PopTech Sparks of Brilliance

This year's conference focused on creativity as an important ingredient for community and survival.

“Creativity is the essence of our humanity, the great enricher of our lived experience, and the key to our shared resilience.”

During the event, I will be posted some behind-the-scenes photos and video for those of you interested in the gear and techniques I use to create paintings and posters live during each presenter’s talk, ranging in length from 5 - 20 minutes each.

There are upwards of 30 presentations in 2 days, so this is my annual creativity marathon.

More on our Facebook Page (like us, puleez!): https://www.facebook.com/ChimpLearnGood

Digital archive of PopTech Art: http://www.alphachimp.com/poptech-art/

On the airplane from Nashville to Maine, I realized that this is the one consistent annual thing I have participated in over the last decade.

I have spent every other major holiday and birthday in a different place around the world, but every third weekend in October, I have been here in Camden, Maine.

Crazy.

So I asked myself, why do I return each year?

The answer: This is my tribe.

And it is damn important to have one of those.

Find A Tribe, Save Your Sanity

As an artsy kid growing up in a part of the world obsessed with college football (Knoxville, Tennessee) I felt kind of out-of-place.

As an artist working in the corporate world and healthcare, I was usually singled out as “One of Those Creative Types”.

But here at PopTech, I am in a crowd of, what Andrew Zolli describes as “passionate weirdos”.

I spent a week before the conference with some of the emerging leaders in the field of Passionate Weirdism, known as the PopTech Fellows.

As an example, here are the job descriptions of some of the folks sitting at my lunch table…

— a synthetic biologist/artist
— a social learning tech guru
— a conservationist architect
— a war crimes investigator (and employee of George Clooney)
— two solar power gearheads
— a primatologist psychologist studying morality, and...
— a neuroscientist watching creativity happen inside the brain.

Brilliant. Amazing. And very human. All of them.

So, who is your tribe? What group challenges you, supports you, gives you energy and gives you rest from the grind of dailiness?

I sincerely hope you get with your tribe soon and get recharged.

After all, being connected with passionate weirdos and doing good work with good people, well... it is what ignites the sparks of brilliance within us!

~ Peter Durand

Toward Resilience: PopTech in Iceland

| resilience defined | conference recap | alphachimp artwork | photos |

In a world fraught with disruptions, what causes some systems, organizations, communities and people to break down and others to bounce back? For those that rebound, what do they tell us about how to build a secure future, and sturdier selves to inhabit it?

The Harpa Concert Hall & Conference Centre in Reykjavik, site of PopTech

To explore these pressing questions, in June 2012 PopTech convened its first international conference outside its homebase in Camden, Maine. Over 200 researchers, practitioners and thought leaders—working in fields such as international development, global business, climate adaptation, social psychology, economics, systems ecology, public health, emerging technology, disaster relief and community activism—gathered in the world-reknowned Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik for a dialogue about the emerging field of "resilience". 

Click to read more ...

2010 PopTech Social Innovation Fellows

Along with a cadre of stellar design professionals, educators, communication gurus, and experts in social enterprise, Peter Durand of Alphachimp served as faculty and scribe for this amazing weeklong program.

Each year, PopTech selects 10-20 high potential change agents from around the world who are working on highly disruptive innovations in areas.

Click to read more ...

Alphachimp @ Pop!Tech

Peter Durand from Alphachimp @ Pop!Tech from Poptech on Vimeo. Peter Durand from Alphachimp illustrates Stephen Badylak's lecture on regenerative medicine. From Pop!Tech Blogger Michelle Riggen-Ransom:

If you’re with us in Maine, you’ve probably noticed the colorful illustrations hanging on the walls of the third floor break room. If you’re not, you can take a look at them here.

These illustrations are the work of artist Peter Durand of Alphachimp Studio. Peter has set up an easel on the balcony of the Opera House, where he busily creates illustrations that capture the key elements of each presentation.

Peter let me peek over his shoulder while he illustrated a session. It happened to be Stephen Badylak’s talk on The Edge of Medicine. While images of exploded horse faces and dismembered fingers flashed on the screen, Peter managed to turn Badylak’s fascinating lecture on regenerative medicine into the illustration above. Watch a short video of his process here and see how language becomes visual art.