Just as the G8 and G20 summits have wound up in Ontario, a conference of a very different kind is being planned on the other side of the country in Victoria.
Called IdeaWave, the aim of conference is to bring innovative thinkers together to brainstorm a wide range of issues, from sewage treatment and drug prohibition to health and public transit.
The two-day conference will feature 50 short talks on any topic the speaker desires, giving critical thinkers from the Pacific Northwest a forum to explore issues that affect both their immediate region and further afield.
“There’s a lot of critical thinkers out there who are meeting regularly, talking about ideas informally, and so I just thought, ‘What would it take to get all of those people together in a room?’ To me, having 200 critical thinkers in a room is quite exciting,” says event organizer Kris Constable.
Constable believes his conference is the first ever to keep the talks to 10 minutes with no limit on the subject matter. Established ideas conferences that take place annually in Vancouver and California cost between $3,000 and $7,000 to participate, he adds.
“I, like most North Americans, can’t afford to attend such a thing. So this is kind of my answer to that. I’m going to make this the first approachable ideas conference ever. We’ve got both speakers and attendees coming from Washington State and all over B.C.”
Limiting the talks to 10 minutes keeps them from becoming boring and “cuts right to the meat” of the topic, he says.
“It separates the wheat from the chaff essentially. You’ve got 10 minutes to make sure that you’ve clearly articulated your idea in the best way that you can. With 10 minutes you’re concentrating your talk to be as effective as possible.”
Frank Heidt, a chief executive officer with a company in Seattle, will talk about expanding on the idea of transforming abandoned shipping containers into housing. There are about three million unused shipping containers in the Pacific Rim because it’s cheaper for companies to leave them there than return them to their country of origin empty or partially filled, according to Heidt.
His talk will be about using these shipping containers as lending libraries of hand tools, enabling people in developing countries to “build their own future.”
Margaret Pulton, a nurse from B.C., will explore using technology to create clothing as a treatment for Lymphedema, while Clem Persaud, a professor of biotechnology, will devote his 10 minutes to how we can positively impact our lives by influencing the expression of our genes.
As well as airing their ideas, there will also be a chance for both speakers and attendees to mingle and network.
“If your idea’s good enough that other people are excited, they’re going to go ahead and talk to you and hopefully get a few people helping you make your idea happen,” says Constable.
“These are the people who are kind of the thinkers and the doers in one.”
Being still a few shy of the required 50 speakers, Constable is looking for more people to submit their proposals. The conference will take place July 10 and 11 at the Ambrosia Centre in downtown Victoria.
Called IdeaWave, the aim of conference is to bring innovative thinkers together to brainstorm a wide range of issues, from sewage treatment and drug prohibition to health and public transit.
The two-day conference will feature 50 short talks on any topic the speaker desires, giving critical thinkers from the Pacific Northwest a forum to explore issues that affect both their immediate region and further afield.
“There’s a lot of critical thinkers out there who are meeting regularly, talking about ideas informally, and so I just thought, ‘What would it take to get all of those people together in a room?’ To me, having 200 critical thinkers in a room is quite exciting,” says event organizer Kris Constable.
Constable believes his conference is the first ever to keep the talks to 10 minutes with no limit on the subject matter. Established ideas conferences that take place annually in Vancouver and California cost between $3,000 and $7,000 to participate, he adds.
“I, like most North Americans, can’t afford to attend such a thing. So this is kind of my answer to that. I’m going to make this the first approachable ideas conference ever. We’ve got both speakers and attendees coming from Washington State and all over B.C.”
Limiting the talks to 10 minutes keeps them from becoming boring and “cuts right to the meat” of the topic, he says.
“It separates the wheat from the chaff essentially. You’ve got 10 minutes to make sure that you’ve clearly articulated your idea in the best way that you can. With 10 minutes you’re concentrating your talk to be as effective as possible.”
Frank Heidt, a chief executive officer with a company in Seattle, will talk about expanding on the idea of transforming abandoned shipping containers into housing. There are about three million unused shipping containers in the Pacific Rim because it’s cheaper for companies to leave them there than return them to their country of origin empty or partially filled, according to Heidt.
His talk will be about using these shipping containers as lending libraries of hand tools, enabling people in developing countries to “build their own future.”
Margaret Pulton, a nurse from B.C., will explore using technology to create clothing as a treatment for Lymphedema, while Clem Persaud, a professor of biotechnology, will devote his 10 minutes to how we can positively impact our lives by influencing the expression of our genes.
As well as airing their ideas, there will also be a chance for both speakers and attendees to mingle and network.
“If your idea’s good enough that other people are excited, they’re going to go ahead and talk to you and hopefully get a few people helping you make your idea happen,” says Constable.
“These are the people who are kind of the thinkers and the doers in one.”
Being still a few shy of the required 50 speakers, Constable is looking for more people to submit their proposals. The conference will take place July 10 and 11 at the Ambrosia Centre in downtown Victoria.
