My TEDxBoston 2010 Session Notes: Part One

 I was pleased to be invited to today's TEDxBoston. I have heard a lot about TED (Technology, Entertainment, design) but not attended before. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. This one honored “local innovators who have the passion, curiosity, and tenacity to change the world with their revolutionary ideas.” They wanted us to unplug from our technology but I want to take notes so I can remember what happen and share it with you. I did, however, unplug any competing technology. I only recognized one person in their highlighted presenters, Larry Lessing, so looked forward to seeing a lot of new faces and hearing new ideas.  These are live notes, only slightly edited, so please excuse typos, etc.

I went to the simulcast room so I could use my laptop to take notes. The intro talked about how this is a local event just using the TED branding and format. The session Economic Growth through Crowd Sourcing Dave McLaughlin is listed as the first event, a topic of interest for me lately, but it started with some drummers, the Marcos Santos Group, to get us stoked up. Crowd sourcing is an obvious starting point for an event like this. Meanwhile the drummers are good. Next there was a quote from John Adams, one of our local revolutionaries, and revolutionary ideas is the theme of the day.

The introucers discussed the diversity of the audience including eight dozen CEOs and high school students. I am humbled to be here.  Dave McLaughlin began with a discussion of horizontal relationships between vertical grouping for cross-fertilization of ideas.  Boston has invested to seed these cross-fertilizations for local economic growth through Boston World Partnerships.  For example, what is essential infrastructure is being rethought. Horizontal relationships have become the new connectors.

Susan Avery from Woods Hole next discussed our global ocean and its role in how the world functions.  The ocean has only been systematically studied for 150 years. Now since WW2, technology has evolved rapidly to further this exploration. The hydro-thermal vents are one new discovery that are places where life forms emerge and were life likely started on this planet. This study is very important as human impact on the ocean has greatly expanded. 

We have entered a new geological era with humans as the dominant impact on the globe. For one thing the ocean is becoming more acidic because of our carbon emissions.  This can greatly impact sea life such as shell fish.  We view the ocean as a limitless resource but it is not. The fish at the top of the food chain have decreased by 90 percent since WW2.  The ocean is also used as a garbage dump but there are limits here also. There is a lot of plastic in the Pacific that ends up in fish. If we eat these fish we eat our own garbage. She also addressed the oil spill in the Gulf. Each spill is unique so the result is not predictable.

Seth Priebatsch covered the efforts toward Building the Game Layer on Top of the World.  It is already happening but the market is cluttered. Game dynamics are already in play but many are poorly designed such as credit card promotions. Seth said we can build better applications of games using game dynamics. He said this is important as we have been building the social layer but that is done. He said Facebook has won this one. How it is time for building the game layer. It said the game layer will be more important than the social layer so it is time to think about it in a open way.

He showed four game dynamics. First, there is the appointment dynamic. People have to do things at a set time and place.  Happy hour is one example.  Farmville has more participants than Twitter and you have to return to water your virtual plants at a certain time.  Second is influence and status.  People want to be cool and status is a great motivator.  School is a poorly designed status game. We could better use game dynamics to improve participation in school. Third is the progression dynamic. You have to go through certain granular steps. His firm is working with businesses on applications of these dynamics to create loyalty, engagement, and revenue.   Fourth, there is communal discovery. Everyone works together to solve problems. Digg had a leader board but it was too successful and had to be taken down. He closed with the concept that game dynamics is the next frontier.

Mary Gunn discussed two problems and one solution.  Her organization, Generations, Inc. pairs older adults with kids in prompting literacy. It helps both sides and she offers results.  I can believe this. A group next covered the digital fabrication of homes so you could design homes in an automated way. Then the specs are sent to a factory to produce the materials in a more cost effective manner using compressed wood chips.  This also produces less waste, uses smaller trees, and get homes up quicker. You can more easily do curves.

Before the first break John Harthorne discussed starting a startup renaissance. John said that our economic crisis can drive innovation. He started Mass Challenge to run a one million dollar global competition on innovation. The finalists get funds, advice, and free office space nearby at Fan Pier. He said why Boston for this?  Boston is number one on many innovation measures: more investment per capita, more VC firms per capita, more universities per capita, etc. than anywhere, even California.  This ends the first group of sessions.