Former eBay co-founder Jeff Skoll was a new speaker at TED this year. An interesting choice, since he moved from the world of technology to the world of Hollywood.
Taken by PMO (flickr)
On the production side, he has been involved in inspiring movies such as “Fast Food Nation” and “An Inconvenient Truth.” Beyond production is something he refers to as Humanity 2.0. Appropriate for a former technology executive from Silicon Valley.
He talked about a biggest calamity in the world is the gap around hope. Hope and opportunities. He referenced authors who are great at writing books and stories that make things interconnected rather than disjointed, which so many of us feel in the world today.
On what to invest in and be involved in to help close the hope gap, he gives us a quote by John Gardner, which has resonated with him for years: “Bet on Good People Doing Good Things.” Simple but worth repeating and so he does.
The average person has often felt that they cannot make a difference in the world. With social media networks, blogs and the ability to create an independent film and upload it to the Internet, that reality has changed the dynamics perhaps, but not necessarily people’s attitudes or sense of hope.
His personal hope is that people understand that within each of us there is the potential to fill these gaps and that all of us has a way to make a change in a significant way, even if it is through a story.
They are apparently in the process of producing two new movies about Afghanistan (one about Charles Wilson, a US politician who supported the Taliban to fight against the Soviets) and a second one based on the book “Kite Runner.”
Writes Bruno of the close of his talk: “He closes by dreaming up some headlines for 2010 or 2015: “US imports its last barrel of oil”, “Snows return to Kilimanjaro”, “Israeli and Palestinians celebrate anniversary of peace”, and a screenshot from eBay: “Well-traveled obsolete slideshow for sale” — that’s Al Gore’s, of course.”
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
