Television is dead to me.

I’ve been going through TED conference talks from the last few years, listening / watching while I’ve been working the last few weeks. What really excites me about the TED conferences is that the talks range from such a wide array of fields, yet there are so many connections and synergies that pop up.

Majora Carter’s 2005 talk on her work for social and environmental justice in the South Bronx coined the phrase “Green is the new Black.” What she is doing is nothing short of grassroots sustainable urban planning. Absolutely inspiring.

Seth Godin talks on various marketing issues. What I loved about this talk is that most of of these marketing tactics were design methods, not insipid mind tricks. One thing that stuck with me was his point on designing for, and listening to the people who care - the early adopters and enthusiasts. This versus catering to the vast majority of people who are well trained at tuning out your message.

William McDonough’s talk on his Cradle to Cradle work is pretty amazing. If you haven’t read the book, you really should. He’s saying that we need to rethink the way we make everything. The things we make don’t need to be less harmful, they need to be good for us, the planet and the systems that we use them in. He takes a cue from nature where waste is food. Watch for the money shot at the end.

The list goes on and on and on…