What is a Jam?

On 24 February, 2012, people who are interested in service and using a design-based approach to problem solving and creativity will meet all over the globe. In a spirit of experimentation, co-operation and friendly competition, teams will have 48 hours to develop brand new services inspired by a shared theme. On Sunday at 3pm, they publish them to the world.

Find out what happens at a Service Jam.

Join a Jam

Are you ready for a challenge? Want to develop and implement creative ideas? Chase a crazy deadline at the same time? Meet cool new people? Learn more about a hands-on approach to creativity and problem solving? Design a service or customer experience that may become a real business? Get rich and famous? Have a great time?

Find out more about jamming.

Host a Jam

Want to promote service design in your region or country? Introduce people to a design-based approach to creativity and problem solving? Extend your network globally? Pick up new ideas and work practices? Meet cool people? Enjoy great freedom to organise and shape your local jam? Don't want to get rich, but famous? Want to have a great time?

Find out more about hosting a jam.

Updates

See you 1-3 March, 2013!

Submitted by adamstjohn
on Tue, 03/27/2012 - 20:55

By popular demand, we have changed the date of the next Global Service Jam to 1, 2 and 3 March, 2013.

As soon as we can, we will open up the application process for hosts. Until then, SAVE THE DATE! :)

(PS Can't wait so long? Then join the Global Sustainability Jam, "around October 2012"!)

Planet Jam under maintenance on Saturday, March 24

Submitted by markusedgar
on Tue, 03/20/2012 - 20:01

The Planet Jam website (http://planet.globalservicejam.org) will undergo a planned maintenance on Saturday, March 24. The site might be unavailable for a couple of hours and should be back soon. 

GSJ12 is OVER

Submitted by adamstjohn
on Sun, 02/26/2012 - 23:44

 

It's over, folks, it's over.
We thought we could never reach the intensity or success of GSJ11, but you proved us utterly wrong.
The weekend started on with a desert sunrise on Thursday, and ended with a Pacific sunset on Sunday. In those ninety hours or so, 2061 Jammers registered from 85 cities in almost 40 countries worldwide - many of them hosting Jams for the first time. We were especially thrilled to welcome Jams in India, Iran and parts of the Middle East. Together, we created nearly 350 - yes, 350 -  brand new service designs and published them for the world!
But the real success of the Jam is in the fantastic emotion of the event. In more than 3500 (and climbing) Tweets, people have talked about the camaraderie, learning, productivity and FUN of the Jam. They have talked about the joy of being playful while working. Thousands of pictures and dozens of films online show those emotions clearly. And we could feel them.
So THANK YOU!
As Markus said in the opening film, without the Jammers, the Jam is nothing. YOU are the Jam. Every single Jammer deserves our thanks, for giving their time, energy and creativity to make the Jam rock. Every Mentor or Judge too, for their time and expertise. And our personal thanks go to the amazing, incredible Hosts who have taken the Jam idea and - while putting in weeks of work - developed it in ways which we never imagined. The Jam has a staff of none and a budget of nearly nothing. You make that possible.
Thanks also, to our special video guests Jane McGonigal and Dave Gray who had nothing to gain from supporting us, yet who did it so wholeheartedly. Thanks to our amazing Global Council who helped choose the inspiring "Hidden Treasure" theme, and thanks to all those who made the video so memorable and unique.
And once again, THANKS to YOU.
After four days with almost no real sleep, we are tired, short tempered and we can hardly type. We probably don't smell too good either. But we are full of energy, joy and even disbelief at what YOU have done this weekend.
I look up at my Twitter stream, where the last minutes of the Jam are counting down, and I see a Tweet which says it all. 
>> @RobMaslin "BLOWN AWAY" SEEMS THE PHRASE I HEARD MOST ABOUT #GSJ12.
Blown away?  Yes, that says it all. 
Thank YOU.
Adam & Markus
 
Oh, one more thing... http://t.co/el4LUxfS

 

Opening Theme Video 2012

Submitted by adamstjohn
on Sat, 02/25/2012 - 12:09


 

Thanks to Dave Gray, Jane McGonigal and all the Jammers who took part. And Andres the Video wizard!

Special film by Dave Gray

Submitted by adamstjohn
on Fri, 02/24/2012 - 00:31

Dave Gray, the co-author of Gamestorming and founder of Xplane, has created a special tutorial film for Jammers at the Global Service Jam.

In the video, Dave explains how he would use Gamestorming techniques in a service design project. You can watch the whole film (13 minutes) on Dave's blog here or simply below.

Dave is happy to discuss his ideas with Jammers! Just tweet him @DaveGray.

Thanks Dave!

We're Jamming!

Submitted by adamstjohn
on Thu, 02/23/2012 - 11:19

Boom! It's been a crazy few days here at GlobalHQ, choosing the Jam Theme (still secret), making the Jam film (still secret) and working on the platform (still building). But everything is coming together in true just-in-time Jam fashion, and it's going to ROCK!

And as we speak, the world is already Jamming! We have brand new Jams in Riyadh and Cairo - both in countries where the weekend does not fall on Saturday and Sunday. Riyadh is already up and running, Cairo will join them in a few hours, and soon after that Hamilton NZ will start the giant sweep of around 90 "Friday to Sunday" Jams... 

This is going to be a wild 92 hours, but before we dive in, let's say THANKS to all the people who have worked so hard ALREADY to make the Jam possible. Thanks to the local hosts who got up in the middle of the night for Skype conferences, and worked long hours organising and improving local Jams. Thanks to the sponsors who believe in us, and believe in you. Thanks to the Jammers who took time to contribute to the Theme Video. Thanks to rock-and-roll video guy Andres who stayed up until 5am cutting the final cut last night. Thanks to our VIPs Dave Gray and (still secret) who supported our little event just because they are cool. And thanks to YOU for being interested, and maybe even sharing our weekend with us.

Have a great weekend, have a great time, have a great Jam! And always remember the Golden Rule: HAVE FUN!

:) Markus and Adam

Thanks for the support, OSBF

Submitted by adamstjohn
on Thu, 02/23/2012 - 07:21

Thanks to the OSBF Open Source Business Foundation, whose contributions will power the Planet Jam servers this year! 

The OSBF's commitment to open source tools and software fits the Jam very well.

"There are many parallels between the OSBF and the Jam", says Adam, co-initiator of the Global Service Jam. "It's a cooperative group of 150 professionals, institutions, research organisations and venture capitalists - a mixed team developing innovative ways to work together and find value in new structures and tools."

As well as helping organisations develop ideas and concepts via mentoring and business models, OSBF sets up think tanks and promotes a creative environment. Besides supporting the Jam, they promote discussion of innovative themes at workshops, unconferences, barcamps and start-up weekends. 

"Using open source software can be a great way to innovate more quickly", points out Stefan Probst of the OSBF. "Instead of starting from scratch, we show organisations how they can recombine and build on existing open source resources to move further in less time. That's just like a Jam. It's open, constructive and fast."

OSBF supported the Nuremberg branch of the first Global Service Jam i March 2011. "Now it's great to have them supporting the Global platform", smiles Adam. "Thanks!"

 

 

 

 


 

Is Jamming for you?

Submitted by markusedgar
on Wed, 02/01/2012 - 16:00

 Check out this film by the Berlin team. This is what a Jam might look like - but every one is different. Contact your local jam to find out more.

Growing every day... join us!

Submitted by adamstjohn
on Sat, 01/14/2012 - 01:52

(2 Feb 2012)
The Global Service Jam is a worldwide, simultaneous, face-to-face creative event where curious people create hundreds of services around a common, surprise theme. It is also a whole lot of fun. Join us!

New Jams joining daily...

Submitted by adamstjohn
on Mon, 01/02/2012 - 23:30

We're STILL accepting new Sites for the 2012 Global Service Jam. So if you want to Jam and don't see your town on the map, why not host a Jam yourself? It's easy - a Jam can be hundreds of people at a fancy location, or just a few folks round a kitchen table.  It can be fully organised, or completely relaxed. A host can be an expert, or a compete beginner. Why not give it a try, and have fun discovering (or sharing) service design yourself? There's a whole community of Jammers to support you...
Come and join the Jam!

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