The title of this post sounds worse than it actually is. PopTech, the annual conference in Maine that brings together thinkers and doers in the arts, education, science, media, technology, medicine, and politics, is a life-changing, inspiring event. However, on the Sunday morning that follows, one can't help but ask: What Am I Doing With My Life?
I missed the first day, and it's unfortunate. One of the people I really wanted to hear speak is John Fetterman, the courageous and innovative mayor who is revitalizing the depressed city of Braddock, PA. Here is the PopTech post about his talk, and another post from Sharon Glassman at HuffPo.
So, enter Day 2. The theme of the day was thinking differently, of shifting our mindsets; which, honestly, is the overarching theme of PopTech anyway. But, the speakers who were first up on Thursday asked the audience to change they way we relate to technology and think about the natural world. Here are the highlights:
Michael Pollan and Dean Ornish, on why we should learn how to cook, eat food that our great grandmothers would recognize, and make sustainable choices; Alec Ross, the determined senior advisor for innovation in the State Department who makes me hopeful; Will Allen, who alongside John Fetterman, is truly an American hero; the ridiculously brilliant Neri Oxman, and Mark O’Connor, who brought tears to my eyes with his unbelievable talent.
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