Professor Antonio Muntadas: “The fastest way to determine if you have the right story is to try to tell it.  Before you head to LA, interview people in Boston.  You’ll know very quickly what works and what doesn’t”
– Professor Ricardo-Pitts Wiley: “The difference between story — and news — is how deeply the person is invested in sharing it.”  What I like about this story is that I feel that most residents of Los Angeles (those who plan to stay there indefinitely) have a vested interest in sharing it.  This is potentially powerful.
– If I do tell this story, I’d love to integrate it into my cross-country drive to Los Angeles.  One idea is to ask for peoples’ (say a farm-hand in Kansas) opinion’s on Los Angeles.  Perhaps people outside of LA have an easier time articulating why it’s a great city than those who live in it.
– As I think of this story, I’m often brought back to the “Lose Yourself in Melbourne” commercial presented in my marketing class by Professor Ritson.

Filed Under: Stream Tagged With: american dream, brainstorming, introspection, lessons, MIT, storytelling, values

A conversation with Jeanne Dasaro, Co-Founder, NPi

May 5, 2010 by Nabil Leave a Comment

This afternoon I had a great conversation with Jeanne Dasaro, co-founder of The New Prosperity Initiative (NPi), a nonprofit that publishes hopeful stories of people and organizations that are working to build social and economic prosperity in their communities.

I asked Jeanne for her advice regarding my summer project and she imparted some great wisdom. Specifically:
– When conducting an interview, do the video afterwards. Video has a way of taking the air out of the room.
– Beware: It’s easy to get caught up in an interview, lower your threshold for good answers, and then come home realizing that you didn’t get much that you can use.
– Phrasing questions to get a good answer is a lot harder then it seems. At the basic level it’s the difference between: “how was your day?” versus, “tell me about something that happened today”

Jeanne also pointed me to a few great resources that I’m excited to look into:
– I Heart Strangers: A running (daily!) compilation of photographs, and the stories of people in them. Created by Joshua Langlais.
– Theatre of the Oppressed: A theatrical concept where spectators are brought into the performance of a play about social issues. I’ve been thinking about how to mix improv with true narrative and this is an exciting manifestation of this.
– The Small Story: A site based on the belief that everyone has a story. Created by Cara Solomon.
– Positive Detroit: A website which publishes only positive news from the city of Detroit.

Here’s to positive narratives that build community and understanding-

Filed Under: Stream Tagged With: community, interview, launch, learnings, story tips, storytelling

SyrianamericanA: Omar Offendum visits MIT

May 4, 2010 by Nabil Leave a Comment

Earlier this afternoon, in the heart of MIT’s campus, I joined 40 members of the MIT Arab Students Organization and their friends and consumed story in an oral tradition that runs deeply in our shared ancestry.

Omar Offendum, a Syrian-American with a talent for hip-hop and spoken word took us on a journey through the streets of Syria, as well as the unique liminal space that he resides in between his ethnic motherland (Syria) and his childhood home (America). His songs, inspired by the works of Langston Hughes, did an incredible job of conveying the beauty and shared culture that flows through the streets of Damascus. My favorite song of Omar’s was about a “Street Called Straight,” or a street in Damascus that’s purported to be the longest inhabited street in all of civilization. He walked us down it, and as he did so he spoke of the storytellers and shopkeepers that he met along the way, men and women who who represent a modern manifestation of a spirit that is as older than time and unique to Syria.

I was excited to find out that Omar is based on Los Angeles, and I hope that we have the opportunity to collaborate this summer.

Filed Under: Stream Tagged With: arab, hip-hop, lessons, MIT, performance ethnography

A Messy Manifesto

May 3, 2010 by Nabil Leave a Comment

When it comes to writing, I’m usually a perfectionist. I pore over my words, check its cadence, and double-check its grammatical correctness. Perfectionism has its place, but it also has its price. It is this perfectionism that often stands between me and self-expression. Over the last year, there are many things that I have wanted to write about — but which I haven’t — because I didn’t have the time to craft a post that I felt that I would be happy with.

My upcoming summer storytelling internship in Los Angeles is about being driven by my emotions, rather than my intellect. It’s about passion over strategy. And so with this internship, and this blog, I will experiment with a different approach. I vow to prize quantity over quality. I vow to prize content over beauty. I will make mistakes. I will stay stupid things. But in the spirit of my journey it’s about going with a feeling, putting myself out there, and seeing what happens.

I hope you’ll join me as I embark on a cross-country journey to Los Angeles to try my hand at storytelling. I’ve included my original blog post – below — which describes the journey that’s gotten me here. Now it’s about making it real.

Off we go-

Filed Under: Stream Tagged With: improv, launch, manifesto

My MBA Internship as a Storyteller

April 19, 2010 by Nabil 4 Comments

This summer I’ll be heading to Los Angeles to practice storytelling. While not a traditional MBA internship, my friends and faculty at MIT Sloan have been super supportive, often connecting me with whoever they feel will be helpful on my journey.  There is, however, one question that always crops up: Why storytelling? And what does this have to do with getting an MBA?

The seed for my journey was planted in 2005 when Christopher Adkins, my former professor at William and Mary, invited me to speak to his undergrads about potential career paths. As I thought about what to say, I remembered a recent article that I had read about Shotei Ibata, a Japanese calligrapher. As a young man, Shotei was advised not to go into calligraphy because it was super competitive, and prospects for earning a living were slim. Shotei nevertheless followed his passion, and in the process invented a completely new type of large format calligraphy (i.e. giant circles drawn with a 6 foot brush) that brought him worldwide acclaim and a steady stream of clients. As I relayed Shotei-sensei’s story to the undergrads, there are two lessons that I highlighted: First, passion is a competitive advantage. Second, behind every passion lies a business model (even if your passion is to draw circles).

So what is my passion? To answer this question, I sat down at my desk last Fall and I created a matrix. I plotted Creative, Business-Esque, Technical, and Intuitive on opposite ends of the X and Y-axes, respectively. Next, I took a deep breath, told myself to suspend all judgment and awareness of my work experience (e.g. an MBA with a consulting background), and started jotting down activities that I enjoyed.  As I looked over my filled out sheet of paper, I felt a wave of joy: all of the opportunities looked exciting.  As I mulled over the matrix over the next few days, another realization became clear: the more that the opportunity maxed out on the creative and intuitive ends of the spectrum, the more excited I was about it. The idea with the highest score? Storytelling. And thus my summer plans.

So what does storytelling have to do with my MBA? In short: I’m not sure. And that’s okay. In a 2005 commencement address at Stanford, Steve Jobs shared his story about dropping out of college and “dropping in” to activities that piqued his interest. One such activity was a local art class, where Jobs learned how to make beautiful typography. At the time he had no idea how this class would serve him, but as he was designing the Mac — the first computer with beautiful fonts — it all made sense.  Jobs said, “It was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.” The essence of Jobs’ message is that there’s a lot of value in bringing together unlikely experiences, especially when they’re rooted in genuine interest. With this principle as my basis, I have faith that my storytelling internship will bring value to my MBA. In fact, some of the dots are already starting to connect.

So where do we go from here? Currently I’m working to raise funds to cover my expenses this summer, brainstorm potential storytelling frameworks, and build out my network in Los Angeles. If you suggestions on any of these, please drop me a line. Otherwise I will post updates on my new project website — www.mbastoryteller.com — as I continue my journey. Thank you to all of you who have supported me so far.

Filed Under: Stream Tagged With: career, internship, MBA, MIT, passion, storytelling

Kampala

March 16, 2010 by Nabil 1 Comment

As read at the fantastic East Meets West slam poetry open mic. Inspired by the journey of a Ugandan student studying Electrical Engineering at MIT.

Kampala
Kampala

Baby powder lines the inside of her translucent latex gloves
As she slips them over her bare hands

Kampala
Kampala

Dry white particles burrow deep into her skin like dust
Kicked up in a game of tag on a worn school playground

Kampala
Kampala

“Naeeta”! she shouts
She stops.

Eyes popped open
A primed pair of lungs
The steel cabinet opposite her unable to absorb the brunt of her war cry
It shutters
And as it sheds the energy from its shelves
Down its legs
And finally into the floor.
It calms
And so does she

She slinks back to her lab bench
Her lungs tight from the arid recycled air in the laser testing lab
Eyes strained like a waterlogged grapefruit bobbing brightly in a lazy creek
She hones in on amplitudes and diodes and ignores the sweet memory of a breeze
Brushing by her legs as she walked through her garden
In Kampala

And so she is
And will be for the time to come
In a different place

Where moisture comes not from dark, rich earth
But from the tip of a steel showerhead after a long day in the lab
Where her head cools not from pulses of fresh air from the Rwenzori mountains
But from a dorm-issued pillow that adorns her twin bed

And as she slips under her sheets and rests her tired eyes
And as her skin begins to soften and her feet find the edge of her bed
She hears the light springs in her mattress shift under her weight
And in her mind she finds
Kampala

Filed Under: Poetry Tagged With: spoken word, uganda

The Bold Sell: It’s a Wrap

March 7, 2010 by Nabil Leave a Comment

Three judges from Xerox, Cisco, and HubSpot. Eight contestants from MIT Sloan and Harvard Business School. And a surprise appearance by one John Coleman.

A big thanks to all those who helped to bring this week’s Bold Sell Competition to life, including our volunteers, judges, contestants, and the over 200 people who attended the event. Congrats also to our three winners: Slava Menn (MIT – 3rd place); Chika Ekeji (MIT – 2nd place); and William Collis (Harvard – 1st place).

If you’d like to play an active role in organizing next year’s competition, or would like to bring The Bold Sell to your school or organization, do let us know. For video of all our winners, click here.

Filed Under: Stream Tagged With: improv, MBA, public speaking, sales

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