Speakers 2010
How Do You Like The Long Emergency So Far?
James Howard Kunstler may be the world’s most outspoken critic of suburban sprawl. He believes the end of the fossil fuels era will soon force a return to smaller-scale, agrarian communities — and an overhaul of the most destructive features of postwar society.
The Death of Copyright?
Paul Rapp is an intellectual property lawyer and writer who lives and works in Housatonic, MA. Rapp teaches art & entertainment law at Albany Law School and MCLA, and writes the column “Rapp on This” for Metroland. Also known as F. Lee Harvey Blotto, drummer for the rock band Blotto, he holds the distinction of having appeared on MYV on the channel’s first day of broadcasting, August 1, 1981. He most recently was a panelist at the Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit in Washington DC.
At TEDxAlbany, Mr. Rapp will explore whether copyright law makes any sense anymore in the age of unlimited duplication and distribution of digital media, and how copyright law has been used to stifle creativity and to prop up the outmoded business models of the Big Media companies.
The Only Constant is Change
From your iPod to your medical care, nanotechnology is driving 21st century applications at warp speed. Edward M. Cupoli, Professor of Nanoeconomics at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering of the University at Albany, delves into the changing nature of innovation. His talk will put future change in a historical perspective, using lessons learned yesterday to prepare for the brave new world of tomorrow.
How to have a 32-year honeymoon
Ed and Angie are a team in every sense of the word. They have been happily married for 32 years and have worked together for over 27 years establishing three companies that are thriving today. But perhaps their greatest team effort started 11 years ago when they began working in the premarital counseling ministry at Saddleback Church and quickly became passionate about strengthening and enriching marriages. This eventually led to them researching and authoring the premarital program that is in use at Saddleback Church today and numerous Southern California churches. They have also presented these materials internationally to couples in the Philippines, Singapore and Russia. After working with hundreds of couples, they have discovered the secret to a successful marriage…
Mobile Markets as Vehicles for Nutritional Equality
Veggie Mobile Project Coordinator EJ Krans of the Capital District Community Gardens will discuss Mobile Markets as vehicles for nutritional equality. By providing food-insecure populations with access to affordable fresh produce, The Veggie Mobile creates an environment that encourages dietary curiosity and is a low-cost government public health intervention that can be replicated anywhere. This big green fruit and vegetable machine is a traveling produce party and a provider of endless anecdotes and insights.
Winning With One Hand Tied Behind Your Back
Everywhere you turn there is more evidence of the increasingly scarce resources. In this age of scarcity, a new type of creativity is required–one that embraces limitations as the pathway to innovation. In this engaging talk, brothers Casey and Corey Wright (co-owners Wright Brothers Communications, renowned speakers and educators) explain why boundaries and limitations are often the key to increased creativity, productivity, and purpose, and how you can leverage this truth to secure a competitive advantage in any situation.
Matthew Carefully
Matthew Carefully (née Matthew Loiacono) is an adventurous musician who plays mandolin, banjo, acoustic & electric guitars, drums, percussion and much more, he is mildly obsessed with
marrying traditional instruments with modern technology and sounds. Known to utilize live on-the-fly looping, octave pedals, thick distortion and heavy reverb, Matthew delivers a unique, constantly evolving musical performance.
Eben Bayer – Green designer
Eben Bayer is co-inventor of MycoBond, an organic (really — it’s based on mycelium, a living, growing organism) adhesive that turns agriwaste into a foam-like material for packaging and insulation.
A Quarter-Million Forgotten Conversations
For the past 32 years, artist David Greenberger has made aging and decline the subject of his creative endeavors. As someone who deliberately remains outside the field of geriatrics and medicine, Greenberger’s observations and reflections offer a rich and unique vantage point. While he is aware of the cognitive losses of his elderly subjects, he approaches each person as whole and complete, despite the smaller range of their lives. He responds to what they have in common: the desire for genuine communication and delight in a new experience.
From these conversations he creates books and audio works intended as an art experience. The recordings and monologue performances are in his own voice, an abstraction that is essential for listeners to turn inward and think of their own lives.
Improv – Not Just For Comedy Anymore
How many times at work do people have to come up with ideas and solutions on the spot? Today’s fast paced world demands each of us to be improvisational geniuses, without the training. Kat Koppett, improv expert and organizational design specialist, will share how the philosophies and techniques of improvisational theatre are being adopted by organizations worldwide to transform the workplace and enhance human performance.
Why is Everyone So Fat, Broke and Busy
Speaker and consultant Jeff Gaines will combine nueroscience, emotional intelligence and humor to help us understand why our physical, financial and scheduled lives have gone so wrong, and offers some solutions.
Innovation’s Missing Piece
Kes Sampanthar, Director of Media Strategy as Cynergy, an award winning agency, and expert in innovation and creativity explains the innovation process and it’s critical missing step. He explains why this important step has been dropped or glossed over in most companies and how we can incorporate it again.
Drawing from research from Jacques Hadamard, Henri Poincare and Albert Einstein conducted over 100 years ago he reveals the critical step and how it has been used throughout history. He also delves into the neuroscience behind the missing step and how it works.
Solutions to the Problem with Software Patents
Mark Menard is the founder and president of Enable Labs in Troy, specializing in custom software development. Today software patents threaten the growth and dissemination of basic ideas. Our political and judicial establishment seems incapable of fixing the issue. Today non-practicing entities, also known as patent trolls, have turned the patent system on its head subverting it from its original purpose of advancing the useful arts and sciences. There are solutions to the problem though.
