GEL Conference - Day 2 - 29 April 2011

Below is a brief summary of the speakers for Day 2The theme of GEL 2011 is breaking barriers. One barrier you may like to break is drinking kopi luwak. Apparently it's not as bad as it sounds.Anil Dash - using new tools and better networks to create transformation. It's never too late to join a movement or network. More inclusive networks create opportunities for people to do great things. anildash.comTom Lee - working to improve patient experience in the health system. The One Medical Group answer calls, start appointments on time, provide pleasant environment, offer email and online bookings, have a blog, accept most forms of insurance, have digital medical records that can be accessed and shared. www.onemedical.comNicola Twill - edible geography - made a scratch & smell map of NYC. Smell is not a sense that is critical for survival so the odourous environment is not important to us. We each experience smell in a unique way - we all have smell black holes ie there are things we can't smell that others can. Words that describe smell influence the way we experience them. We suffer from ocular centrism.www.ediblegeography.comKen & Daniel Trush - Daniel's Music Foundation. Music therapy is 1:1, but music collaboration can bring isolated people together. All classes in group setting. Not intentionally therapeutic, but actually so. Music provides opportunity for focus and communication beyond words. www.danielsmusic.orgHoward Warren - Deadhorse Bay & Barren Island - revisiting places considered waste lands and used as rubbish dumps. Barren island was the location of fertilizer factories using fish meal. Also dead horses were taken there for processing. There were 1 million horses in NYC in 1890. Land reclamation joined island to mainland. An airport was built there. Now Howard takes school classes there and they learn archaeological methods of recording and documenting found objects that reveal the history of this area. Read about last year's excursion - a.wholelottanothing.org/2010/05/gel-2010-conference-trip-to-dead-horse-bay.htmlJames Chan - how to reinvent a city in 5 easy steps. The age of the nation is over, we are in the age of the city.Step 1: start with the basics - water, buildings, waste, roadsStep 2: engineer for political stabilityStep 3: educate and attract talent above population averageStep 4: share the wealth - provide public housing, health care, give people a stake in the cityStep 5: remain relevant to residents and the worldwww.slideshare.net/motochan/how-to-reinvent-a-city-in-5-easy-stepsPerry Chen Kickstarter - celebrated 2 year anniversary. Funds and follows creativity. In Kickstarter, small pledges are important, they syndicate risk and mitigate against the power of single or few big stakeholders. Make people want to help by offering cool things in return. 2 challenges for creative projects: funding, building an audience.Michelle Barwell, Street Medicine Physician, Operation Safety Net, PittsburghVi Hart - recreational mathemusician - using mathematical patterns and devices to create music vihart.comKirby Ferguson - Everything is a remix. Copy, transform and combine are the basic elements of creativity and remix.www.everythingisaremix.infoJace Clayton aka DJ RuptureAlicia Hanson, NYC SALT, a mentoring program for young people in which they are taught photography. Two young spoke about the transformative experience this had been for them. www.nycsalt.orgRisa Morimoto - filmmaker doing a film about internet censorship in China, Code RedMarc Abrahams, IgNobel Prize. www.improbable.com This prize was established in 1991, 10 prizes are given each year. Over 7000 nominations are received each year. The ceremony is attended by Nobel Prize winners who present the prizes.