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Being nice allowed us to create the largest public photo exhibit on Happiness in Latin America!

Largest Public Photo Exhibit on Happiness in Latin America

In 2015, I visited Pereira, Colombia to give a workshop on Happiness. I was expecting a group of no more than 15 people, but something unexpected happened…

Few days before the event, a friend and I decided to extend the invitation to some local entrepreneurs to attend the workshop for free and to brainstorm ideas about how to make Pereira happier.

We started with a small team: Sebastian Echeverry, Juan Fernando Hoyos, and me. In less than a week, our team rapidly grew to 28 volunteers (see pic above). Together, we decided to make 100,000 people happier in less than two months.

Our idea was to create the largest public photo exhibit on Happiness in Latin America and to share it with the world. Our initial goal was to collect 300 portraits of happiness supporters in the city.

In order to grow our idea in a very short period of time we partnered with:

  • The InsideOut project
  • The local government
  • Local media (radio and newspapers mostly)
  • 12 of the most important companies in the region

Thanks to our team and our partners we ended up collecting 1,000 amazing portraits that were displayed in public spaces including buses, schools, bus stations, and walls.

Happiness only real when shared-McCandless

Without a doubt one of the best things that ever happen to me for my love to happiness is to empower others along the way.

Few months later after our project in Pereira, my 28 teammates created their own remarkable organizations that have been inspired more than 2 million people.

From climate change initiatives, to celebrating the international day of happiness, to social entrepreneurial ventures, the people who were involved in our happiness initiative are rocking it, and that’s the best thing that happened to be for being nice.

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