Six Cities, Six Big Tech Ideas on Dec. 1: Here’s the Agenda

This is life’s big question: what should you spend your time on?

If you’re starting a company, you probably want to do something fun that lets you be your own boss and maybe, just maybe, gives you a good shot to strike it rich. If you’re an investor, you want to make money and be part of something that could be really big. But what about building something that will change the world? How do you decide what the right idea is—and then how do you make it work as a business?

Here at Xconomy we’re gearing up for a special forum in Boston on Thursday, Dec. 1, called “6×6: Six Cities, Six Big Tech Ideas.” This is a chance to interact with some of the most sensational and ambitious tech companies in our national network—and to see how they are trying to change the world. We’ve just posted the agenda for the day here, and you can check out the registration details here.

Stephen Wolfram, the software entrepreneur and big-science mind-bender, will set the table with a keynote on what constitutes a breakthrough idea, and how to execute on the business side of things. Wolfram has plenty of world-changing experience as the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, the creator of Mathematica and Wolfram|Alpha, and the author of A New Kind of Science. And if he shares with us the few lines of code that underlie the workings of the known universe, I will consider that a bonus.

Then we’ll have featured presentations on specific ideas, businesses, and challenges from six companies across our network: Jason Baptiste of OnSwipe (representing New York); Nathaniel Borenstein from Mimecast (Detroit); Dave Icke from MC10 (Boston); Adam Goldstein of Hipmunk (San Francisco); Kabir Shahani from Appature (Seattle); and Bill Walker from Northrop Grumman (San Diego).

In between these talks, and a networking break, we’ll have three-minute “burst” presentations from some of the most exciting startups in the Boston area: Nathan Eagle of Jana, Gina Ashe from Krush, Jeff Seibert from Crashlytics, and Karl Wirth from Apptegic.

We’ll also have a special demo from Rosalind Picard of the MIT Media Lab, who will show you technology from her startup, Affectiva, that will be sure to get your attention. The big vision for Affectiva, and Professor Picard’s research, is to develop computers that can recognize and interpret human emotions from cues like facial expressions, blood flow, and other biometrics.

We’re looking forward to an amazing afternoon of big ideas, companies, and personalities. There are still a few tickets left, but they won’t last for long. Hope to see you at the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology on Dec. 1.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.