Kelly Slater is a legend and personal idol of mine. So when I was invited by the visionaries at Play Bigger to capture a summit of surfers, environmentalists, and entrepreneurs ideating new approaches to category design and ocean conservation (while taking turns riding one of the most epic waves on the planet) at Mr. Slater’s Surf Ranch in Lemoore, CA, I jumped at the chance.
“Reclaiming the Future”
What is at stake for the human animal in this critical moment in our evolution? Will we survive this “technological adolescence”? How can we reclaim optimism in the face of future technology?
On 8/17/19 a group of creative thinkers and makers assembled to consider these questions in a radical new conversation format.
Unfiltered. Unmoderated.
A Long Conversation is a relay of two-person dialogues for a set period of time, unified by a common prompt.
Each speaker brings one idea to the stage about how to reclaim optimism in the face of future technology—a trend, an artwork, an innovation, a breakthrough, a movement.
PARTICIPATING SPEAKERS:
Saul Perlmutter, nobel laureate
Catarina Fake, founder flickr
Alison Gopnik, cognitive scientist & best selling author
JD Beltran, former president sf arts commission
Aza Raskin, founder center for humane technology
Rachel Thomas, founder fast.ai
Vero Bollow, founder stochastic labs
Katia Vega, designer and computer scientist
Alex Reben, roboticist and artist
Chris Kerich, game scholar
Kal Spelletich, sf machine arts pioneer
Presented by Stochastic Labs.
Full speaker list and event details at http://reclaimingthefuture.xyz
These guys are doing incredible work. Hint Health is a management platform for Direct Primary Care (DPC) physicians and organizations. DPC is an innovative approach to healthcare, putting physicians and patients in charge of healthcare decisions by removing insurance from the doctor-patient relationship.
Hint holds an annual summit which brings together Direct Care enthusiasts, pioneers, and innovators to share ideas, build meaningful new relationships, and celebrate the impact of DPC—all with the goal of growing the Direct Care movement and making it the new standard in US healthcare.
It’s fascinating, and reassuring, to hear compassionate doctors who are just as frustrated with the healthcare system as we are, sharing ideas and working hard to create a meaningful alternative.
Inspired by the disco era, Redisco is a creative collective dedicated to cultivating dance culture and supporting local artists in the US.
Their goal is to lead a movement that promotes further artistic creation and social interaction nationwide. At the core, they want people to dance more. After shooting these events for a few years, I can tell you with full confidence: that is exactly what happens here. You won’t see many backs against the wall at a Redisco event.
SaaStr is the world’s largest community of SaaS executives, founders, and entrepreneurs.
Some of the companies they advise & invest in have gone on to change the way we do business in the digital age.
Here are some shots from their 2018 holiday party– See if you can spot the moment when Cloudflare’s Michelle Zatlyn emerges from the audience to respond after being pressed by Byron Deeter and Jason Lemkin for a dollar amount to sell the company!
I’ve been fortunate to shoot events for Plato for years. They help engineering & product leaders develop soft skills and build better teams. Every time I attend one of their events, I get to hear from the part of the technology industry that really cares about people.
From diversity and inclusion, to insight into managing distributed teams, to how to balance productivity and compassion, these former aerospace engineers-turned people leaders are the real deal. Watching them grow from a small co-working space into their own office near Oracle Park has been really cool, and as human-centered as our future needs to be, it’s great to work with people who put humans’ needs first.
These shots are from their annual Elevate summit.
Upon being asked to photograph Daybreaker, I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to– simply because every time I’ve attended these sober early-morning dance parties, I’ve had such a blast! I wasn’t sure if having a camera in my hand would get in the way of me having a good time (the classic photographer’s dilemma).
Luckily, the camera only amplified my experience, as giraffes and cats and dinosaurs kept coming up to me one by one to dance and get weird. Okay okay, they were all humans pretending to be animals, but that’s what makes this event so much fun! Big imagination, creative self-expression, high vibrating positive attitudes, and best of all, healthy snacks and no booze spilling all over your shoes!
If you’ve never been to a Daybreaker, check them out in your city. It’s a global phenomenon started by Radha Agrawal that flips the concept of nightlife on its head and is such an energizing way to start the day.
