Illustration: Richard Reed

Scroll down to see photos and comments from participants.

Political power. Personal power. Economic power. Sexual power. Spiritual power. What's behind our desire for it? Who has it? Who wants it? Who needs it?

Is it true that "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely"?

On The Panel We Had

James Short (CB OBE FCMI), a recently retired Army Major General, now a business consultant. James is a specialist in strategic planning, team building and change management, with many years of practice in leadership training and personnel development. He has 34 years of executive experience in operational, procurement and training appointments for the British Army and NATO.

Jenny Clarke, a consultant and coach, more interested in influence than control and in how things get done in a complex, emergent world. Jenny was one of the most senior woman managers in the hugely male dominated coal and nucluear power industries. She has been involved in legal and political struggles around energy and power station construction, including being shouted down by Welsh Nationalists in Anglesey.

Andy Baggott, a healer, writer and spiritual teacher. Andy has studied with masters from many traditions including Celtic, Native American, South American and Chinese. His current work focuses on empowering people to connect with their inner wisdom so that they may achieve health, happiness and fulfilment. He is a trained acupuncturist, nutritionist and Tai Chi teacher as well as a practicing shaman from the Celtic tradition.

Mike Zeidler, who calls himself a Pollinator. He's good at starting things up, getting people involved, and making great constructive connections. He's constantly curious, with a long range radar for the thinking that's shaping events, and has great experience of social networks, sustainability and leadership.  He played a pivotal role in the creation of the Association of Sustainability Practitioners, the formation of The Hub in Bristol, and Wiserearth UK - all of which have experimented with unusual power structures. His own business is a change agency for leaders called modoto ltd.

The Entertainment Was

Live music from Dirk Landish and his band, recently born out of the Bristol folk scene, who have been transfixing audiences with twisted tunes and stories of love, lust and revenge. Dirk, having recently returned from adventures in other countries, reunited with his long time musical partner Jimvincible (Bass). The result was "somewhere between Tom Waits and Rage Against the Machine unplugged".

Performance poetry from Rosemary Dun.
 

A Big Thank You To

Bim for doing the sound in return for very little cash, Ginnie Gould for social network marketing, Cori Bona for helping out at the door, all at Coexist for supporting the event, SuperMegaActionPlus for the video animation, and JR Ryan for the original concept.

"I loved this event so much I joined the company!"

Cori Bona, Little Ray Puppets

Our apologies for the photographs not quite being up to our usual standard (our man Martin had other urgent business to attend to).