Summing Up The Summit Series 2010

by BILLY GRAY · May 18, 2010

    Social media maven Gwen Bell happily put in a lot of time at last weekend's Summit Series. Luckily she got a lot of ideas out of it, which she helpfully condensed into top 10 form on her blog. Here are the lucky seven highlights.

    Publish, Talk And Sing About Your Ideas Before They're Any Good:

    These days, there are 24 hour news cycles devoted to dissecting the 24 hour news cycle. Blog posts acquire a sepia tone one week after publication. And new print magazines (remember them?) fold before the inaugural issue hits newsstands. So it might make sense to broadcast even an inkling of an idea you might have to the public. At least according to Behance founder Scott Belsky, whose presentation message Bell took away as:

    "Rather than holding [ideas] until perfection. we'd do well to release early and frequently."

    No word yet on the stage of development of Belsky's pearl of wisdom.

    Russell Simmons Will Talk To You About Transcendental Meditation Until You Enter A Vegetative State.

    First came a piece about Simmons' soporific Sunday routine. Now more praise for the glories of a meditative state I will never achieve. A return to "My Adidas" form please, Russell.

    We Will Live Forever. But Does Anyone Really Want To?

    Ray Kurzweil's keynote warned noted that "if you hang in there, you' may be able to see the remarkable century ahead." The longer we live, the more technological advancements will arrive to keep us alive even longer. In other words, one day we will all turn 88 and host SNL.

    See The Lottery

    John Legend led a panel on education and recommended Waiting for Superman and The Lottery as two films that go beyond diagnosing the troubles in American schools and actually propose ways to solve them.

    Women Will Inherit the Earth

    A panelist at the Women's Leadership Forum said that "women see the internet as a tool, men see it as a toy." And even the men laughed. As a recent New York article mentioned, men make up an overwhelming share of the Web 2.0 (or is it 3.0 by now?) elite. As the ranks of innovative women continue to swell, expect that to change. And you won't have to live to 100 to witness it.

    -

    A Happy Workplace Is A Good Workplace...

    If only more people had experienced enough of this to know.

    ...And Yoga Will Make You Happy

    Damn you again, Russell. Although executing the "full expression of King Pigeon" does somehow sound worthy of a "ferocious hallelujah moment" even to the uninitiated.

    Photos 1 and 3 via GwenBell, 2 via Béatrice de Géa/NYT