Back at the beginning of the year I posted
a list of over two dozen idea conferences taking place in 2008 all around the world. A true test of one's frequent flyer miles! Fortunately, several of these conferences now post many of their presentations online for free.
There's of course the
TED Talks. This is an exceptional library of top thinkers discussing important and new ideas. So many to view, but may I recommend starting with
Sir Ken Robinson's brilliant review of creativity in schools,
Lost creator
J.J. Abrams's talk about "the mystery box", or
James Howard Kunstler's rant against suburbia. Or, better yet, just bounce from one vid to another.
Russell Davies, organizer of last year's Interesting '07 event, has posted a number of curious videos from both his London gathering (as well as the Australian spin-off
Interesting South)
here. Good stuff. And I'm thrilled to say that I will be a speaker - not sure on what just yet! - at
Interesting 2008 on June 21st.
Frans Johansson's first-annual
Medici Summit just wrapped up earlier this month and he promises to reveal video from
it on his
blog in the months ahead. One of
The Pirate's Dilemma author Matt Mason is already available
here.
The Aspen Idea Festival showcases a variety of its videos - including conversations with Richard Branson, Colin Powell and, gulp, Karl Rove -
here.
Toronto's
ideaCity (whose site appears to be down at the moment) offers up its professionally produced videos on annual DVD sets.
Rhode Island's Business Innovation Factory also has a nice
collection of free online videos featuring speakers from its three annual Collaborative Innovation Summits (the last two I posted about
here and
here). Be sure to check out Walt Mossberg's interview with
Clayton Christensen,
Denise Nemchev's surprising story of Bostitch innovating a simple nail,
Ivy Ross's reflections on how product design can best be structured, and
Michael Singer's eloquent talk about complexity and community. And, peeling back the curtain, here is
my appearance as part of BIF's
Short Takes video series released following the event. Mark Cuban, Jason Fried, Irving Wladawsky-Berger, and others - not bad company, I must say.
Happy viewing!