Our inaugural event- “Collaborate, Experiment, Inspire”, will examine new models of collaboration that are building communities, businesses, and a better world. Come hear how the New York community, through its willingness to experiment and stumble, is coming together to inspire a new wave of innovation in design, social media, architecture, government, science and education in New York City. See some of the talks you’ll hear below and view our great lineup of speakers for the event.

Date: October 15th, 2010
Location: Cooper Union Great Hall, 7 E 7th Street (Cooper Square btwn. 3rd and 4th Aves), NY 10003
Registration: 12pm
Program: 1pm – 6.30pm

The After Party- DJ Joro Boro: The After Party – for event attendees only – will give you a chance to discuss the talks, solidify new friendships, and put your ideas into action…  Just back from Burning Man, DJ Joro Boro will play a set of inventive, subtle, globally- inspired music.

Click here to apply

SOME OF THE TALKS YOU’LL HEAR

Heather Knight

Big Idea: Human Robot Collaborations: A Rising Symbiosis

Talk: The rise of machines in society may have started with efficiency (supercomputers were massive number crunchers, telephones were for communicating between factories), but we are heading squarely for a realm where productivity meets sociability. Learn how robots and computers are leveraging this new frontier to impact our lives, learning and happiness. Storytelling is innately human, its why we spend much of our free time watching movies, reading and discussing the latest gossip. New breakthroughs in technology are empowering those habits but what might that mean for our future? Click here for bio.

Carne Ross

Big Idea: Everyone is a diplomat

Talk: In a fragmenting but globalized world, governments are less and less able to control events and impose agreements. Instead, new actors are emerging, including huge companies, celebrity campaigners, terrorists and other “non-state” groups, malevolent or benign. It’s no longer enough to vote for your political preferences to be delivered; you must also act. Click here for bio.

Rasanath Das

Big Idea: “Monky” Business: Practice of monasticism in a world of business and technology

Talk: The stereotypical image of a monk is that of complete renunciation of the world, its pleasures and its relationships. While this was the traditional approach to monasticism, the deeper understanding and practice of monasticism lies in the complete engagement with the world — but in a truly selfless fashion. How does one negotiate the jarring contradictions between the deep inner world of introspection and the external world of distraction? Click here for bio.

Craig Dykers

Big Idea: Let’s think about how we think about our built world.

Talk: Intellectual sustainability is as important as the management of physical resources; that is, we must exert ourselves intellectually in a sustainable fashion, just as when we work to protect and preserve our available physical resources. This form of sustainable thinking requires us to retrain our perceptions of how and why we require built things. With new perceptions of why we want things, we can better manage the need for them. Craig will explore the philosophical underpinnings of intellectual sustainability, and show built and conceived architectural projects that illuminate some solutions. Click here for bio.

Manu Prakash

Big Idea: Physical Entomology: A fresh look at insects through the lens of mechanics

Talk: From the glittering back of a beetle to the annoying buzz of a house fly – insects offer a world of wonder, amazement and mystery. Throughout the last century, insects have fascinated artists and biologists alike by their sheer numbers, colors defying perception and fascinating alien-like form. In the 21st century, we take a fresh look at them, through the lens of mechanics to unravel the hidden beauty of their shape and form. In this talk, I will discuss culprits from the insect world who appear to ignore the laws of physics and see what life lessons we can learn from them. Click here for bio.

Ira Flatow

Big Idea: Shocked! I’m Shocked! Science is Sexy.

Talk: If you’re shocked that 20% of Americans think Obama is Muslim, you ain’theard nothin’ yet. Twice that many don’t know that the earth goes around the sun in one year. And there’s more…

Click here for bio.

Edward T. Hall

Big Idea: The Poetry of Science: Realizing Our Potential Through Humanizing Our Research

Talk: We have developed a society so complex it exceeds the boundaries of human comprehension, yet we are unearthing insights that have the power to liberate us from our inherited cognitive limitations – giving us a fighting chance against the biggest problems. But backwards incentive structures may stymie the discoveries we need. Through advancements in collaboration, and design, we have the opportunity to invent a poetry of science which focuses discoveries toward a common good and inspires new methods of problem solving. Click here for bio.