I first met Larry Lessig at the iSummit ‘08 in Sapporo, Japan (where I worked together with the iCommons team). I took several photos during the event and one of Lessig giving the closing speech was selected for the Italian edition of his latest book, Remix, published in September 2009 by ETAS (part RCS-Corriere della Sera).

The book doesn’t seem to be available online yet. I will post the direct link for buying it soon.

I met him for the second time in Milan in March 2009 at Meet The Media Guru (event in which I worked as part of the organization team led by Maria Grazia Mattei).

F

or several years I have been in charge of startup, marketing and operations of a company in the executive education area that organized conferences with outstanding business speakers and most recently I work as a freelance professional.

I have dealt with speakers like Bill Clinton, Michael Porter, Philip Kotler, Kevin Roberts, Lawrence Lessig, Malcolm Gladwell, Rudy Giuliani and Jack Welch amongst many others but also with lesser known names which where many times much more inspiring than top shots.

Having worked in America (USA, Brasil, Argentina), Europe (Germany, Italy, Spain) and Asia (Japan) and taken part of events in many other parts of the World, and after making many of the typical mistakes of the sector and seeing much more being done everywhere else, I decided to share some of the lessons learnt and in particular to dedicate my time to those innovative aspects of conference management that can transform a good event into an outstanding one, hence I have launched ConferenceBasics.com

This blog is about the organization and management of conferences, a sector in which I have been working in since the early 2000’s. I write about organization basics, tips and how-to’s, do’s and don’ts, anecdotes, observations from events I participate in, interviews to notable organizers and attendees.

My wish for this blog is to become a place to discuss with you on useful and interesting topics regarding this sector.

This post is writen in English (top) and Italian (bottom)

In English
[ego mode ON]
The second issue (April 2009) of Wired’s Italian edition has just been released and guess who’s article is featured in page 33…

You guessed right! My article on the Pasona 02 project, writen while I was living in Tokyo, has been published from page 33 to 36 (for now only available in Italian in print and online). I describe Pasona Group’s idea of creating an underground hi-tech greenhouse to provide food in a city environment and train unemployed people (mainly freeters, that are Japanese unemployed people with a lot of free time that take occasional short time jobs) on a sector that is growing in demand. Japan produces only about 28% of the food it consumes and imports the rest. But even that small percentage of production is at stake due to the lack of qualified workers. A by-product of the greenhouse located in the Otemachi financial district skyscraper is the production of fresh oxygen that the visitors to the dining area can enjoy while they eat the food yielded by this futuristic experiment. Using hydroponics and new techniques based on artificial light, the Pasona 02 project offers a partial remedy to the lack of agricultural areas of the country of the rising sun, which in a mere 378,000 squared km holds more than 128 million inhabitants.

In italiano
Il secondo numero di Wired Italia (aprile 2009) e’ stato appena pubblicato e tra pagina 33 e 36 trovate un mio articolo su Pasona 02, scritto mentre abitavo a Tokyo. Il testo lo trovate online qui.

In questo pezzo descrivo l’idea del Pasona Group di creare una serra nel sotterraneo del loro grattacielo nel distretto finanziario Otemachi di Tokyo per produrre cibo fresco in un ambiente cittadino e allo stesso tempo formare ragazzi senza lavoro (in particolare dei “freeter” ovvero persone che hanno molto tempo libero e lavorano solo occasionalmente) alle tecniche di agricoltura che oggi sono molto richieste. Attualmente il Giappone produce soltanto circa il 28% del cibo che consuma, e deve importare tutto il resto. Ma anche questa bassa percentuale e’ a rischio perche’ la manodopera qualificata scarseggia. Un prodotto secondario della serra e’ dell’ossigeno fresco che oggi viene respirato dagli impiegati di Pasona Group che usufruiscono degli spazi della mensa, mentre godono anche dei cibi prodotti da questo esperimento futuristico. L’utilizzo dell’idroponica (per la coltivazione in assenza di terra) e nuove tecniche basate su diversi tipi di luce artificiale, Pasona 02 vuole proporre un rimedio parziale alla mancanza di terre coltivabili delle isole nipponiche che nei suoi scarsi 378.000 kmq ospitano piu’ di 128 milioni di abitanti.

[ego mode OFF]

(this post is for my Italian readers and regards an event that will take place in Milan next Friday in which Cory Doctorow will be the main speaker)

Questo venerdì 6 marzo, ci sarà Cory Doctorow al Meet The Media Guru, evento organizzato da MGM Digital Communication (ovvero dalla mia amica Maria Grazia Mattei) e io ci sarò tra il pubblico (sto anche collaborando con la promozione del progetto).

Perché dovete venire?

Perché Cory e’ un acuto osservatore e diffusore della cultura digitale. Con il suo stile irriverente, veloce e ironico ha co-creato BoingBoing.net, un punto di riferimento della comunicazione del web che completa il modo nel quale ci “informiamo”. Il suo contributo (insieme ai vari redattori) è un complemento valido al giornalismo tradizionale, spesso molto lento o non abituato a “giocare” con i media contemporanei.

Allo stesso tempo Cory è un proficuo autore di fantascienza. Oltre ai vari riconoscimenti ricevuti in passato, il suo Little Brother è stato appena nominato per il premio Nebula, il più importante nell’ambito della letteratura di fantascienza.

La sua creatività non si ferma qui e questa la applica anche alle sue analisi e riflessioni su tecnologia, futuro e le implicazioni sociali della tecnica (scrive anche su Wired, New York Times, Popular Science e Make Magazine).

Convinto sostenitore di Creative Commons, Cory è anche simpatico, giovane e aperto allo scambio di idee…

Non vi sembrano abbastanza ragioni per venire alla Mediateca Santa Teresa? Allora meglio che state a casa (ma comunque potete seguire il suo intervento su Mogulus)!

Ci vediamo!

ps: l’evento è ad ingresso libero fino ad esaurimento posti. Registratevi sul sito o su Facebook

Today I grabbed two newspapers: USA Today (for free at the hotel) and The Examiner (for free on the street). These are the news that caught my attention:

• General Motors will be discontinuing (or selling) the Hummer line of SUVs by the end of this quarter (yippie!!). It seems these guzzlers have been deadly wounded when the fuel price skyrocketed and now that Obama is in power, they’ve become politically incorrect.
• Apple is selling online music lessons through the Garage Band software. The price is 4.99 USD. Some of the lessons are given by the artists themselves… think John Fogerty and Norah Jones.
• Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz presented yesterday “Via“, a new instant coffee product that is said to taste just as the coffee brewed at the Starbucks shops. Howie, what about concentrating in the actual shops rather that launching new non-life-changing products? The “starbucks experience” in the US is really mediocre compared to that in Canada, Japan, Switzerland and Spain, other countries where the international coffee company is also present. For example, in Japan and Spain you can ask for a mug instead of a paper cup if you’re having your coffee at the store. That used to happen in the US but now it hardly does. In Tokyo, when you throw away your waste, you have to separate it in “burnable” (napkings, wooden sticks, papers, etc) and “non burnable” (plastics) for a better recycling and handling of garbage. In most shops abroad you have couches too. In Toronto I was surprised that they voluntarily don’t put a plastic cover on your beverage or the cardboard thing for handling hot cups, and you can decide if you need it or not. Saves money for them but also produces less waste.
• Everyone is concerned about A-Rod being injected steroid by his cousin some years ago.
• It seems that toilet torching (that is burning down portable toilets) is a big issue in San Francisco, as 23 have been set ablaze recently. I thought the Wii was the most interesting divertissement for young people here, but it seems I was wrong (again).
• Meg Whitman, the ex-eBay CEO, is seeking to become governor of California in 2010 and in the meanwhile is promissing 2,000,000 jobs. It seems she will bid them on eBay…
• Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who safely landed his plane in the Hudson river las Janaury, was declared an “international hero” by governator Mr. Schwarzenegger.
• And talking about Scharzenegger, remember the spaceport scene in Total Recall? TSA will start testing body scanning machines in several airports as a trial. They cost aprox 170,000 usd compared to 10,000 usd of traditional machines, but they seem to be more successful at looking through clothing for hidden weapons (in particular non-metallic weapons or liquid explosives). There are some concerns about privacy or the fact that it might take about 60 seconds to scan each person, but I guess that once we get used to them it will be faster than now, in particular because we won’t have to strip down before passing through the scanner, as we actually do (specially in american ariports where you have to take off your shoes and other stuff).

• Yesterday, about 25% of USA’s TV stations cut off their analog signals because they switched to digital. They’ve been preparing the viewers for the last 2 years, but many of them did not upgrade to a digital TV and now have nothing to watch to.
• A woman in Salt Lake City used the “wedgie”  technique (pulling someone’s underwear from behind to smash his balls) she had learnt in school to stop a burglar from stealing a car.
• My horoscope for today says” Taurus: making specific plans may seem frightening yo tou now. It’s because you’re playing with an idea and neet to work it through before you start mixing and mingling again. You need to feel free to chase your whims”. Btw, I actually feel free to chase my whims…
• According to the weather forecast, the next two days will be sunny.

Since today, Tomy is selling in Japan it’s XIAO digital camera that features an embedded Zink ink printer for producing instant photos. The concept is similar to the Fuji Instax Mini instant cameras (which themselves derived more or less directly from Polaroid insant film) with the huge difference that the Xiao (which means “small” in Chinese) is a 5megapixel digital camera, which means that you can preview the photo before printing it. The camera prints 5×7.6cm borderless photos which are said to be durable and fade resistant (still haven’t seen one).

This first model by Tomy is a bit clumsy and according to the company is targeted to women in their 30’s and 40’s (that might find it kawaii!) and families.

The pricing in Japan is of ¥34,800 for the camera and ¥880 for 20 sheets of photo paper (therefore cheaper than the Cheki/Instax mini ¥540 per 10 photos).

Zink (zero ink) is a tecnhonogy developed in the USA that allows to print photos without using ink but through a reaction to heat. You can find more details about how Zink ink works here.

Polaroid had also released a Zink product one year ago, the PoGo instant mobile printer.

has to spur from big and small companies alike (and governments and individuals too of course). Wired’s Autopia reports that a South African company, Optimal Energy, is working on an all electric car.

On the 15th anniversary of Nelson Mandela receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, South Africa is gaining attention for another world-friendly achievement. This time, it’s an electric car from Cape Town-based Optimal Energy that’s grabbing headlines.

The Joule has been the darling of the Paris Auto Show, and it’s easy to see why. The six-passenger car has a purported range of 250 miles, a 0-60 time of 4.8 seconds, and an out-of-nowhere backstory worthy of a Greg Gumble voiceover. Edmunds Inside Line reports that cost estimates are between $22,000 and $28,000 with an all-too-familiar release date of “somewhere in 2010.” Production will take place in So

uth Africa and the finished product will consist of about 50 percent local content.

Read the full article here.

and that the German automaker BMW has just unveiled an all-electric Mini.

BMW’s finally pulled the wraps off the 204-horsepower all-electric Mini it is bringing to America and says the car could be here as early as next year, although just 500 people will be lucky enough to get their hands on one.

BMW says it will lease the Mini E two-seater to “select private and corporate customers” in California, New York and New Jersey under what is essentially a big R&D project to develop EVs through its Project i. “Putting some 500 cars on the road under real daily traffic conditions will make it possible to gain widely applicable hands-on experience,” BMW says. “Evaluating these findings will generate valuable know-how, which will be factored into the engineering of mass-produced vehicles.”

Read the full article here.

Ok, so I migrated from Blogger to WordPress to have more control on my blog. I still have to solve some details but the posts and comments were migrated with no fuzz. Hope you like it, drop me a line or write your opinion here. Enjoy!

I’ve been pretty busy during the past two months. I took a short break for new year and 2008 started with a lot of strong, interesting and promising changes. I’m happy and you’ll be reading new posts soon. I’m sorry for having you there waiting.

New projects are rising….

cheers!

gian