Blogging from ICE: Thoughts from Day One

If there’s one emerging idea or theme that I’ve found myself thinking about throughout my first day at ICE, it’s that true creativity and innovation are driven by individuals who not only offer their unique perspective or point of view, but who also have the ability to empathize with, and derive inspiration from the unique perspectives of others.

From Lizbeth Goodman, Director of the SMARTlab Digital Media Institute, who spoke of her team’s successful use of interactive media and emerging technologies to empower individuals and communities otherwise ignored by the mainstream, to Ross Wallace, Director of Strategic Partnerships at MaRS who talked about the challenges and opportunities faced by MaRs when developing its unique business model, innovators thrive in the overlap between convergent and divergent ideas.

The great thing about a conference such as ICE, is the breadth of interesting people and perspectives it brings together under one roof – as one acquaintance remarked to me this morning, they were rather shocked to attend a Toronto technology conference with so many unfamiliar faces. So just when you think you’ve seen it all, look again. The unique perspectives at ICE are proof that Toronto tech community isn’t as insular as it seems. That we’re not just talking to ourselves, that there are more voices to be heard, and that there continues to be an even greater need to define new boundary objects to help us shape the discussion and continue the dialogue across our different disciplines and communities.

So jump in, share your perspective, and keep listening to the views of those around you. There’s still another day ahead!