During all the time that BaseTIS has been part of my life, I keep having these moments of magic when I realize that I am privileged. Sometimes, on my way back home, I put my hands in the pocket and let the reality hit me: I am carrying the key to La Pedrera\u2026 And that is just a small example of what I am referring to,\u00a0and to be honest, it is not a good example at all, as it is only a glimpse of the material value that it might represent.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Certainly, the most enriching part is to meet all these great people and be part, even if as a mere onlooker, of something bigger, something that really matters. We spend endless hours on business or technical meetings and we like it, but, from time to time, it feels remarkably good to talk about the world, discuss the reality that surrounds us, on how to tackle it, to improve it\u2026<\/p>\n
This time all the merit goes to our colleague Xavi Valls<\/strong> who played the matchmaker role. His perseverance and constant insistence during the recent Moodle conference in which he participated, convinced Martin Dougiamas<\/a> to pay us a short visit in the Barcelona office.<\/p>\n It is Xavi <\/strong>who picks Martin <\/strong>up at the corner of the street and who, in his pre-Internet era English, welcomes him and walks him up to our floor where Martin <\/strong>strolls and enjoys taking videos of the truly stunning architectural Gaudi realm that surrounds all of us.<\/p>\n At the \u201cColumn\u201d meeting room, Marc Castells<\/strong> awaits him and I sneak inside, after having been bragging for a little while with my other workmates that we are actually about to meet Mr Moodle. Marc <\/strong>is slightly nervous, it\u2019s been long time since he last practiced his English and, as one can expect, our company presentation in this language is not up to date. But all happens naturally, we explain Martin <\/strong>who we are (or more often, who we aim to be, which itself is a crucial step in the entire process of achieving our next milestones).<\/p>\n Martin <\/strong>is far ahead of us in so many areas: his leadership in the Open Source community, its clear and concise mission of \u201cEmpowering educators to improve our world\u201d<\/strong> and, last but not least, his valuable experience \u2013 we feel enlightened by his presence. When he talks about the Sustainable Development Goals<\/a> defined in 2015 by the United Nations, he is convinced that this is the way to go and that these should be the basic guidelines for any human activity. He explains the reasons behind his decision about accepting the investment offer from the Leclercq family (the owner of Decathlon, among others) and how he connected with them through their shared values and similar vision..<\/p>\n Back to us, Martin <\/strong>is clearly amazed by our internal policies such as Social Experiences or the donations. We are surprised to see him take a picture of the slide on Tinbergen Rule, we find ourselves quoting together Reinventing Organizations<\/a> and discussing common values.<\/p>\n This unique atmosphere that is created when people from opposite sides of the globe come to realize that they share the very essential beliefs and that even for this mere reason, we shouldn\u2019t yet give up on the world… is overwhelming. This is a social adrenaline rush that we need, the boost that will help us pursue our own path.<\/p>\n Most probably, this encounter will not bring any financial profit for any of the participating parties, but, at least on our side, Martin\u2019<\/strong>s visit proves to be far more motivating and fulfilling that any business profitable reunions that we hold on regular basis.<\/p>\n Let me finish with a reflection that Martin\u2019s visit has left:<\/p>\n Shall we write a mission statement? Will we succeed in defining it so simple, concise and perfect as he did?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Cr\u00f2nica personal de la visita de Martin Dougiamas, fundador y CEO de Moodle, a nuestras oficinas de La Pedrera.<\/em><\/p>\n En todo este tiempo en que BaseTIS forma parte de mi vida, han ido apareciendo momentos m\u00e1gicos en los que me sorprendo de mi situaci\u00f3n de privilegio. A menudo, caminando hacia casa, meto mis manos en los bolsillos y me doy cuenta de que llevo encima la llave de La Pedrera\u2026<\/p>\n Esa es s\u00f3lo una muestra de a lo que me refiero y adem\u00e1s es una mala muestra, ya que en el fondo se esconde un valor material. Lo realmente enriquecedor es encontrarte reunido entre varias personas y participar, aunque sea como espectador, del entendimiento en lo que realmente importa. Pasamos mucho tiempo en reuniones t\u00e9cnicas o de negocio, y nos gusta, pero de vez en cuando est\u00e1 bien hablar del mundo, de la realidad que nos rodea, de como tratar de mejorarla…<\/p>\n Esta vez hay que agradecer el papel de Celestina que ha hecho nuestro compa\u00f1ero Xavi Valls<\/strong>. Su insistencia en las \u00faltimas jornadas de Moodle a las que asisti\u00f3, consigui\u00f3 convencer a Martin Dougiamas<\/a> para que nos hiciera una visita a nuestras oficinas. Es \u00e9l qui\u00e9n lo recoge en la esquina y quien con su ingl\u00e9s pre-Internet lo acompa\u00f1a hasta nuestro piso, por donde Martin<\/strong> pasea tomando v\u00eddeos del espect\u00e1culo arquitect\u00f3nico que nos rodea.<\/p>\n En la sala Columna, les espera Marc Castells <\/strong>y yo me cuelo dentro tras alardear con varios compa\u00f1eros de que tengo una reuni\u00f3n con el Se\u00f1or Moodle. Marc<\/strong> est\u00e1 algo nervioso, mucho tiempo sin practicar su ingl\u00e9s y como es habitual, nuestra presentaci\u00f3n en dicho idioma no est\u00e1 actualizada. Pero todo transcurre con naturalidad, le explicamos qui\u00e9nes somos (a veces es m\u00e1s quienes queremos ser, como un paso m\u00e1s para serlo).<\/p>\n Martin <\/strong>nos saca mucha ventaja en muchas cosas, su liderato en la comunidad Open Source<\/em>, su misi\u00f3n clara y sint\u00e9tica\u00a0\u201cEmpowering educators to improve our world\u201d<\/strong><\/em> y su experiencia, nos iluminan. \u00a0Nos ense\u00f1a los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible<\/a> que en el 2.015 defini\u00f3 la ONU y tiene muy claro que esa debe ser la gu\u00eda b\u00e1sica para cualquier actividad humana. Nos explica su entendimiento con la familia Leclercq (propietaria entre otros de Decathlon), a los que ha aceptado como inversores por su forma de ver el mundo.<\/p>\n***<\/h2>\n