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Archive for the 'Innovation and Creativity' Category

May 31 2010

Cory Ondrejka

The World’s Preeminent Authority on the Economic & Technological Impact of Virtual Worlds

Cory Ondrejka speakerCory Ondrejka is the co-creator of the Digital World, Second Life. In life after Linden Lab and Second Life, he was a visiting professor at University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication. He is currently the Executive Vice President of Digital Strategy for EMI Recorded Music. He is an expert on the interrelation between innovation and learning, as well as the technological and social requirements of product development.

“A relentless innovator”


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Cory Ondrejka received his BS in Weapons and Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy, graduated from the Navy Nuclear Power School, and served as an officer in the United States Navy. As co-founder and CTO of Linden Lab, Cory Ondrejka has long been an evangelist for the power of virtual worlds. He constructed the core code and built the multinational team that created the award-winning Second Life. He has also driven Linden Lab’s unique distributed culture for geographically-diverse software development, establishing tools and practices for building the right internal teams for specific tasks, independent of the geographic location of the people.[/expand]


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Cory Ondrejka offers an exciting look at what’s ahead in Virtual Worlds and how it will affect business and society. He conveys the excitement about this new frontier where entrepreneurs are already exploring ways to generate real-world profits. He is passionate about showing how virtual worlds can be used to create a more connected workplace, the deep connection between learning and innovation, their impact on national power and much more.[/expand]


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A skilled and exciting speaker, Cory Ondrejka expertly brings unique experience and current insight to the business challenges and opportunities inherent to these new technologies.[/expand]
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May 24 2010

Josephine Green

Former Senior Director of Trends & Strategy at Philips Design, Recognized Authority on Social & Cultural Change

Josephine Green speakerJosephine Green is an internationally aclaimed speaker in the field of social and cultural change and innovation having been Senior Director of Trends and Strategy at Philips Design from 1997 to 2009, responsible for research into Society, Cultures and People and its implementation into the Strategic Futures Programme. She pioneered the Strategic Futures Program that helps companies and organizations think about and implement a human focused approach to innovation and growth. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the European Futurists Conference Lucerne and has worked both in international sales and marketing and in futures and social research for advanced strategy.

“Josephine promotes new thinking & new knowledge in the specific field of Social Foresight for Strategy & Innovation”


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Josephine Green studied History and Politics at Warwick University, England. She has consistently worked with customers to introduce new thinking and sustainable development into their culture and processes. She has given many international presentations, and lectures at a number of universities’ masters and executive courses.[/expand]


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A consultant for a number of European Futures programmes and advisory boards, Josephine Green promotes working in emerging social space both as an opportunity and as a necessity and sees design and the new technologies as important enablers towards more social and sustainable solutions for the 21st century. Her main focus is on the critical transformation we are experiencing as we journey from one way of thinking, of being and of doing (the techno-industrial era) to another (the socio-ecological era).[/expand]


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An inspiring speaker, Josephine Green’s passion is now in promoting new thinking and new knowledge in the specific field of Social Foresight and Innovation which she does in a clear and frank manner.[/expand]
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May 03 2010

Karim Rashid

Leading Figure in the Fields of Product, Interior, Fashion, Furniture, Lighting Design, Art

Karim Rashid speakerKarim Rashid is a leading figure in the fields of product, interior, fashion, furniture, lighting design and art. He is best known for bringing his democratic design sensibility to the masses. He has had some 2500 objects put into production to date. His work is in the permanent collections of 14 Museums worldwide including MoMA and SFMoMA and he exhibits art in various galleries.

“Karim Rashid is one of the most gifted industrial designer’s today”


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Designing for an impressive array of clients from Alessi to Dirt Devil, Umbra to Prada, Miyake to Method, Karim is radically changing the aesthetics of product design and the very nature of the consumer culture. His designs of the Morimoto restaurant in Philadelphia and the award-winning Semiramis Hotel in Athens have successfully expanded Karim’s scope to include the realm of architecture and interior design. He edited the International Design Yearbook 18 in 2003 and has released two CD’s.[/expand]


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Karim Rashid was an associate Professor of Industrial Design for 10 years and is now a frequent guest lecturer at universities and conferences globally showing great passion in all his achievements.[/expand]


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An unconventional personality, Karim Rashid delivers entertaining and captivating addresses to a wide range of audiences.[/expand]
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Apr 16 2010

Oliviero Toscani

Branding & Marketing Pioneer and World-class Photographer

Oliviero Toscani speakerOliviero Toscani’s internationally recognised work includes corporate images and advertising campaigns and was the creative force behind some of the most successful brands including Benetton, Esprit, Valentino, Chanel, Fiorucci. Most of the Benetton advertising campaigns were institutionals for the brand, always composed of rather controversial photography, usually with only the company logo “United Colors of Benetton” as caption. He is creating with La Regione Toscana a new research facility for modern communication called ‘La Sterpia’.

“The man behind some of the most memorable and controversial ads in history”


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Oliviero Toscani has worked as fashion photographer in the pages of magazines such as Elle, Vogue, GQ, Harper’s, Esquire and Stern among others. In 2005, five years after his resignation from Benetton, he sparked controversy again with his photographs for an advertising campaign for the men’s clothing brand ‘Ra-Re’. In 1993, he invented, founded, and directed Fabrica, the international center for research in the arts of modern communication. In 1990 he conceived, created and directed Colors, the world’s first global magazine, making of it a cult magazine, which set a trend for a lot of new editorial and communications projects. For his work he has won numerous awards.[/expand]


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No stranger to controversy Oliviero Toscani has gained a reputation as a unique, masterful and highly creative individual. Being able to communicate in ways unthinkable to a traditional multinational corporation his presentations provide fascinating insights into the mindset of a true pioneer. Toscani’s work may be a form of cynicism, or it may be a vehicle for stirring up debate around social issues. Or it may be both.[/expand]


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Oliviero Toscani is a frank and passionate speaker and a truly colourful character, very comfortable with the seeming contradictions in his nature.[/expand]
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Apr 09 2010

Bruce Mau

Published by under Innovation and Creativity

The Most In-demand Designer in the World

Bruce Mau speaker Bruce Mau is the Principle of Bruce Mau Design and founder of Massive Change, a true optimist with a practical streak a mile long. An expert on innovation and creativity, he shows us how design is improving the quality of life for millions of people around the world, and how we can, and must, extend this revolution to the entire human race. He has worked on numerous high profile projects, and is currently working on a project to build better learning environments around the world.

“The brilliance of a sustainable idea is that it also makes sense for business”


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Bruce Mau is internationally applauded for his ambition, his humour, his close collaboration with clients (Knoll, Roots, architect Rem Koolhaas), and most significantly, his unerring optimism. For over twenty years, at Bruce Mau Design in Toronto (and now in Chicago) he’s designed everything from exquisite books to bookstores; and from signage systems to a museum of biodiversity with Frank Gehry. In his recent exhibit Massive Change, about the potential of design to solve the world’s most pressing problems, he expanded design into intellectual territory it rarely dares to tread.[/expand]


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In his talks, Bruce Mau gives us a glimpse at the future of human civilization. Drawing on new developments in urban planning, social philanthropy, material science, radical economics, architecture and social networking, to name just a few, he provides an inspiring, big picture look that offers countless examples of positive changes, massive changes, that are reshaping the world for the better. He has lectured widely across North America and Europe.[/expand]


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One of the world’s most sought-after designers, Bruce Mau urges us to do more of what we love with less of what we need in his inspirational and thought-provoking presentations, often with playful statements about the visual and cultural trends that influence today’s design culture.[/expand]
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Mar 12 2010

Ferràn Adrià

Published by under Innovation and Creativity

Spanish Celebrity Chef

Ferràn Adrià speaker Adrià joined the kitchen staff of El Bulli in 1984. The restaurant’s manager, Juli Soler, urged Adrià to travel in order to acquire new and fresh culinary ideas. Adrià soon began touring some of France’s top kitchens, learning various techniques from many distinguished culinary masters. During the second half of the 1980’s, Adrià began performing culinary experiments which were based on the use of fresh materials and adapting classic Mediterranean preparations to give El Bulli’s cuisine new twists with creative flair.

“To have a future, you have to have a past”

Ferràn Adrià


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Adrià has branched out into books, recipe manuals for 10-minute cooking, TV programmes and an upmarket private catering division. He jets off to cook for Euro-ministers and royalty, and is reinvigorating the tired restaurants in some of Spain’s leading hotels.[/expand]


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Drawing upon his considerable business expertise and unparalleled success in Spain, Ferràn shows audiences exactly how his innovative ideas helped him to become so successful.[/expand]


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Ferràn Adrià is enormously charismatic and his presentations are energetic and creative and reveal his true genius.[/expand]
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Feb 22 2010

Ron Arad

Published by under Innovation and Creativity

One of the World’s Most Influential Industrial Designers & Architects

Ron Arad speaker Ron Arad’s constant experimentation with the use of possibilities of materials such as steel, aluminium or polyamide and his radical re-conception of the form and structure of furniture has put him at the forefront of contemporary design. He is currently Professor of Design Product at the Royal College of Art in London.

“Ron Arad constantly pushes the boundaries of design”


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Ron Arad was educated at the Jerusalem Academy of Art and later at the Architectural Association in London. He co-founded with Caroline Thorman both the design and production studio ‘One Off’ in 1981 and later, in 1989, Ron Arad Associates architecture and design practice. From 1994 to 1999 he established the Ron Arad Studio, design and production unit in Como, Italy. He has exhibited at major museums and galleries throughout the world. Among his most famous works are the sinuous Bookworm bookcase (1994), a bestseller for the Italian design firm Kartell and originally produced as a result of experiments with tempered steel, and the Maserati headquarters showroom in Modena, Italy (2003).[/expand]


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Ron Arad is in high demand these days, having emerged as one of the world’s most influential industrial designers and architects. A true original, Arad has acquired a reputation for shattering conventions and his unforgettable presentations provide ideas and insights into his unique thinking. He was head of the Design Products Department at the Royal College of Art in London from 1999 to 2006 and continues to lecture on his work regularly at universities and design schools worldwide. His influence is undeniable.[/expand]


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Consistently inventive and challenging, Ron Arad is a true source of inspiration, challenging his audiences, not wanting to see things that he’s seen before. He talks about his work, explains his projects and tells us the story of his amazing career. [/expand]
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Feb 12 2010

Dr. Jane McGonigal

Leading Innovator, Director of Game Research & Development, Institute for the Future

Jane McGonigal speakerJane McGonigal is a brilliant designer of online mass roleplaying games. She’s also on the forefront of academic research on societal development and computer gaming. She is best known for creating games that inspire global-scale collaboration and collective intelligences. Most recently, she directed the world’s first massively multiplayer forecasting game Superstruct, which brought together more than 7000 future forecasters from 90 countries to tackle real-world problems such as pandemics, food systems, and climate change. The Association of Professional Futurists honoured Superstruct as the “Most Important Futures Work of 2008”.

“The leading innovator in the field of game design for future forecasting and problem solving”


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Jane McGonigal has a PhD from UC Berkeley in performance studies. A pioneer in the field of “alternate reality gaming”, her previous projects include The Lost Ring, World Without Oil, Cruel 2 B Kind, and I Love Bees. She is an expert on applying game design and game theory to real work and real business, and has consulted and developed internal game workshops for leading technology companies in Asia, Europe, and the U.S., as well as more than a dozen Fortune Global 500 Companies. A recent project, co-sponsored by the 2008 Olympics and McDonalds, was a global immersive adventure titled, The Lost Ring.[/expand]


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World-renowned game designer and futurist Jane McGonigal takes play seriously. Hailed as one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company, she has studied how games change lives, spending a lot of my time figuring out how the games we play today shape our real-world future. In her highly sought-after presentations she discusses how games optimize human ability and demonstrates how games can harness the power of collective intelligence to solve real-world problems. She studies the power of games to impact the real-world — and she creates games that do just that.[/expand]


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A very compelling, funny and engaging speaker, Jane McGonigal has a wonderfully contagious combination of energy, imagination and positivity, leaving her audiences excited and inspired by her talks. Jane is trying to make sure that a game developer wins a Nobel Prize by the year 2032.[/expand]
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Feb 10 2010

J K Rowling

Philanthropist, World Famous Author & Creator of the Harry Potter Series

J K Rowling speakerJoanne “Jo” Murray OBE better known as J. K. Rowling is perhaps equally famous for her “rags to riches” life story, in which she progressed from living on welfare to multi-millionaire status within five years. The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, sold more than 400 million copies, and been the basis for a popular series of films. Time magazine named her as a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fandom.

Forbes ranked J. K. Rowling as the forty-eighth most powerful celebrity of 2007


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In 2000, graduate of Exeter University, a teacher and then an unemployed single parent, “Jo” established the Volant Charitable Trust, which combats poverty and social inequality and in 2005 founded the Children’s High Level Group. She is the president of the charity One Parent Families. She has received honorary degrees from St Andrews University, the University of Edinburgh, Napier University, the University of Exeter and the University of Aberdeen. The Harry Potter novels have been translated into more than 60 languages.[/expand]


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Perhaps no one in our time has done more than J.K. Rowling to inspire young people to experience the excitement and the sheer joy of reading. She conveys the idea that we do not need magic to transform the world. She emphasizes that we should not be afraid of failure in life as our imaginations are our greatest gifts. She is an experienced speaker, having spoken at prestigious global events including being Harvard University’s principal commencement speaker.[/expand]


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J. K. Rowling speaks from the heart and provides inspiration to a wide ranging worldwide audience.[/expand]
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Jan 25 2010

David Droga

Advertising Genius, Founder & Creative Chairman of Droga5

David Droga speakerDavid Droga has rewritten the book for contemporary ideas development and is possibly the most successful Australian creative export. David’s own agency launched in New York City in 2006, Droga5, is now the fastest growing independent agency in America. In Australia, Creative magazine named him “Australian Creative Person of the Decade”. To date, he is the single-most awarded creative at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, with over 50 Cannes Lions. He sits on several boards, including the One Club, Magnum and New Museum.

“Guru of the marketing and advertising world”


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David Droga launched his career by winning the top Student Honours at the Australian Writers & Art Directors School. At 22, he became a partner and Executive Creative Director of OMON Sydney. Over the next five years, OMON won “Australian Agency of the Year” twice and “Ad of the Year” four times. In 1996, David moved to Singapore to become Executive Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi, Singapore and Regional Creative Director of Saatchi Asia. At 29, David was promoted to Executive Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi, London. In 2003, he headed to New York City as the first-ever Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of the Publicis Network.[/expand]


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Having created one of the world’s most respected organisations and responsible for award-winning campaigns, including the Air Force One spoof for Marc Ecko and Unicef Tap project, David Droga is a highly sought-after speaker at events worldwide. While David puts strong emphasis on leadership and success, he values enjoyment, loyalty and sincerity even more. With all his international travel and experiences, David is most proud of the diversity and breadth of work he has helped to create over the years.[/expand]


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The amiable Aussie and one of the world’s most highly awarded creatives, David Droga, is the creative supremo that everyone wants to hear from. He is widely admired, with that certain something – a compelling combination of cheeky chappy with a dark, mysterious edge who enjoys taking on huge challenges.[/expand]
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