Katelyn goes to Wired25 and makes back in one piece...
Getting in
Each person was given a “chipped” sticker that would check us in for each event.
Surprisingly, it stayed on all 4 days.
but
is being stressed over a sticker better than a physical ticket?
Day 1
Patrick Collison�CEO, Stripe
The 30 year old white guy who knows what he’s doing.
“Only the optimistic folks now will drive culture for the future.”
“Silicon Valley is not an accurate depiction of everywhere else.”
Day 1
Stacy Brown-Philpot�CEO, TaskRabbit
“We built a community where people set their own rates, which is them saying ‘I know my worth.’”
“People are coming out of retirement and into the gig economy.”
“Robots won’t provide empathy and judgement like a human will.”
“We call our workers ‘Taskers.’”
Day 1
Jeff Weiner�CEO, LinkedIn
Started at Warner Brothers writing their first ever digital business plan.
“People must be open about tech consequences on society.”
“What about the folks without a network? Our unconscious bias will filter via ‘mutual contacts.’ We have to reinforce the right bias.”
“The biggest skill gap in the US is soft skills - talking, collaborating, word docs, etc.”
Day 1
HP & WeWork
Trends that HP reviews while creating new products:
By 2020, 40% of workers will be in gig economy.
85% of people are not engaged at work.
Day 1
“People work to make a life, not a living.”
Day 1
Airbnb office tour
Of course their office is gorgeous. Conference rooms are inspired by real listings. Their design directors also talked about their zig-zag career paths, which was refreshing to hear.
Day 1
Opening night party
Open bar, VR headsets to “visit” the Smithsonian, a rave sponsored by Intel, oh and a robot petting zoo ...
Day 1
casual spider robot
One of the most beautiful experiences: morning rooftop with a live piano performance.
Each of us were given headphones for the “silent” listening and could walk around the rooftop at our leisure.
Day 2
Silent piano trip�Murray Hidary, MindTravel
First hired as Nike’s Corporate Architect and soon after winning an impromptu 24-hour design contest, a shoe designer.
“Sales and marketing will never trust a designer.”
Nike E.A.R.L. (or HyperAdapt) focuses on accessibility with sensors adapt to your foot size.
More people than you think can’t tie their own shoes.
Day 2
Tinker Hatfield�Director of Creative Concepts, Nike
The next shoes I’m buying
Day 2
and of course he signed my stuff!
Day 2
A little SF break
We went to Tartine bakery for a “light” snack, walked around downtown and �oh yeah, went to a disco.
The best croissant I’ve ever had
Parisian DJ’s threw �a disco at downtown club Mezzanine
Morning tour behind some tech initiatives that have failed (the giant touch screen) and went past expectations (texting!)
Day 3
SFMOMA�Behind the scenes @ tech
Anyone can text 57251
with “send me ___” and it
will send back artwork that
is most relevant. Since release
in 2016, 5 million+ messages
have been sent.
Glen Weyl�Principal Researcher, Microsoft
I’ve never wanted to buy someone’s book so fast (and it was sold out.)
Data Labor Unions:�“We need to be represented so we can fight for a fair share of our data’s value.”
“Social innovations should have same enthusiasm as physical.”
“Innovations need communities within industries to intersect.”
Day 3
Karen Wickre�Author, “How to Take the Work Out of Networking”
People hate the word “networking” - duh.
“It’s just coffee.”
“Introverts have advantages: listening, observing �and curious. It’s their superpowers.”
Day 3
“Networking is more like farming than hunting.”
Nolan Bushnell�Founder, Atari
Atari was the first company to offer equal pay for equal work.
“Pong was like a dating app: you needed 2 people to play and there’s no pressured obligation like buying a drink.”
Day 3
Jane Metcalfe & Louis Rosseto�Co-founders, Wired
Fun fact: Wired patented the web banner.
Jane & Louis started a tech magazine in Europe but translation problems caused them to move to SF.
South Park in 1992 had actual tumbleweeds. (?!)
Main vision: how do you show what the future is like via words and art?
Day 3
The best chow mein and beef brisket broccoli we’ve ever had.
@ Mission Chinese
https://goo.gl/maps/HdsMjRJEwCu
Apparently anything goes in Dolores Park ...
Day 4
Summit Day:
Where a shit ton �of people talked
Anna Wintour�Artistic Director, Conde Nast
“When you’re about to ship a product, look what what you’ve learned along the way.”
“The reasonable man adapts where the unreasonable wants the world to adapt to him.”
Future of retail: “Stores are places where people meet and learn.”
Day 4
Jony Ive�Chief Design Officer, Apple
Kevin Systrom�Founder, Instagram
“A company is like a rocket: you point, aim and have to let it go. Instagram is now in orbit.”
“Social media is not independent from real life.”
“More companies need to look at giving more control to the user.”
Day 4
Dion Weisler�CEO, HP
“Look at how traditional tech can help new tech. Our traditional printer helped revolutionize the 3D printer.”
“Leverage what you’re passionate about.”
Day 4
Anne Wojcicki�Founder, 23andMe
“We first thought everyone wanted to do this but we quickly found out you have to prove what to do with the results afterward.”
“Our focus is how our users can leverage long-term preventing”
Day 4
Sean Parker�Entrepreneur
In 2016, Sean convinced 7 scientists to join together and share their tech/research to form Parker Institute of Cancer Immunotherapy.
He transitioned from consumer products because of their social impact and consequences.
Day 4
Alex Marson�Microbiology Professor
Sitting next to Linda (page 39), I got the inside scoop on the problem of rich people buying out scientists for their intellectual property.
Jeff Bezos�Founder, Amazon & Blue Origin
“Space is too big for just one company to experiment”
“When we launch Blue Origin, there will be no employees on board. Just paying customers.”
Day 4
Security guards were all around when Jeff came on stage
Surprise
guest!
Satya Nadella�CEO, Microsoft
“There are many computing problems that can’t be solved by computers.”
“There’s 1 billion people living with a disability and 1 in 10 don’t have writing access.”
“We’ve made a focus on hiring autistic people because 80% of them are unemployed.”
Day 4
Jenny Lay-Flurrie�Chief Accessibility Officer, Microsoft
“Design thru the lenses of human.”
Jennifer Pahlka�Founder, Code for America
Day 4
“While we’ve been building the biggest and best companies, we’ve also built the most unequal United States ever.”
“When rich people want to help out, they are fighting on both sides of the war. Plus, doing it on their own terms.”
Anand Giridharadas�Author
“Create less social problems by winners taking less.”
Genevieve Bell�Anthropologist & VP, Intel
Day 4
“We are in the 4th wave of industrialization: the cyber physical systems.”
“When we’re building AI, who sets the rules? Who makes the decisions on how far they can go without us? How do we define success?”
Neha Narula�MIT Media Lab
Day 4
“The general perception of blockchain are negative. The reporting around cryptocurrency doesn’t highlight enough around the actual technology advances.”
Alexis Ohanian�Founder, Initialized
Kai Fu Lee�Sinovation Ventures
Day 4
“Human-based AI is necessary for the future.”
“The myths around AI enslaving or displacing humans is false.”
“Diversity sets the rules around building AI.”
Fei Fei Li�Stanford AI Lab
Sebastian Thrun�CEO, Kitty Hawk
Day 4
“No one can create an impact by themselves.”
“You can slow the future but you can’t stop it.”
Sam Altman�Founder, Y Combinator
Mark Benioff�CEO, Salesforce
Day 4
Salesforce has donated millions to homelessness and public schooling in SF.
“Businesses can’t separate themselves from society.”
“I’ve been asked, ‘are you a politician?’ and I say no, because that’s the point.”
“Don’t wait for the best solution.”
Fun fact: 70 billionaires live in SF
Susan Wojcicki�CEO, YouTube
Day 4
YouTube Red is now YouTube Premium (yay more subscriptions…)
“We’ve added a clarify box to our videos with links to credible sources.”
“Technology and entertainment have been male-dominated industries.”
“At first, we had to prove YouTube’s relevancy with our view numbers. Now, we’re taking responsibility.”
Jiwoo Lee�Sophomore student, Stanford
Day 4
This incredible woman came on stage to teach us about CRISPR and how she’s using it to test “cutting out” cancer cells.
Fun fact: Her 19th birthday was the next day
Keller Rinavdo�Founder & CEO, Zipline
Day 4
Zipline is a drone delivery system that first started sending blood to hospitals in Rwanda.
“If people only see this as philanthropy work, that’s wrong. We had to build and test our technology before scaling large.”
Jack Dorsey�Founder & CEO, Twitter, Square
Day 4
“Our human superpower is conversation.”
“We only use freedom of speech when we feel safe enough to use it.”
“The future will allow us to take our data with us.”
“Our harassment system has been behind in comparison to others. AI doesn’t say why to something, and that’s necessary to build trust.”
Sundar Pichai�CEO, Google
Day 4
“Has Google’s mission changed since the start 20 years ago? No.”
Google Duplex
“A new technology for conducting natural conversations to carry out ‘real world’ tasks over the phone.”
Day 4
We needed one more robot appearance ...
Mike
Pensions Consultant from Boston who is about to pivot to career consulting
Some strangers I spent the weekend with
Linda
(The smartest woman I’ve met) -- Program Director at the National Science Foundation
Barbara Kuhr
At first, I didn’t know I was sitting next to the OG Creative Director for Wired (!!!)
By far, the coolest event I’ll ever go to.