2012 Conference Recap
Speakers
We invite the world's leading creative visionaries to share pragmatic, real-world insights on how you can put your ideas into action.
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Paula Scher
Partner
Pentagram
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Speaker Bio Paula Scher
Partner
Pentagram
For four decades Paula Scher has been at the forefront of graphic design. Iconic, smart and unabashedly populist, her images have entered into the American vernacular. She has been a principal in the New York office of the distinguished international design consultancy Pentagram since 1991.She began her career as an art director in the 1970's and early 80's, when her eclectic approach to typography became highly influential. In the mid-1990s, her landmark identity for The Public Theater fused high and low into a wholly new symbology for cultural institutions. Her graphic identities for Citibank and Tiffany & Co. have become case studies for the contemporary regeneration of classic American brands.Paula has developed identity and branding systems, promotional materials, environmental graphics, packaging and publication designs for clients including, Bloomberg, Coca-Cola, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Opera, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Sundance Film Festival and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. Scher has been the recipient of hundreds of industry honors and awards. Her work is represented in the permanent collections of MoMA, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and the Centre Georges Pompidou, among others. She has lectured and exhibited all over the world, and her teaching career includes over two decades at the School of Visual Arts, along with positions at the Cooper Union, Yale University and the Tyler School of Art.Watch the 99U talk
Clients
Paula Scher: Do What You've Never Done Before
“Once you know what you’re doing, it’s not as good,” says legendary designer Paula Scher in this talk about ignoring the brief & charting your own course.
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Baratunde Thurston
Author, How to Be Black
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Speaker Bio Baratunde Thurston
Author, How to Be Black
Baratunde is a politically-active, technology-loving comedian from the future. He co-founded the black political blog, Jack & Jill Politics, serves as Director of Digital for The Onion and is a regular guest on Leo Laporte's TWiT. His book, How To Be Black, was published in February 2012 and is a New York Times best seller. Basically, he's a smart, funny, and extremely handsome dude.
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Collaboration
Baratunde Thurston: Getting Things Done Is Inspiration + Sheer Willpower
The bestselling author of How To Be Black talks about making things happen with a team, despite his natural inclination to fly solo.
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Tony Fadell
Nest Labs
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Speaker Bio Tony Fadell
Nest Labs
Tony Fadell is the founder and CEO of Nest Labs, Inc., the company that developed the Nest Learning Thermostat. Nest has been dubbed the "iPhone of thermostats" by Wired, and the New York Times describes it as "gorgeous, elegant and very, very smart." Prior to Nest, Tony served as senior vice president of Apple's iPod division, reporting to Steve Jobs. He was responsible for creating the first 18 generations of the iPod digital music player and the first three generations of the iPhone. In his 20-plus years of experience in the consumer electronics industry, Tony has authored more than 100 patents.
Watch the 99U talk
Innovation
Tony Fadell: On Setting Constraints, Ignoring Experts & Embracing Self-Doubt
iPod godfather and ALVA Award-winner Tony Fadell shares incredible insights on how to design, build, and ship disruptive products.
- Links:
- Nest
- TechCrunch Interview
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Jad Abumrad
Host & Creator
Radiolab
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Speaker Bio Jad Abumrad
Host & Creator
Radiolab
Jad Abumrad is the host and creator of Radiolab, which reaches roughly 2 million people per month. He's been called a "master of the radio craft" for his unique ability to combine cutting edge sound-design, cinematic storytelling and a personal approach to explaining complex topics, from the stochasticity of tumor cells to the mathematics of morality. Jad studied creative writing and music composition at Oberlin College in Ohio. He composes much of the music for Radiolab, and in the past has composed music for film, theater and dance. He's currently co-producing a second child.
In 2011, Radiolab received a Peabody Award, the highest honor in broadcasting, and Jad received the prestigious MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship.
Watch the 99U talk
Creative Blocks
Jad Abumrad: Why "Gut Churn" Is an Essential Part of the Creative Process
When every instinct is telling us to stop, how do we keep pushing our creativity to unknown heights?
- Links:
- Radiolab
- NY Times Profile
- @jadabumrad
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Neil Blumenthal
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Warby Parker
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Speaker Bio Neil Blumenthal
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Warby Parker
Determined to radically transform the eyewear industry, Neil Blumenthal and three friends launched Warby Parker in February of 2010. Warby Parker designs and sells vintage-inspired frames and prescription lenses for $95 whereas comparable quality glasses cost $500. For every pair sold, a pair is given to someone in need.
Previously, Neil served as the Director of VisionSpring, a non-profit social enterprise that trains low-income women to start their own business selling affordable eyeglasses to individuals living on less than $4 per day in South Asia, Africa and Latin America. He was responsible for developing VisionSpring's award-winning strategy (Fast Company Social Capitalist Award '08, '07 and '05) and expanding VisionSpring's global presence from one to 10 countries. In 2005, Neil was named a Fellow for Emerging Leaders in Public Service at NYU Robert F. Wagner School for Public Service.
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Failure
Neil Blumenthal & Jennifer Hyman: Why Transparency & Openness Wins
Everybody makes mistakes, even great businesses. Warby Parker and Rent the Runway on the unexpected benefits of transparency and vulnerability in customer service.
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Jason Goldberg
Founder & CEO
Fab.com
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Speaker Bio Jason Goldberg
Founder & CEO
Fab.com
Jason Goldberg is a serial entrepreneur, passionate about designing products that enrich millions of people's lives. Prior to leading Fab.com, Jason founded fabulis, socialmedian (sold to XING AG), and Jobster. Jason also served as Chief Product Officer at XING in Hamburg, Germany in 2009. Jason holds an MBA from Stanford University. Jason writes about entrepreneurship on his blog, http://betashop.com. The first start-up Jason worked at was Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign in 1991 and 1992, which led to a 6 1/2 year stint working in the White House. Jason resides in New York City with his partner Christian and their dog Rupey, aptly named after the Indian currency as Jason has traveled to India more than 30 times in the past five years to work alongside the best web development team on the planet.
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Decision-Making
Jason Goldberg: You Can't Iterate Yourself To A Business Model
Co-founder and CEO Jason Goldberg shares the thinking behind Fab.com’s famous pivot and how it translated into incredible success in less than 12 months.
- Links:
- Fab.com
- Betashop blog
- @betashop
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Jennifer Hyman
Co-Founder & CEO
Rent the Runway
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Speaker Bio Jennifer Hyman
Co-Founder & CEO
Rent the Runway
Jennifer Hyman has been the Chief Executive Officer of Rent the Runway, the "Netflix for fashion", since the company's inception in November 2009. Most well-known within the entrepreneurial and fashion communities for her unmatched marketing abilities, Jennifer was named as the Chief Marketing Officer of Fortune magazine's "Executive Dream Team." Jennifer and co-founder Jennifer Fleiss were named as Fortune's "Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs in 2011," Inc. Magazine's "Top 30 Under 30," and Fashionista's "Fashionista 50: The Most Influential People in New York Fashion."
Prior to Rent the Runway, Jennifer was the Director of Business Development at IMG where she focused on the creation of new media businesses for IMG's Fashion Division. She also ran an online advertising sales team at WeddingChannel.com and was an in-house entrepreneur at Starwood Hotels, creating Starwood's first wedding business which was recognized on the Oprah Winfrey Show for its innovation.
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Failure
Neil Blumenthal & Jennifer Hyman: Why Transparency & Openness Wins
Everybody makes mistakes, even great businesses. Warby Parker and Rent the Runway on the unexpected benefits of transparency and vulnerability in customer service.
- Links:
- Rent the Runway
- Inc. profile
- @Jenn_RTR
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Jonah Lehrer
Author, Imagine: How Creativity Works
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Speaker Bio Jonah Lehrer
Author, Imagine: How Creativity Works
Jonah Lehrer is Contributing Editor at Wired and the author of How We Decide and Proust Was a Neuroscientist. His new book, Imagine: How Creativity Works, will be out in March 2012. He is also a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and Radiolab and writes the "Head Case" column for The Wall Street Journal.
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Jonah Lehrer: The Origins of Creative Insight & Why You Need Grit
Editor’s Note: We were disappointed to learn about the misquotations and mistakes in Mr. Lehrer’s book, Imagine. While we strongly disapprove of his behavior, we believe in the value of maintaining an historical archive. Thus, we’re leaving the talk online and letting you judge for yourself.“The answer will only arrive after we stop looking for it,” says bestselling author Jonah Lehrer. Examining recent research into what drives creative insights, Lehrer breaks down how and why we have “aha!” moments.But insight isn’t everything. Those who achieve great things in the long-term also have another important quality: Grit, a single-minded persistence that helps them keep their eye on the prize and pushing ever-forward even when the “aha!” moments aren’t around. -
Jonathan Adler
Founder
Jonathan Adler
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Speaker Bio Jonathan Adler
Founder
Jonathan Adler
Seventeen years ago, a little-known potter named Jonathan Adler was thrilled to receive his first order from Barneys New York. He couldn't have dreamed that today, in 2011, he would lead an international design company offering decorative accessories, tabletop collections, bedding, furniture, rugs, pillows, lighting, and fabrics, all featuring Jonathan's signature Modernist forms, bold colors and groovy graphics. Jonathan is obsessed with creating beautiful design mixed with impeccable craftsmanship. His motto is "If your heirs won't fight over it, we won't make it."
Jonathan Adler has fourteen stores nationwide and just opened the doors to his first international boutique located in London. Beyond a thriving website and a wholesale business boasting more than 1,000 locations around the world, Jonathan is also a highly sought-after interior designer working on luxury residential projects and commercial projects including the celebrity hot spot Parker Palm Springs Hotel.
Jonathan has partnered with many companies to design products including Lacoste, Starbucks, 7 For All Mankind, Lifeguard Stationery, Steuben, Larson Juhl, Robert Abbey Lighting, and HSN. In 2009, Jonathan was tapped to design the retro-glam interior for the "real" Malibu Dream House for Barbie's 50th Anniversary and Jonathan was the lead judge on the Bravo TV series Top Design.
In 2005, Jonathan published his first book, My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living. In 2010 Jonathan launched a new book series with two books: Jonathan Adler on Happy Chic Colors and Jonathan Adler on Happy Chic Accessorizing.
Jonathan Adler is a design company dedicated to bringing style, craft, joy to your home.
Watch the 99U talk
Failure
Jonathan Adler: Keep Other People's Opinions Out Of Your Creative Process
“I wanted to follow my heart and not be strategic and throw all preconceived ideas away,” says Jonathan Adler in this talk about ignoring other people’s opinions and charting your own path to creative fulfillment.
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Keith Yamashita
Chairman,
SYPartners
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Speaker Bio Keith Yamashita
Chairman,
SYPartners
For the past two decades, Keith Yamashita has worked alongside CEOs and their leadership teams to define — and then attain — greatness for their institutions. He has worked with leaders at Apple, IBM, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, eBay, Nike, and Gap, among others.
Keith founded, and currently serves as chairman of, SYPartners — a firm steeped in the belief that transformation of individuals, teams, and institutions requires equal parts empathy, aspiration, and a bravery to act. The firm fuses systems thinking and creativity to help organizations in times of seismic change: the formulation of a new business strategy, a merger or acquisition, the rise of a new CEO, the evolution of a brand, the return-to-greatness journeys after an industry shock.
In 2011, SYPartners launched a sister company called Unstuck — dedicated to taking the 20 years of knowledge the firm has gained about transformation and bringing it to everyday people. The first offering is an iPad-based app that helps people find a way forward, when they don't know how to go forward. Slated for release in 2012, SYPartners' next offering will be a suite of collaborative tools focused on helping managers and teams perform at their best.
From 2009 to 2011, Keith served as The Charles and Ray Eames Brand Fellow at IBM — a post dedicated to driving IBM's growth and greatness as an institution and enabling IBMers to perform at their best. He is an author and essayist on leadership and design, having published in the Harvard Business Review and several journals. He has lectured at the Yale School of Management, Stanford Business School, and the Jack F. Welch Leadership Center. He holds an MA in organizational behavior and a BA in quantitative economics from Stanford University.
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Collaboration
Keith Yamashita: The 3 Habits of Great Creative Teams
Great teams don’t happen by accident, they require a diligent and mindful effort to cultivate the specific habits that lead to success.
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James Victore
Designer
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Speaker Bio James Victore
Designer
James Victore runs an independent design studio hell-bent on world domination. He is an author, designer, filmmaker and firestarter. He continually strives to make work that is sexy, strong and memorable; work that toes the line between the sacred and the profane. His paintings of expressionist designs can be seen on ceramics, surfboards, billboards, and supermodels.
Recently described as "part Darth Vader, part Yoda," Victore is widely known for his timely wisdom and impassioned views about design and its place in the world. He expresses these views and teachings through his numerous lectures, workshops, and writings.
James' work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and is represented in the permanent collections of museums around the globe. His clients include Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Esquire Magazine, Moet Chandon and The New York Times. His work was recently published in a monograph titled, Victore or, Who Died and Made You Boss? Victore teaches at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. He lives, loves, and works in Brooklyn.
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Piya Sorcar
Founder & CEO
TeachAIDS
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Speaker Bio Piya Sorcar
Founder & CEO
TeachAIDS
Named to MIT Technology Review's TR35 list of the top 35 innovators in the world under 35 in 2011, Dr. Sorcar is the founder and CEO of TeachAIDS, a nonprofit social venture founded at Stanford, which creates breakthrough software used in over 50 countries. Funded by UNICEF, Barclay's, Google, Yahoo!, and other organizations, the TeachAIDS software addresses numerous persistent problems in HIV prevention, and provides the most effective HIV education tools to schools, governments, and NGOs worldwide — for free.
Dr. Sorcar began the research to develop TeachAIDS in 2005 as part of her graduate work. Today, she leads a team of world experts in medicine, public health, communications, and education, to develop versions of the software for new languages and cultures. She is the author of numerous articles and has been an invited speaker at many universities, including Caltech, Columbia, Tsinghua, Utrecht and Yale. She holds degrees in Economics, Business and Journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and an M.A. in Education and Ph.D. in Learning Sciences & Technology Design from Stanford University.
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Innovation
Piya Sorcar: Why You Should Obsess Over Quality
Speed isn’t everything. Nonprofit founder Piya Sorcar (TeachAIDS) describes how measured growth and iteration can benefit startups dealing with sensitive issues.
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Rilla Alexander
Designer & Illustrator
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Speaker Bio Rilla Alexander
Designer & Illustrator
Rilla Alexander is an Australian-born Berlin-based designer and illustrator. Her cast of creatures dance across Madrid's Museo del Prado's ceramics and stationery products, populate Swiss Credit Cards for Cornér Bank and sleep on the walls of Hotel Fox in Copenhagen (where she replaced the bed with a tent).
As a member of design collective Rinzen, she has published several books exploring the creative process. The felt-covered book Neighbourhood featured the collaborative efforts of over 30 artists reworking and remaking hand-made toys in a sequence that stretched across the world.
Her all ages picture book Her Idea was launched with an exhibition at Colette in Paris — and tells the tale of her alter-ego Sozi and her quest to make ideas happen.
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Focus
Rilla Alexander: Without the Doing, Dreaming Is Useless
Ever get distracted by a new idea and have trouble seeing the original one through? Illustrator Rilla Alexander shares her idea execution struggle through an all-ages story.
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Teresa Amabile
Professor
Harvard Business School
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Speaker Bio Teresa Amabile
Professor
Harvard Business School
Teresa Amabile is a professor and director of research at Harvard Business School, and coauthor of The Progress Principle (2011). A psychologist, Teresa studies how everyday work life can influence people and their performance. Her research encompasses creativity, productivity, innovation, and inner work life — the confluence of emotions, perceptions, and motivation that people experience as they react to events at work.
Amabile's most recent discoveries appear in her book, The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work. The book, based on research into over 12,000 daily diary entries from over 200 professionals inside organizations, illuminates how everyday events at work can impact employee well-being and performance. Published in 2011 by Harvard Business Review Press, the book is co-authored with Amabile's husband and collaborator, Steven Kramer, Ph.D.
Amabile was awarded the E. Paul Torrance Award by the Creativity Division of the National Association for Gifted Children in 1998, and The Leadership Quarterly Best Paper Award by the Center for Creative Leadership in 2005. She has spoken to dozens of groups in business, government, and education around the world, and has taught courses on creativity, leadership, and ethics at Harvard Business School. Before moving to Harvard, she was a psychology professor at Brandeis University.
Amabile was the host/instructor of Against All Odds: Inside Statistics, a twenty-six-part instructional series originally broadcast on PBS. She has served on the boards of Seaman Corporation and other organizations. Amabile is the author of Creativity in Context and Growing Up Creative, as well as over one hundred articles, chapters, and case studies.
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Career Development
Teresa Amabile: Track Your Small Wins to Motivate Big Accomplishments
Could keeping a daily diary be the key to unlocking happiness at work? Creativity researcher Teresa Amabile explains the unexpected benefits of tracking daily progress.
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Alexis Madrigal
Senior Editor
The Atlantic
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Speaker Bio Alexis Madrigal
Senior Editor
The Atlantic
The New York Observer calls him, "for all intents and purposes, the perfect modern reporter." Madrigal co-founded Longshot magazine, a high-speed media experiment that garnered attention from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the BBC. While at Wired.com, he built Wired Science into one of the most popular blogs in the world. The site was nominated for best magazine blog by the MPA and best science Web site in the 2009 Webby Awards. He also co-founded Haiti ReWired, a groundbreaking community dedicated to the discussion of technology, infrastructure, and the future of Haiti.
He's spoken at Stanford, CalTech, Berkeley, SXSW, E3, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and his writing was anthologized in Best Technology Writing 2010 (Yale University Press).
Madrigal is a visiting scholar at the University of California at Berkeley's Office for the History of Science and Technology. Born in Mexico City, he grew up in the exurbs north of Portland, Oregon, and now lives in Oakland.
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Achievement
Alexis Madrigal: Why Startups Need To Solve Real Problems Again
Alexis Madrigal tells us how startups can up the ante by shifting away from free “viral” business models & by having more diverse founders.
Master Classes
During our 75-minute master classes, top creative minds share best practices for making ideas happen and take questions in a smaller, more interactive setting.
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Using Improv To Embrace Risk & Take Action Quickly
Charlie Todd
Improv Everywhere
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Creating A Product People Love
Alexis Ohanian
Reddit
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Making Ideas Happen: Key Insights on Creative Execution
Scott Belsky
Adobe
Studio Sessions
Our off-site studio sessions explore the inner-workings of leading creative companies and allow attendees to meet in an intimate, informal setting.
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IDEO
Introduction to the Human-Centered Design Process
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R/GA
Brainstorming Technology First
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Union Square Ventures
The Economics of Networks & What That Means For Your Internet Start-Up
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Red Antler
Branding Your Startup Business
