Jun 21, 2003
The Idea City conference was held in a crowded theatre. The speakers at the front of the room frequently dimmed the lights in order to show slides. Consequently, much of this notebook was written in complete darkness. The notes reflect this. The speakers also spoke - mostly - off the cuff, bouncing from subject to subject. The notes reflect this as well.
Each link below is to a scanned image of my notebook. This being Idea City, after all, I decided to try something a little different in the way of conference blogging. It may not work, but on the other hand, it may provide a way of seeing the conference not possible in a plain text web page.
I am aware that scanned pages are accessibility hostile. It is simply too much work to create a transcript of each page, but if the web community gets together, we can produce an accessible version. Please click here if you want to help.
I shopuld also mention that this is a bit of a broadband project. The images range from 130K to 170K each (I wanted to use GIFs but the format wasn't supported on the scanner software I used, no doubt because the patent on the GIF format hasn't quite expired yet). I will put up a low rez verion one day, but that will have to wait until I get access to the appropriate software.
For the best reading, simply start at page 1 and click 'Next' for each page. Alternatively, pick your favourite thinker and start from there. But do venture beyond your favourite authors and comfortable topic areas. There are gems of wisdom (in my opinion) scattered through these pages, from speakers from all walks of life, and that is part of the beauty of it all.
- Moses Znaimer, organizer, Idea City 2003
- Jean-Michel Cousteau, ocean conservationist
- Dave Williams, astronaut
- Phil Nuytten, sub-sea engineer
- Darlene Lim, Mars Arctic Research Station
- Rick Mercer, writer, actor, comedian
- Ruut Veenhoven, sociologist
- Marc Emery, president, B.C. Marijuana Party
- Michael Stadtlander, chef
- Sandra Shamas, writer, actor, comedian
- Randy Larsen, bioterrorism expert
- Romeo Dallaire, former commander, U.N. mission to Rwanda
- Scott Taylor, war correspondant
- Kim Rossmo, criminologist
- Adam Bly, editor, SEED Magazine
- Dov Charney, CEO, American Apparel
- Nelson Skalbania, entrepreneur
- Anthony von Mandl, proprieter, Mission Hill wineries
- The Cottars, celtic quartet
- Derrick De Kerckhove, Director, McLuhan Program
- Michael Shara, astronomer and astrophysicist
- Robert J. Sawyer, science fiction writer
- Tony Noble, Sudbury Nutrino Observatory
- Ofra Harnoy, cellist
- Pamela Wallin, Canadia Consul General, New York City
- Anthony Wilson-Smith, editor, Macleans
- Eward Greenspon, editor, Globe and Mail
- Douglas Curran, author, photographer
- Alexander Tsiaras, artist and journalist
- John Abele, founder, Boston Scientific
- Neko Case, singer and songwriter
- Nicholas Campbell, actor
- George Bowering, poet
- George Bowering, poet
- Juliana Chen, magician
- Wade Davis, ethno-botanist
- Will Alsop, architect
- Hokan Colting, CEO, 21st Century Airships
- Hokan Colting, CEO, 21st Century Airships
- Bruce Kirkby, adventurer and photographer
- Marvin Minsky, pioneer of artificial intelligence
- Jaron Lanier, computer scientist
- Lee Smolin, cosmologist
- John Perry Barlow, Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Ken Wiwa, author and human rights activist
- Margaret MacMillan, author and historian
- Erna Paris, author and historian
- Beyond the Pale, Klezmer folk musicians
- Ted Stout, founder, Return on Innovation (ROI) Institute
- Jane Urquhart, author
- Ronnie Burkett, puppeteer
- Nancy White, singer and songwriter
- Terry Mosher, aka Aislin, editorial cartoonist
- Felice Frankel, science photographer
