In attempting to satisfy my insatiable curiosity, I participate in events related to topics I am interested in and get to learn from many smart and passionate people. Here are some of my recent adventures
Spent five days as the Master of Ceremonies at the Inside Quantum Technology virtual event – June 1-5, 2020. We used Adobe Connect and had an amazing range of conversations about technology, business and policy. The next one is October 26-30 with a more European flavor.
Went out to Brooklyn Tech on Feb. 26 to speak to a group of teachers for the NYC Dept of Education’s Media Technology & Design Commission Meeting about the future of work and education.
I conducted my workshop “How to Succeed at Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet” at the library in Westport, CT on March 2. Great audience – lots of interactive conversation.
Did a couple really fun Mardi Gras gigs with River City Slim & The Zydeco Hogs – one at Black Eyed Sally’s in Hartford, CT on Feb 25 and another at the New Britain Museum of American Art on Feb. 28. Lots of big dance grooves!
I spent Jan 26-31, 2019 out in Carpenteria near Santa Barbara, CA on a soundstage at LinkedIn Learning. I recorded a live action course called “Future-proofing your data science career.” The team was fantastic – very supportive and professional. I had a blast! The footage is in post -production now and will hopefully be available in late April.
The Atlantic LIVE ran an event on The Future of Work on Dec. 10 in NYC. Great speakers included Elisabeth Reynolds who is on the MIT Task Force on Work of the Future. Videos are here.
A Playlist for Our Future was a series of presentations and a panel discussion led by Beth Comstock at Columbia in Davis Auditorium on Dec. 5, 2019. I really enjoyed Mickey McManus, a Research Fellow at Autodesk. Video is here.
MIT Technology Review ran another amazing event called Future Compute at the MIT Media Lab on Dec. 2-3. Videos are here. My favorite speaker was Dan Huttenlocher – the inaugural dean of the MIT Schwartzman College of Computing
The Atlantic LIVE ran an event called Power of Purpose on Nov. 19. 2019 with a focus on how business can be a force for good. Videos are available here.
I was invited to a TED Salon on Nov. 14 at their HQ on Hudson Street in Tribeca. It was a night of fascinating wide-ranging talks.
All Tech Is Human ran a terrific event in NYC on Nov 9, 2019 under the leadership of prominent tech ethicist Dave Ryan Polger. His mantra is “Let’s Co-create a More Thoughtful Future Towards Technology.”
I returned to my alma mater Bennington College on October 29 to run a workshop called “How to Succeed at Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet” for a Life Design class. Always special for me to visit this campus – I have many fond memories of my learning and life experiences here.
I attended a lecture on October 10 at Cornell Tech on Randall’s Island given by Wendy Ju on the cross-cultural implications of autonomous driving. Fascinating. Taking the tram back to Manhattan afterwards had a kind of Blade Runner 2049 vibe – check out this video!
Conducted two workshops on The Future of Fintech for State Street Global Advisors at Caltech – Sept 23-27, 2019. Shared perspective on AI, blockchain, cryptoassets and 5G. Lots of great ideation activities!
Worked as a volunteer at the MIT Technology Review’s event “EmTech MIT” at the MIT Media Lab – Sept. 16-19, 2019. An amazing group of business and technology leaders. Videos can be seen here.
Did my first gig barefoot at the Zen Meditation Center near Providence, Rhode Island – August 3, 2019
Attended the Atlantic Live event called “Consumed: The Future of Retail” on July 30, 2019. Videos of presentations are here.
I performed with Otis and the Hurricanes at Sailfest in New London, CT on July 14. Great fun – outdoors on the water!
I presented at the ODSC NYC event called Immersive AI on the topic “How to succeed at data science jobs that don’t exist yet.” Great interaction with a lot of smart, talented, motivated and tech-savvy folks. I posted my deck to Slideshare. (June 29, 2019)
Betaworks Studios hosted an event called “The Rise of Voice Marketing: Insights from Analysts & Builders.” Amazing what companies are doing exploring this technology for marketing, selling, customer service and information sharing – to name just a few. Speakers included Bret Kinsella, CEO/Founder at Voicebot.ai and Will Hall, Chief Creative Officer at RAIN. (June 18, 2019)
EmTech Next at the MIT Media Lab is always a fascinating and enlightening experience. I got to hear and meet Tom Malone, author of the seminal book “The Future of Work.” And learned from many other thought leaders working in this space. Videos are here. (June 10-12, 2019)
Attended a One Day University session comparing the genius of Leonardo da Vinci to Michelangelo conducted by Columbia U professor Denise Budd, Then a second session comparing Telsa and Edison. Fascinating insight. I loved Leonardo’s to do list – the Codex Atlanticus. (June 1, 2019)
The New York City Automated Decision Systems Task held its second public forum on Thursday, May 30 at New York Law School and I was invited to attend. Passionate discussion around who is looking to capture your data and what citizens can do about controlling their personal data. Incredible panel of speakers that included:
Chancey Fleet, Fellow, Data & Society and Assistive Technology Coordinator, Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, New York Public Library
Aaron Pallas, Professor of Sociology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
Rumman Chowdhury, Senior Principal, Global Lead of Ethical Artificial Intelligence, Accenture
My Louisiana R&B band Otis & The Hurricanes opened for the Average White Band at the Warehouse at the Fairfield Theater Company. Great fun – big stage, nice PA – just like a real gig 🙂 (May 23, 2019)
The Atlantic sponsored an event focused on corporate uses of AI. Speakers included Colin Parris, VP, Software and Analytics, GE Software Research and Arthur Orduña, Chief Innovation Officer, Avis Budget Group. The video is here. (May 16, 2019)
MIT Technology Review hosted a one day session on The Business of Blockchain. Amazing how quickly it is being adopted! Videos are here. (May 1, 2019)
While vacationing in Florida, I went to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Ft. Myers and got a tour of his laboratory. Fascinating! Just amazing the number of ingenious devices he invented. (April 16, 2019)
Attended The New York Times Opinion Live – An Evening With David Leonhardt, Michelle Goldberg and Ross Douthat at the Times Center. Enlightening conversation! (April 10, 2019)
My alma mater Bennington College hosted an event at the Matthew Marks Gallery in Chelsea NYC to talk about future plans. I got to chat with the outgoing president Mariko Silver who is now the CEO and President of the Henry Luce Foundation. (April 10, 2019)
The Next Big Idea Club hosted a book talk at incubator Betaworks Studios in NYC. Daniel Pink interviewed Safi Bahcall about his latest book Loonshots. I got to chat with Daniel about my future career ideas – he was very positive. He is one of my favorite authors – it was a thrill to meet him! (April 5, 2019)
I conducted my workshop at Baruch on “How to succeed at jobs that don’t exist yet” as part of their JOBS$MART program. The video is here. (March 20, 2019)
Inside Quantum Technology Conference at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston – amazing conversation – the math was frankly over my head! Insight from Christopher Savoie, CEO, Zapata and Tomek Schulz, kiutra (March 19, 2019)
I attended an event focused on the state of blockchain and healthcare hosted by the law firm Nixon Peabody in midtown. Great panelists including Alex Cahana, Genesis Block and Natalie Smolenski, SVP, Learning Machines. (March 6, 2019)
Attended a really interesting series of talks at the New York Genome Center sponsored by the MIT Enterprise Forum – brilliant researchers talking about a range of topics including liquid biopsy and using multi-ethnic genomic data to better manage cancer. More about their amazing work here. (Feb 27, 2019)
I gave a talk on “21st century tools and processes for collaboration and community” to a Design Thinking Certificate Program at Rutgers. I am on their Advisory Board. (Feb. 20, 2019)
I moderated a series of Lightning Talks at the AR in Action Leadership Summit at the MIT Media Lab – Jan 14, 2019. The videos are accessible here.
Invited to be a judge at the Global Game Jam at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, CT (Jan 29, 2019)
Attended a live event at Bloomberg HQ – Joel Weber, Bloomberg Businessweek’s editor speaking with Grant Reid, President and CEO of Mars. The interview is here. (Jan 10, 2019)
Met two of my favorite authors – Steven Johnson and Malcolm Gladwell – at a Next Big Idea Club event at Betaworks Studios in NYC. (Dec 6, 2018). You can view an excerpt here.
I recorded several cues for a documentary called “Train Keeps A Rolling” about dear friend and legendary guitar player Jeff Golub. We had a band called Low Profile in the 1980’s and did two albums and played many gigs at The Bitter End in New York. Jeff died of a rare brain disease a few years ago. (Dec. 4, 2018)
Moderated a panel and fielded journalists’ questions at a Brooks Brothers press event announcing their use of ORS Group‘s AI for Retail and Fashion (Nov 29, 2018) An article in Forbes is here.
Spoke at Accelerate AI, Europe 2018 in London – my presentation was titled “Your brain’s too small to manage your business.” (Sept 19, 2018) The video is here.
But the most fun about going to England was the chance to take a trip out to Bletchley Park to see Colossus and Alan Turing‘s office – humbling and inspiring!
I have been working as a concierge and speaker wrangler at numerous Em Tech events over the course of the past year including Em Tech Digital in San Francisco (March 2018) and Em Tech Next at the Media Lab (Sept 2018)
Invited to the Opening Event for the MIT Nano Lab – a $400M building designed to be a center of excellence for nano research. Fantastic facility! (Oct 4, 2018)
