Old kid on the new Bloc

A cupboard was full of microphones, a relic connected to a ‘prolific career’ as an amateur tournament Paintball player. It was just a matter of time before I would find a reason to use them again.

I played competitive paintball, and travelled to Asia, Europe and the US, for nearly a decade. Only a few of my closest friends and former team-mates know how the sport ultimately framed what would become my career and a recent project I launched.

When I took up the sport over a decade ago in South Africa, I noticed that my fellow weekend warriors had nowhere to vent and express themselves. This insight and a distinct lack of funding forced me to turn to this ‘new’ internet thing which led to the launch of SAPaintball.co.za (now defunct). Through trial and error, I learnt what it meant to offer this passionate subculture an empty canvas ripe with possibilities and creative tools to share ideas and engage.

It was a rollercoaster ride; from old school bulletin boards with heated politically laden discussions to player interviews, tournament coverage and small sponsored event to top off each season. The most fun I had with the platform occurred when we launched and wholly out-of-control ruckus-driven podcast fuelled by sheer player culture, local music, taboo topics and language that would get me fired today.

All or nothing

The platform I created required 100% commitment, and when I finally ‘retired’ from the sport I decided to flip the switch after ten years of hard work.

Since then, my life-journey brought me to Warsaw where I met the love of my life and tons of new friends. Poland has become the catalyst for lots of exciting design related friendships. One of these new friends turned out to be a young designer from Krakow, Jonathan Gall.

Our conversations always centre around new ideas and concepts within the design world, and we knew we wanted to collaborate on something. I can’t remember who made the initial suggestion, think it was Jonathan, but I soon found myself dusting off the old recording gear as we shaped the concept of what would become Bloc Thinking.

It’s been hard, testing our friendship with late nights and extra unaccounted work. Fortunately, we are both driven by a ‘don’t miss the deadline!’ attitude, ‘keep the momentum’ spirit, ‘fight off the complacency’ determination and most importantly staying curious.

Sharing the journey

I want to share some of this experience here, not the technical aspects, but rather the act of creation. Jonathan has taken over a lot of the editing and sound engineering while I’ve found myself fascinated by people like Terry Gross (she’s been doing a radio show called Fresh Air since 1975) and Russel Brand. Worlds apart, both of them have this uncanny talent to shape interviews, and I desire their skill to engage my fellow human beings as they do. Each person we meet on our life journey has a wealth of experiences and stories. I want to discover how to unlock these treasures and package them in a meaningful way.

Today we’re 13 Episodes in, not that we’re counting. Here’s our latest episode (at the time of writing). It’s an interview with a good friend of mine, Kasia Gawlik. She is a manager and UX Researcher who leapt into the world of Design from Market Research.

What personal note can I share about this show?

Jonathan and I found it crucial to prepare detailed show notes before the recording takes place. We also share the structure with the interviewees beforehand and have seen that it truly sets them, and us for that matter, at ease. Kasia did not have a chance to review the notes, and with my unexpected initial discomfort interviewing a colleague, it took a few minutes for us to settle into the conversation.

What bugs me about our show?

Jonathan might disagree, but I believe we have not cemented down a specific value proposition yet. I am not referring to the positioning of the show but our approach to shaping the content in a way that will empower our listeners.

We are incredibly grateful to those who graciously agreed to an interview, and I wish I could personally thank each person who has downloaded the show thus far.

This exercise is ultimately not about the act of ‘podcasting’, conversations, or exciting guests. It has to be about the value our listeners gain.

Ship, analyse, iterate.