Why Rethink?
I spent an amazing 10 days in Hawaii back in June for the Hawaii Tourism Authority that gave me a chance to go beyond the beautiful brochure version of the islands and see and share it from a perspective that only those who live there could share. I met some really amazing people there who I now call good friends.
I flew back to LA and was still in love with Hawaii when 3 days later I threw my stuff back in a suitcase and set off on a whirlwind 10 day sleep deprived GeeksOnAPlane tour of Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai with a group of amazing tech investors and entrepreneurs that I had helped Dave McClure co-organize. By the time we got to our last city, Shanghai, we all were friends thanks to conversations in a Tokyo subway, on buses stuck in Beijing traffic, in an afterparty following Startup2Startup, on a dance floor in Shanghai, a geek trek to the Great Wall of China, Barcamp Shanghai, TEDxShanghai and a lot of shared meals, conferences and meetups in between.
A month later, I attended my first TED conference and they’re not kidding when they say it’s a life changing event. TED takes that a step further by bringing together people from different countries, sectors and areas of expertise …the conversations and connections I made during those 4 days in Oxford were amazing. So much so, I spent 10 hours on a flight back to Los Angeles …rethinking every aspect of my life. I know you've been there. If you haven't, then you will and be sure to let me know when you do.
Making real connections. I don’t think experiences like this should be reserved for chance conversations in the hallway of conferences already scheduled. Nor do I think we can sustain our need for a shared experience with each other via tweets or comments left in an archived blog post or passing Facebook newsfeed.
Then there are times when you want to disconnect altogether. If only for a few hours. Hawaii has a way of doing that to me each time I visit. I wanted to create an experience that would allow my friends some time to do the same.
As we go into the final stretch of 2009 with 2010 around the corner, the goal is simple.
At the core of this, it's about bringing good people together. On the surface, we all bring a level of experience and expertise to share with each other. It's a week where good people and ideas will intersect technology, sustainability and entrepreneurship. Conversations will be sparked. Partnerships will form. Projects will develop. Yes. I know. Hawaii. It may be hard to put on the line item of an expense report. But then again, that's not how this started to begin with. I hope this makes sense.
When good people get together, great things happen. <--- really. this is what it's all about..
...see ya next week Hawaii.
