After not having written anything about Knowmads, my dear colleagues Kristin and Neza gave me the suggestion to write about Project Mayhem. They advised me to first interview a couple of Knowmad students about how they experience Project Mayhem and then write the story.

The students I interviewed were generally positive. They feel like there is a new rush going through Knowmads. Project Mayhem sets them in an actual doing mode and makes them feel they are actually accomplishing something tangible. It also seems that there is a very positive vibe in Knowmads lately. It could be the weather, Project Mayhem, or Tom’s techno music during the Mayhem drinks on Thursday we don’t know. What’s important is that the students are really bonding.

The students feel it is a great motivator and are getting to know their own strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes.
Another positive thing the students share is that Project Mayhem gives a lot of freedom to create an environment they want to work in. Project Mayhem is not an initiative from the council but from 2 students from tribe 5. Project Mayhem is a co-created initiative with the students and it gives space for everyone to step in to the form they see fit. This is what makes it organic.

Some of the students and the council do find it a shame that on some days the people decide to work from their homes and are not physically in Knowmads. A suggestion from a student was that people should eat, sleep and shit at Knowmads for a month.
Another shame that most people share is that Mayhem is not open enough to the outside world. It would be great if the outside world could see movies about Project Mayhem, see project planning for the different projects and visit an interactive website.

The general consensus is that Project Mayhem could be a yearly thing under the condition that it is still carried by the students and not an initiative from the council.
It would also be wise to create an even better crowd sourcing system where the crowd votes for the projects. For the next time we should really think of a good online project management tool that is carried by all the students and provides them with more tools before Project Mayhem starts. It would also be an idea to organize some WTF lectures before the start of Project Mayhem to really inspire people.

Most important is that we keep the Project Mayhem Thursday afternoon drinks and that we end with a big F#CK!NG PARTY.