Sparks of Brilliance: Your Invitation

Creativity is the essence of our humanity, the great enricher of our lived experience, and the key to our shared resilience. It is found in every person and in every field and endeavor.

But where does our creativity come from? Necessity or daydreams? Ambition or laziness? Purpose or play? Natural genius or rigorous process? All of the above … or some other, nameless place? Can it be taught or amplified? How is the creative instinct expressed differently in business, the sciences, society and the arts? What can these learn from each other? What does science reveal about the inventive mind? How do new platforms of connection and collaboration change the process of innovation? What new imperatives do they create? And how do we meet a world of fierce challenges with a spirit of creative possibility?

October 24-26, 2013, PopTech will convene a group of imaginative visionaries from many different fields for a joyful, jaw-dropping, urgent, anti-disciplinary exploration of creativity in the 21st century. We invite you to join us!

What You’ll Experience

Each year, PopTech welcomes 600 leaders in business, industry, science, technology, design, social and ecological innovation, the arts and humanities, philanthropy and many other fields to come together for three days in the beautiful seaside town of Camden, Maine. In a beautifully restored, 19th-century opera house, and at events throughout the surrounding town, participants meet in an authentic and informal setting, sharing breakthrough ideas at the edge of change.

Bold and visionary presentations from some of our world’s most compelling innovators are interwoven with extraordinary live performances and other one-of-a-kind surprises. The tone is at once intimate and expansive, and designed to foster deep relationships and the space and time to think, reflect, connect, and collaborate. At PopTech, you will meet dozens of people doing some of the most innovative and vital work in the world. You will be able to share your work with an engaged and influential community. You’ll take home powerful new innovation insights. Most importantly, you will meet some unbelievable people who are fantastic potential partners, allies and friends.

But the PopTech experience does not have to end there. For our annual convening is also the hub of a year-round community of global innovators, working in more than 100 countries. For those who wish it, participating in PopTech provides meaningful entrée into a network that is collaborating on new and creative approaches to some of the world’s toughest challenges.

Link to Poptech Site.

80 mph on a Hand-made Bicycle.

London-based framebuilder Tom Donhou has managed 80 mph on a hand-made bicycle on the open road — though indoor tests ultimately revealed his bike was capable of reaching 102 mph.

Donhou's bike is a custom-engineered contraption that he assembled with the help of a few friends, all for the purpose of showcasing the value of backyard engineering. And, of course, for making a bike go really fast. By comparison, the average person on a normal bike would probably have to push it to reach speeds around 25 mph.

In order to get his bike up to super speed, Donhou added an oversized chainring, adding significant power to the pedaler. It features 104 teeth, compared to the 20 to 50 you'd find on a normal bike. Donhou also sought more stability by positioning the chainring lower to the ground, and lowering the handlebars.