2008 IDEAS Boston Speaker Gets National Attention

The Portable Light Project, led by 2008 IDEAS speaker and MIT professor Sheila Kennedy, was named by The Global Journal one of the top 100 NGOs in its January & February 2012 issue. The Geneva-based publication has compiled the first such international ranking of these organizations that are transforming our world. The Portable Light Project was cited for the way it is rethinking traditional methods of delivering clean energy and light by designing revolutionary solar textiles.

2005 IDEAS Boston Speaker Explores What Makes Things Funny

Just when you thought that philosophers have no sense of humor, renowned philosopher, 2005 IDEAS Boston speaker, and Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University Daniel Dennett has co-authored Inside Jokes: Using Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind.  Written with Matthew Hurley, a doctoral student at Indiana University, and Tufts psychologist Reginald Adams Jr., the book explores why humans find things funny.

2004 IDEAS Boston Speaker Gets a Chance to Instill Ideas in Students

Congratulations to IDEAS 2004 speaker John Palfrey on his recent appointment as head of school for Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Currently an Internet law expert and vice dean at Harvard Law School, Palfrey will assume his duties at the 200+-year-old private prep school in July.

IDEAS Boston 2011: Sessions Three and Four

Here are some more Twitter posts from our IDEAS Boston audience members:

maplabmap-lab architects

#ideasBoston It goes without saying but Tom Ashbrook is an amazing moderator at @IDEASBoston

kmbeckerKate Becker

The next big thing, according to Andrew Lippman: technology that interacts with the physical environment. #ideasboston

devincoleDevin Cole

#ideasboston “We were born to be endurance athletes.” — Daniel Lieberman. Let’s all go running people! We’ll live longer!

stefanlanferStefan Lanfer

#ideasBoston the fashion paradox – I want to be original (my style!) but I also want to be in the herd – Jeannie suk

devincoleDevin Cole

#ideasBoston FAFSA form is long + confusing. It’s so bad it impedes students who’d like to access higher ed. — Bridget Terry Long

maplabmap-lab architects

#ideasBoston the Boston Typewriter Orchestra rocking out to take us into the homestretch!

maplabmap-lab architects

#ideasBoston Elliot Davis shows how @mfaboston displays are contextualized to better display art and objects

stefanlanferStefan Lanfer

#ideasBoston Agosin opening, “I come w/o powerpoint iPhone blackberry, but with the most powerful tool – a voice”

ScottKirsnerScott Kirsner

We are all kinda surprised that MIT alum & defensetech entrepreneur Nathan Ball is teaching us to beatbox at #ideasboston

StreetWise_MBAInterise

Didn’t think we’d see the inside of anyone’s throat/brain today. We were wrong. #bootsncats #ideasBoston

stefanlanferStefan Lanfer

#ideasBoston I want to learn to choose to see more possibilities in every situation – final word from Nathan Ball

stefanlanferStefan Lanfer

#ideasBoston Darryl Collins PhD 40% of world lives on $2/day or less

maplabmap-lab architects

#ideasBoston thanks to @IDEASBoston for an amazing and inspiring day!

IDEAS Boston 2011: Sessions One and Two

Our Twitter followers are doing a great job of capturing the energy, enthusiasm, and ideas at IDEAS Boston:

Here’s just a sample of tweets sent during the first and second sessions today:

mayortommeninoMayor Tom Menino

We’re a more economically unequal society than we were, than we think we are, and than we aspire to be. bit.ly/qjpxH9 #IDEASBoston

NoOneYouKnowAdam Zand

Tom Ashbrook from @onpointradio welcomes all to Ideas Boston @ UMass-Boston. Good to be back as live event twitpic.com/733ghg

maplabmap-lab architects

Claudius Conrad – studies show that Mozart music used in medicine is more effective for those with less formal education #ideasBoston

Russ_WilcoxRuss Wilcox

Rousing speech by Larry Lessig at IDEAS Boston… Capitol corrupt;the funders are not the people.

maplabmap-lab architects

#ideasBoston Joan Fitzgerald top US cities aren’t even close to where we need to be to hit climate change goals, need to do better

iamDEZismeDesiree Arevalo

Cosign RT @devincole I need this ASAP. MT @yoonjlee: Imagine charging your phone wirelessly? Eric Giler figured it out. #ideasboston

stefanlanferStefan Lanfer

#ideasBoston 1 deg C increase in global temp is to climate system what 3% default rate on home mrtgs was to financial structure

kmbeckerKate Becker

Chico Colvard just showed clips from his films at #ideasboston; don’t think I can compress this one into 140 characters!

devincoleDevin Cole

Tech guy –> climate scientist –> film maker. It’s the boundary pushing instinct in these exceptional ppl that makes #ideasBoston great.

kmbeckerKate Becker

John Halamka: electronic health records can be mined anonymously to make life-saving discoveries in minutes, not years #ideasboston

MassFinanceAccountingManagement

At @ideasboston Jody Adams talking about how “from scratch” impacts the bottomline. American foodie movement is meaningful to the economy

31 minutes ago

devincoleDevin Cole

True statement: @ideasboston is my favorite event every year. There’s no better display of talent any other place/time. #ideasboston

SierraSezChristine Sierra

Take out your 2012 calendars and make a note for #ideasboston. You’ll want to go! Great event and so glad to attend. Smart people…

(SierraSez: IDEAS Boston 2012 is set for October 24, 2012.)

2005 IDEAS Boston Speaker Explores Ways to Think about the Universe

As she did at IDEAS Boston in 2005, Lisa Randall again gives us new ways of thinking about the universe in her new book, Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World. In her latest book, Randall explores for the general reader the philosophical framework for the study of elementary particles. Randall is a nationally recognized expert on particle physics and string theory, and a Harvard professor.

IDEAS Boston Moderator Tom Ashbrook Celebrates 10 Years of On Point

Congratulations to IDEAS Boston Moderator Tom Ashbrook on the 10^th anniversary of his acclaimed NPR news and talk show On Point, on WBUR.  Recruited to the station to relieve an exhausted crew taking callers in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Tom clearly found his next calling.  His energy, insight, empathy and wit are hallmarks of On Point and are the skills he brings each year to IDEAS Boston.  Plus, at IDEAS Boston we get to see the man behind the voice!

IDEAS Boston is next Thursday, October 20. The registration deadline has been extended to Monday, October 17, so if you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, make sure you do so at http://www.ideasboston.com/.

You can read more about Tom Ashbrook here: http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2011/10/12/for-npr-tom-ashbrook-point-for-years-and-counting/QIpE6jPSn1vtBXrmtCHZSI/story.html

Meet IDEAS Boston 2011′s Featured Student Musicians

IDEAS Boston has a history of featuring student musicians in between speaker sessions. The Oct. 20, 2011 conference continues that tradition with Berklee College of Music’s Cameron Galpin, New England Conservatory of Music’s Andrew Halchak, and UMass Boston alumnus Christopher Bilodeau.

Cameron Galpin

Berklee College of Music

Singer-Songwriter

 

It should not be surprising that Colorado-born Cameron—the son of English Beatles fans—fell in love with the art of the song. The guitarist’s musical style reflects the influence of John Mayer, D’Angelo, and The Band. He has studied and played with instrumentalists such as Jamie Haddad, Julian Lage, and David Grisman, saturating his music with a mix of jazz, bluegrass, funk, and soul. Currently, he lives and performs in the Boston area as he finishes his undergraduate degree at Berklee.

 

 

Andrew Halchak

New England Conservatory of Music

Saxophonist and Composer

 

Andrew spent his youth in Tucson, Arizona, where he was exposed to a variety of southwestern musical styles, including bluegrass, country/western, and afro-beat. In 2010, the multi-instrumentalist received a bachelor of music degree in jazz performance—with a focus on South Indian carnatic music—from the Berklee College of Music. Currently studying at the New England Conservatory of Music for a master’s degree in jazz studies, he has been a featured artist at jazz festivals around the world.

 

 

 

Christopher Bilodeau

Choral Singer

Jazz and Rock Musician

 

As a youngster, Chris was a member of the Boston Boys Choir and studied at the prestigious Boston Archdiocesan Choir School, going on to direct several choruses within the archdiocese. He later performed with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Pops. A UMass Boston alumnus, Chris has also written, arranged, and performed music for his own jazz trio and quartet, and he has made many recordings with the Russell Fortunato Quartet, an impromptu orchestra, and his acclaimed progressive rock trio Trip Hazard.

2008 IDEAS Boston Speaker Featured on Ken Burns’ Prohibition series

2008 IDEAS Boston Speaker Noah Feldman is a commentator for the upcoming Ken Burns series Prohibition.  The renowned Harvard constitutional scholar provides the on-camera legal perspective and implications for the movement that resulted in the passage of the 18^th amendment.  The three-part series will air on WGBH starting October 2.

The Ideas Keep Coming: 2004 IDEAS Boston Speaker Proposes Violence is Declining

Steven Pinker, Harvard psychology professor, 2004 IDEAS Boston speaker, and expert on how the mind processes language and vision, has ventured into new and fascinating territory with his upcoming book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, scheduled out in October.  The 800-page work presents a history of human violence, and proposes that the rate of mankind’s violence is declining.  Pinker provides possible explanations of this downward and positive trend in psychological terms.