What we think we've figured out so far

a) We should share an intent to embark on journeys

A fundamental part of why we come to basecamp should be because we intend to leave as part of an Expedition.

"The intent to leave as part of an Expedition" is an intent to be a part of something new. You probably don't know what it is just yet. And you're open to the possibility that it might be something really big, maybe something even bigger and better than the big something you're already fully committed to. Or it might be something very small. You just can't know yet.

b) If it entices two followers, it's an Expedition

These "Expeditions" self-organize during basecamps. Conceptually, at an appropriate moment: a Table or participant stands up and says, "I want to set forth and do X." And if at least two other people "raise their hands" to offer active support, then they've got themselves an Expedition Party. (If no one raises their hand, then they need to explore why not, refine their pitch, and maybe try again.) At basecamp:London, this moment is scheduled for Monday, before lunch. And we've got a couple ideas about how to make it fun.

No one at basecamp presumes to know which Expeditions will have the greatest "impact". Instead, we're each guided by what makes sense, and what feels compelling, to us. (Time will reveal many things that won't be apparent in the moment at basecamp.)

c) Everest-worthy Expeditions are by nature inclusive

What makes an Expedition "Everest-worthy"? We don't yet know, but our hunch is that the Expeditions that travel furthest beyond basecamp, and that thrive best in the wider re•base movement, will be the most inclusive ones - those that can open paths of meaningful participation to everyone in our distinctively diverse community.

For example, one of the Expeditions that lives on from basecamp:Toronto is the ambition to create a global "Pandemic of Health". (The basecamp:London Table on Rethinking Health & Wellbeing is an explicit continuation of the same journey.) One of the core insights of the Pandemic is that we, as individuals, need to reclaim from the healthcare system the authority to judge for ourselves our own level of wellbeing. Whether or not you are a health expert, you can imagine a role for yourself in helping that Pandemic to spread.

Other Expeditions that live on from basecamp:Toronto seem to share this inclusive aspect, e.g.:

• An Artist at Every Table
• A Global Dialogue on the Purpose of Schools
• A Meaning & Purpose Toolkit

Critical Questions that still need answering

a) How should the wider re•base community support Expeditions beyond basecamp?

Basecamp:Toronto ended with considerable confusion about what responsibility the basecamp organizers were going to take upon themselves to ensure that Expeditions move forward.

Our view is that this responsibility lies fully with the people who are taking part in the Expedition (the "pathfinders") - not with the basecamp organizers. The organizers enable; the pathfinders journey.

However, we think it makes sense for the re•base community to develop and maintain supporting infrastructure to imbue Expeditions with resources (eg: energy, allies, momentum, publicity, legitimacy and milestones) to be effective and successful.

We've discussed several forms of support. We think the roadmap for developing these supports should be driven by the Expeditions' expressed needs:

• Subsequent basecamps? Supplying possible milestones (in the form of Tables at subsequent basecamps) that Expeditions can build into their own plans. The value here is many-fold: a concrete calendar destination to focus people's efforts; exposure to new allies in new geographies; enriched input and reactions and exposure from the re•base network via a newly published Challenge Paper
• Get connected into the re•base community? We're leery that an open membership database would be open for theft and abuse. But we can imagine human network nodes, whose role it is to help connect Expeditions (newly formed and established) with members in the wider community who may want to get involved in their Expedition some way.
• An Expedition Board (via some publication platform) that makes visible to the membership "what's on?", in terms of Expeditions underway?
• An Expedition Library that gives members access to the ever-growing catalog of Challenge Papers, and their authors?

b) Should re•base have a "venture capital" component, to supply startup funding to Expeditions?

This is another one of those obvious ideas that, after careful consideration, we worry might be a mistake.

The conversations we've been having around this idea center around these thoughts:

• An organization that has financial capital to deploy very quickly becomes an organization whose purpose is to deploy financial capital. We'd all start to evaluate new Expeditions by (a) How much capital can they absorb? and (b) How much can they generate in return? But that evaluation lens could kill the best ideas before they come to life.
• If there's a brilliant idea / Expedition, and all it needs is financial capital, then the capital can be found. Sherpas into the re•base community (see above) could help to connect those Expeditions to people in the community who have experience raising capital. Also, many members of the community have their own capital to deploy.