If you could spend a week with the most interesting people in the world, who would you choose?

That’s basically the premise behind the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference held annually in Long Beach. I was fortunate to attend a live simulcast of Day 2 of this year’s conference through TEDxGoldstar on March 2nd at the Downtown Independent Center, a day filled with musical performances and engaging presenters from the worlds of science, film and even graffiti.

Instead of recapping the entire day I’m going to focus on three of this year’s presenters:

Salman Khan is the founder of Khan Academy, a non-profit that provides students in teachers with online videos covering an array of topics from algebra to venture capital. One of the most fascinating parts of Khan’s story is how Khan Academy was born.

Khan had created and uploaded videos to YouTube as a way to help his cousin in school, never imagining that other people would find these videos interesting. But they did. People posted tons of comments, offering positive feedback and questions, which led Khan to realize that his idea could be something much bigger. For a more thorough examination of Khan Academy’s impact on education I highly recommend this GOOD article: “Big Ideas from TED 2011: Letting Students Drive Their Education.”

Indra Nooyi is the current CEO of Pepsi. In 2010 she was named #1 on Fortune’s list of the “50 Most Powerful Women” and #6 on Forbes‘ list of the “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women”. Every marketer in the world has heard of the successful Pepsi Refresh project, but what really got my attention was Nooyi’s announcement of the Refresh University, which will help provide 1,000 Pepsi Refresh grantees with the tools necessary for succession planning. It would have been very easy for Pepsi to discontinue the Refresh project, so I was impressed by Nooyi’s commitment to continue building on the project’s success.

Last, but not least, was French street artist JR, undoubtedly the day’s crowd favorite and this year’s TED Prize winner. The TED Prize is “…awarded annually to an exceptional individual who receives $100,000 and, much more important, “One Wish to Change the World.” Designed to leverage the TED community’s exceptional array of talent and resources, the Prize leads to collaborative initiatives with far-reaching impact.”

It was during his presentation that JR announced his TED wish, a large-scale participatory art project. Check out http://www.insideoutproject.net/ for all the details.

RECAP:

This is the 2nd TEDx event I’ve attended. Going to an event vs. watching TED videos on your computer are like night and day. What makes TED really special is the vibrant community of people – everyone from presenters, to organizers to guests.

Thanks to @ktischhy at talkTECH Communications for inviting me to join the exclusive group of 150 attendees at this year’s event produced by Goldstar.

Gift bags for all attendees

Watching the live simulcast in Long Beach!

TEDxGoldstar agenda and featured beverages

Bill Gates introducing the next presenter

Complimentary ice cream sandwiches provided by @Coolhaus

Above photo credit: Daniella De Varney Photography.

Lunch on rooftop of Downtown Independent Center

Banner for OUR "Ideas Worth Spreading"

Also thanks to Rosie Nguyen for sharing the last two pics.

LINKS:

For a more comprehensive look at TED Day 2, check out TED 2011 The Rediscovery of Wonder, Day Two on the Brain Pickings blog.

Also, there are lots of great links, pics and articles being shared on Twitter through the #TEDxGoldstar hashtag.

LA Weekly – JR’s Wish and Four Other TED Talks We Loved

Ambitious Technology Charts How Babytalk Evolves Into Language – PSFK. This is an article about one of the day’s TED presenters, Deb Roy.

Learn more about Michigan-based company Boxed Water Is Better

Here’s a Flickr Photoset I created for the event: TEDxGoldstar 2011

This weekend I was fortunate to be one of the lucky people in attendance at TEDxHollywood, “a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.”

The event was held at the LA office of TBWA/CHIAT/DAY, which is basically the kind of cool, funky, creative environment where every ad guy and girl dreams of working.

An office park...literally

The event was organized by Creative Director Tito Melega, who said during his introduction (I’m paraphrasing) on the evening’s theme, Creativity In The New World: “Instead of creating stories people want to hear, we create stories people want to tell.”

The event moved forward with the first guest speaker, photographer Jay Mark Johnson, who creates stunning visuals through the use of what he calls “Space-time Photography.”

Next up was Rob Schwartz, Chief Creative Officer at TBWA/CHIAT/DAY who talked about some of the work that went into the Pepsi Refresh Project, an excellent case study for brands who want to behave as a tool for positive social change. What was really inspiring is the number of incredible ideas people submitted to the campaign: “There’s so much creative potential in this country coming from regular people.”

I loved when Rob showed us a messenger bag created from a billboard that was used doing the Refresh project. It was a great example of a brand using their marketing to literally create something in line with the campaign message. He closed with this Behance-esque quote.

IDEAS WORTH SHARING —> IDEAS WORTH DOING

Mark was followed by singer/songwriter Elizaveta, who pretty much left everyone floored during her performance with her amazing voice. You can download four free tracks here.

The last presenter of the night was Tears For Fears co-founder Curt Smith, who talked about how social media has changed both the music industry and how he behaves as a musician. The key takeaway for me was when Curt said, “I don’t HAVE to record an ALBUM.” He’s realized that the album format is inefficient and outdated, something Bob Lefsetz has been saying for some time now: people nowadays prefer cherry-picking their favorite tracks over buying albums.

Looking back, I’m incredibly grateful to have been a part of this experience. I met some terrific people and I think that it’s great Tito was able to gather such a colorful group of presenters to educate, entertain and inspire us for a short evening — pretty much everything I could ask for in a TED event.

LINKS:

Check out my full Flickr set here

TED X Hollywood Tweet Stream

TALK: City As Canvas featuring Marc & Sara Schiller (Wooster Collective)

This was my favorite talk of the day. It hit on all the points of a great presentation:

1) It was interesting

2) It told a story

3) It left you wanting more

They began the talk by asking a question: What Is It About Street Art That Makes It So Infectious?

• Site specific
• Adds context and meaning
• Personal and intimate
• Reaction to the proliferation of Advertising
• Street art has impermanence — Advertising has a purpose

The Schillers went on to show examples of numerous street artists:

• Banksy
• Beehives
• Invader – spaceinvader Flickr set – spaceinvader site

• Mark Jenkins
• Darius & Downey – Darius & Downey Flickr set
• Dan Witz
• Roadsworth – Roadsworth on Flickr

• Brad Downey
• Laura Keebler
• JLove
• The Bubble Project – on Wooster Collective
• Decapitator – the decapitator’s Photostream on Flickr
• Dr. Gecko
• Sputnik – check out “Nike The Ripper“
• JR – his recent project in Kenya
• Filippo Minelli
• John Fekner
• Armsrock – on Wooster Collective – Armsrock’s blog

• Jan Vormann
• Ben Bostock
• The Bund
• Crateman – Crate Art in Melbourne (via Wooster Collective), The Return of Crateman (via Wooster Collective)
• Revs
• Jake Bronstein – on Wooster Collective
• Guerilla Knitters
• mosstika
• Ulrika Erdes

SUMMARY: There are a lot of incredible street artists out there doing amazing things. Their work isn’t just visually interesting – it’s often insightful and inspiring. There’s always a story behind each piece; great art will force you to think and look at the world differently, and maybe even question your own beliefs.

Looking back, I really enjoyed the PSFK Conference it was my 1st time). My only suggestion to improve the event was that there were so many terrific, interesting people and a limited amount of time to meet them. For the next conference I’d love PSFK to facilitate some kind of icebreaker so that we could get to know more of the attendees.

LINKS:

Constant Beta – Highlights from the PSFK Conference 2009

iamtheweather.com – PSFK Conference 09

Photos From PSFK Conference NYC

Gareth Kay – Looking Back at PSFK New York

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to comment or re-tweet it. Oh, and if you’re looking for a Junior Planner/Strategist in NYC (or know someone who is) -email me at DennisDemori [at] Gmail [dot] com.

On April 2nd I attended the PSFK Conference NYC. I’m using this multi-post series to share some of the highlights.

PANEL: New Idea Agencies featuring Bart Haney (Fuse Project), Carl Johnson (Anomaly), Ben Malbon (BBH Labs), Robbie Vitrano (Trumpet)

This panel discussed Intellectual Property (IP) and it’s the one I was most excited about. They touched on the need to reassess the current agency business and compensation models.

Moderator Question: What Are The Current Challenges?

Carl: “The Ad industry is broken because it values crap ideas the same as good ideas.”

Moderator Question: How important is branding, when traditionally, it’s what an agency’s best at?

Carl: “You have to not care if you execute. The purpose is to make a business.”

“You have to understand media more than anything else.”

“You have to embrace collaboration.”

“You’re much more commercially aware…the retail environment is crucial.”

Robbie: “The ultimate integrity of the business (is most important).”

“The purest form of marketing is in product development.”

Moderator Question: How Do You Get Funding? What Are The Exit Strategies?

Robbie: We don’t want to own 100% – this ruins collaboration. “We’d rather own 10% of a big success than 100% of a failure.”

BREAK: Rethinking Recession

Sites to check out:

• MakerFaire.com
• NYCGarbage.com
• KrystalPersaud.wordpress.com
• Sylvia Earle’s TED Prize wish to protect our oceans | Video on TED.com.

LINKS:

Constant Beta – Highlights from the PSFK Conference 2009

iamtheweather.com – PSFK Conference NYC

Photos From PSFK Conference NYC 09

Gareth Kay – Looking Back at PSFK New York

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to comment or re-tweet it. Oh, and if you’re looking for a Junior Planner/Strategist in NYC (or know someone who is) -email me at DennisDemori [at] Gmail [dot] com.

PANEL: Reconnect featuring Sarah Beatty (Green Depot), Simon Collins (Parsons), Ryan Jacoby (IDEO), Matthew Lush (Hecho Inc.)

Moderator Question: What does sustainability mean now?

Simon: It’s a journey, not a destination. It’s about buying intelligently. Blue jeans are a perfect example of sustainable design – they actually get better with age as you wash them (What if we could translate this concept to every product?)

Sarah: High-quality. The challenge is to offer something better.

Dave: There’s a perception that sustainability means less…but this isn’t true.

Moderator Question: What will the world be like in 20-30 years?

Sarah: “It’s great that we can connect with people around the world, but how will we connect with people next door?“

Moderator Question: Who are the leaders in sustainability?

Ryan: Method, Amazon.com, Wal-mart

Sarah: Recyclebank – They encourage homeowners to recycle

Summary: Sustainability is really about reversing the trend of over- and hyper-consumption that has been a big part of this generation’s habits. This panel reminded me of something Thomas L. Friedman said on TV the other day about the Green movement.

He was asked when we would know that going Green has been successful.

His answer was that there will be no more “green” cars, “green” houses, or “green anything. A car will be a car and a house will just be a house. We won’t know the difference anymore when there’s nothing to differentiate against.

LINKS:

iamtheweather.com – PSFK Conference NYC

Constant Beta  Highlights From the PSFK Conference 2009

Photos from PSFK Conference NYC 09

Gareth Kay – Looking Back at PSFK New York

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to comment or re-tweet it. Oh, and if you’re looking for a Junior Planner/Strategist in NYC (or know someone who is) -email me at DennisDemori [at] Gmail [dot] com.

TALK: This Platform Called Everyday Life featuring Kevin Slavin (Area/Code)

This was one of the best talks of the day. Kevin says that we’re heading towards a world where objects have online and offline entities. The lines are blurred.

He uses the cell phone as an example. Traditionally, phones were used for PEOPLE to call other people. Nowadays, the phone is still connecting us with the rest of the world, but, more importantly, the other rest of the world.

Here’s a few examples of using the online world to improve what’s going on in the offline world.

• Nike + “You are in an active communication relationship with your sneakers.”
• Kogi Taco Truck This Korean BBQ on wheels is famous for updating patrons on its location using Twitter
• Sharkrunners combines an online game with real life GPS tracked sharks. Events unfold in real time. You get an email or a text when you have reached an actual shark!
• Citysense.com
• Path Intelligence

Kevin gave a few more examples of how we can expect mobile technology to control environments, such as Project Blinkenlights:

The above pic is of Allianz Arena in Munich. The stadium can change colors depending on which teams are playing (think of a pro baseball and football team sharing the same field).

513-381-JERK is another example that represents the idea of using a phone not to talk, but to communicate with a thing to remove a person. A little crazy when you think about it.

SUMMARY: The idea of “Treating objects like people; regarding people as objects” was really interesting, and a great analysis of the future potential of mobile technology.

LINKS:

Constant Beta: Highlights From The PSFK Conference 2009

iamtheweather.com – PSFK Conference NYC

Photos from PSFK Conference NYC 09

Gareth Kay – Looking Back at PSFK New York

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to comment or re-tweet it. Oh, and if you’re looking for a Junior Planner/Strategist in NYC (or know someone who is) -email me at DennisDemori [at] Gmail [dot] com.

TALK: Ghost In The Machine – Digital Multiculture featuring Celestine Arnold

Celestine was a terrific speaker, but there was so much info on her slides it was difficult to take adequate notes (I hope she will eventually post her slides online). She said that this was a talk about race & representation – NOT about racism (important distinction).

She went on to talk about the cultural/ethnic misrepresentation and exclusion of minorities from video games & virtual worlds. Gaming is mirrored by white culture when it’s in fact minorities that dominate the gaming market.

Various racial stereotypes also dominate the gaming landscape (white = good, black = evil, arab = terrorists, etc.).

SUMMARY: Celestine points out that embracing the multicultural demographic provides a highly untapped market for marketers.

BREAK: Death of Ownership

One of the predominant themes of the PSFK Conference has to do with consumerism and consumption. There’s a trend of people not just decreasing their purchases, but actually OWNING less stuff. Take a look at the following examples:

• Pandora (free music – no need for CDs)
• Netflix (renting movies – no need for DVDs)
• SmartBike DC – (renting bikes – no need to own transportation)

We’ re moving from a society that is used to accumulating things to a society that’s rejecting over-consumption and embracing simplicity:

“You buy furniture. You tell yourself this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple of years you’re satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you’ve got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you’re trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you.”

— Fight Club

As I write this I’m thinking about another movie I saw the other night that represents these ideas perfectly, “Into The Wild.” Check it out.

LINKS:

iamtheweather.com- PSFK Conference NYC

Constant Beta – Highlights from the PSFK Conference 2009

Photos from PSFK Conference NYC 09

Gareth Kay – Looking Back at PSFK New York

PANEL: Building Healthy Brands With Heart featuring Richard Fine (Help Remedies), Sean Khozin & Jay Parkinson (Hello Health)

There’s a number of flaws with the current Healthcare model. According to iamweather.com,

“Both Help Remedies and HelloHealth have identified the shortcomings of a medical system that has placed the continued success of the medical business machine ahead of the care of patients. Medications are developed to satisfy marketing departments and product schedules and don’t have any connection to actually making you feel better.”

• One of the 1st statistics the panel pointed out was that we’ve doubled our life expectancy since 1900, but its flattened over the past several years.It costs $10,000 to treat asthma, but $3,000 to cure it
• The current customers of Doctors aren’t the patients – it’s the Insurance companies that pay Doctors
• The Insurance companies end up increasing the Doctors’ overhead (and raising our costs)

HELP REMEDIES:

• Richard said he launched Help Remedies to simplify medication from ingredients to packaging.
• He also said that we need to get innovation around the Doctor/Patient relationship instead of around who can sell the cheapest insurance
• Rich said we should check out the Yellow Tail wine case study to get a better idea of how Help Remedies has structured their marketing and their business (Yellow Tail took a category that was confusing to most people – wine – and simplified it in a way that made people comfortable purchasing it).

Jinal Shah has some interesting thoughts on her Constant Beta blog about Re-inventing Healthcare.

HELLO HEALTH

• Jay gave us a great Clay Shirky quote: “When we change the way we communicate, we change society.”
• The Hello Health guys went on to talk about how they wanted to make simplify Healthcare the way companies like Etsy, Amazon, and ZipCar have simplified their industries.
• Hello Health helps you connect w/ your doctor online: Doctors have online profiles to humanize them.
• Any Dr. in the US can sign up.
• You can use videochat w/ your Doctor and the chat functions like a blog post so you can keep track of your discussions (be honest – do you remember everything your Doctor tells you?)
• Hello Health also acts as a social network for Doctors – it’s a platform just like Facebook (they’re going to open up API) – it’s about removing the middleman
• Sean added that “(technology) should not be a barrier between patient and Doctor.”

LINK: Jay on Tumblr -  Jay Parkinson + MD + MPH

SUMMARY: The main idea here is that the Healthcare industry (along with music, newspaper, auto, etc.) has been operating on an outdated business model for far too long. It’s time to get back to basics. Life is complicated enough – healthcare should be simple.

BREAK: Open Source Education

We were introduced to some interesting things going on in the world of education, including:

• iTunes University
• Academic Earth
• School of Everything
• MoonToast

LINKS:

iamtheweather.com- PSFK Conference NYC

Constant Beta – Highlights from the PSFK Conference 2009

The Barbarian Group – Interactive Advertising and Media Placement Companies Don’t Mix

The Barbarian Group – Hello Health Marketing Campaign

Photos from PSFK Conference NYC 09

Gareth Kay – Looking Back at PSFK New York

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to comment or re-tweet it. Oh, and if you’re looking for a Junior Planner/Strategist in NYC (or know someone who is) -email me at DennisDemori [at] Gmail [dot] com.

TALK: When Ideas Create Good presented by Graham Hill (Treehugger) – Twitter: @ghill

Graham used the Pecha Kucha method of presenting to cover 3 topics:

1) People – A couple ecologically-forward people Graham highlighted were:

• Colin Beaven – Writes the No Impact Man blog
• Willie Smits – A biologist who has found a way to re-grow clearcut rainforest in Borneo (video below)

2) Stuff

• Referred to Ponoko.com , where you can shop for individualized goods in the greenest way possible
• Recommended the NatureMill Automatic Indoor Composter

3) Concepts

• One of the things Graham emphasized was bringing back repairability.  We live in a society that has, for several years now, bought and purged. It looks like the new trend is Unconsumption. Dave Armano just had an interesting post on Marketing in A Post-Consumer Era.
• “Small is sexy” – this applies to everything from cars, houses, and products. Generally, the bigger something is, the larger its footprint
• From ZipCars to Heliostats, there are a number of products out there that can make us all more eco-friendly
• Green Power is one of the quickest ways to reduce your carbon footprint

BREAK: Informed Choices

The 1st talk was followed by a break that pointed us to some useful websites:

• sheeplessco.com
• findthefarmer.com
• icebreaker.com

The main idea we can take from this panel is that there’s a lot of things people are doing in the world to move the green movement forward without forcing us to somehow lower our standard of living. People can effectively embrace technology and commonsense living to improve their lives and the environment.

LINKS:

Highlights From The PSFK Conference 2009 by Jinal Shah

PSFK Conference NYC on iamtheweather.com

Photos from PSFK Conference NYC 09

Gareth Kay – Looking Back at PSFK New York

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to comment or re-tweet it. Oh yeah, and if you’re looking for a Junior Planner or Strategist in NYC (or know someone who is) – email me at DennisDemori [at] Gmail [dot] com.

Heading to the PSFK Conference in NYC tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to meeting some of the interesting attendees and checking out the panels. Haven’t decided yet if I’m going to live tweet it, but I’ll definitely post about it at some point this weekend.

From the website: