My Favorite Content from Pop!Tech 2009

After a couple days of letting it settle, I wanted to share my favorite content from Pop!Tech 2009.

The Talk That Could Most Impact My Personal Behaviors: Michael Pollan

As author of "In Defense of Food," Michael Pollan has become arguably the leading advocate for a reevaluation of our food system. The evidence that he provides to demonstrate how broken our system is - for example, the fact that it takes 26 ounces of oil to get us our McDonald's Big Macs - is extraordinarily compelling. Yet at the same time, he's neither a pessimist nor a critic unwilling to over an alternative. The alternative that he offers is his common sense mantra: "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants." It is prescriptive but not preachy, and allows for people to integrate their own values to how they shift their habits.

The Most Unexpectedly Inspirational Project: Naif Al-Mutawa - The 99

Having grown up in Kuwait and been educated in the US, Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa was dismayed about the stories of his faith - both from those who would tear it down and those who would use it to justify violence. He was frustrated by the lack of Islamic heroes for his children, and noticed how all of the most popular Western comic book heroes were rooted in the Judeo-Christian myth. Determined to do something big, he created The 99, a comic book series rooted in Islamic values and the 99 attributes of God and designed to give kids of all faith and national backgrounds a new type of hero. Determined not to make the book appeal to a niche audience, he got major backing and investment and the series has exploded. It's now being made into a TV show, and even has a theme park.

Most Touching Societal Reflection: Tie between Paul van Zyl and Anthony Doerr

Paul van Zyl has spent his adult career focused on issues of transitional justice and helping societies deal with their most painful issues. From his formative experiences with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, he shared lessons about how he believes the US needs to grapple with the torture we have perpetrated in the last decade.

Essayist Anthony Doerr shared an essay he wrote called "Am I Still Here?" about how the always-on world we live in has made us increasingly long for reassurance that yes, in fact, we are still a part of things. I found it to be neither overly critical nor overly sentimental and just thought it was a great reflection on the state of things.

New Disruptive Social Innovation: Eben Bayer's Ecovative

I wrote a post called "Mushrooms Will Save The World," about PopTech 2009 Social Innovation fellow Eben Bayer's Ecovative, a new company that is trying to replace styrofoam with a far more early healthy product for packaging and more. If they do it right, it could be awesome. Other social innovators like FrontlineSMS:Medic, re:char, and more have tremendous potential, as well.

And Finally, The Swing for the Fences Award: Taylor Stuckert & Mark Rembert, Energize Clinton County

It's an old story: an industrial town becomes dependent on a single employer. The global economy shifts, the fortunes of the employer change, and the town faces destruction. This is what happened to Mark and Taylor's native Wilmington, Ohio. In an attempt to turn crisis to opportunity, the two founded Energize Clinton County, which among other things established the county as the country's first Green Enterprise Zone. They have an immense amount of work ahead of them, and there's no guarantee that even their smartest and most innovative efforts can change the tide, but their attempt to show that creative destruction need not be so destructive is a must learn-from story for everyone who cares about a just tomorrow.