What do the “Blues Clues” research and development director, the creator of “travelogues” through the human body made using high-tech scanning and 3D animation, and the marine scientist who found the Titanic all have in common?
The answer could lie in this year’s BIF-2 Collaborative Innovation Summit, where speakers from multiple backgrounds will converge to tell their stories.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
It’s the Business Innovation Factory’s second year sponsoring and organizing the event, which will take place this Wednesday and Thursday at the Trinity Repertory Company downtown. And this year it’s even bigger.
Last year’s event was a day and a half, said Melissa Withers, communications director for the Business Innovation Factory (BIF), a nonprofit formed to implement economic development strategies in Rhode Island.
This year, the summit spans two days. It will host 34 storytellers, nine more than last year. And nearly 300 people are expected to attend, an increase of 50 percent over last year, according to Withers.
BIF decided to expand the summit “because interest in the program was so high,” Withers said. Attendees include artists, lawyers, developers, representatives from universities and state agencies and executives from major firms such as Textron, IBM, CVS, Xerox and Amgen. The cost to attend is $1,000.
“We like to say it’s more conversation than conference,” Withers said. “It’s not a lot of talking heads or company infomercials or PowerPoints. It’s much more about personal story-telling.”
The speakers get 15 minutes each to tell the story of how they created change or innovation, Withers said; afterward, there’s a “generous” amount of question and conversation time. The speakers aren’t paid, she said, even though some of them usually command $10,000 to $15,000 per appearance. “They come because they want to be here.”
Josh Koppel, who owns and operates Josh Koppel Productions in New York City, a maker of branded entertainment for television networks, said he is returning to the summit “because in the last year, I’ve had some innovations I want to tell the world about.”
Among Koppel’s creations is TuneBooks, meant to complement Apple’s online music service with lyrics, pictures and album artwork. This year, he said, he’s developing a 14-part documentary on social and environmental sustainability for the Wal-Mart in-store television network. And he continues to create promos and commercials for clients such as MTV, The Sundance Channel, the Cartoon Network, PBS and AMC.
Koppel said the summit appeals to him because “I really appreciate being able to interact with other innovators from different disciplines, different points of interest … financial thinkers and environmental scientists whom I’m not exposed to on a regular basis.”
Local innovators including Curt Columbus, artistic director at Trinity Rep, will also attend.
Columbus said he will be talking about “innovation using a 2,500-year-old art form” in the age of “info-tainment.” Since taking over at Trinity Rep, Columbus has created post-show “talk backs” during which he said the audience can interact with the actors and director of the plays. He also has launched a monthly magazine for the theater’s members.
A new addition to this year’s summit is live blogging. Boris Pluskowski, a chief marketing officer for Boston-based Imaginatik, said he will be blogging at the event as a form of research. The company uses software and processes to build innovation infrastructure for companies such as Kraft, Chevron and Yahoo.
“Myself, being local, it sounds like a good idea,” Pluskowski said. “[The summit] sounds interesting, and different from most innovation conferences.”
To some people, Withers said, the summit “seems a little quirky” at first.
“When you compare the R&D developer of ‘Blues Clues’ with someone who studies the ocean floor, you think, ‘What could they possibly have in common?’ ” she said. “When you hear them tell their stories, you see they have a lot in common. …
“We let great people tell great stories.”
