Simon Sinek delivers a sobering talk on the importance of human interaction, the importance of face-to-face relationships that have been forgotten in this digital age. As technology moves the society forward, we have lost touch with some of the fundamentals of what makes us who we are, why we do what we do and what values we stand for. We don't think twice about why companies have to please their shareholders in the expense of more important values; we replaced meaningful conversations with twitter messages and Facebook status; we have lost our focus and in the process why we do what we do.

 
 

'Following your dreams' is perhaps one of the most frequently used cliches and advice given to young people, however as we mature, our dreams seems to be further and further out of reach, and we seemed to have lost touch with its meaning and power. In my talk at TEDxHuntsville, I explore the idea for following your dreams by starting projects on the side - the Wright Brothers have done it, the founders of Twitter has done it, Google does it and 3M does it. This is my story, or at least the beginning of my story, of how projects have help defined my passion, guided me through an amazing journey, allowed me to follow my dreams and made me who I am.
 
 
This is simply breath taking.
 
 

I saw this on TED recently and was so captivated by it, telling the story of magic through the use of technology. Who knew that magic and iPods can go together and so well.

 
 
Every year at TED there is a one or two TED talks that captivates me, and this is one of them. This is the story of John Hunter using a complex board game, called 'World Peace Game', to teach his class of 4th grader the problems faced in the world today, and giving them a chance to solve them. It started off as a plywood board game, and has grown to a multi-layer/multi-player complex game with thousands of pieces. Through this game, the school kids learn about the complexity of the world like climate change, politics and economics.

John Hunter has used this game in his classroom for years, and although the problems he throws at the kids are the same, they have the freedom to make their own decisions. Knowing that their decisions are going to affect the world, children becomes surprisingly wise and delivers every time. We should let kids run the world, there will be less 'politics', less 'BS' and more compassion.

 
 
I found my old laser cut business cards I had for TED 2009, and I think I might found a new use for it.

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Although, artist and activist Ai Wei Wei was being detained by the Chinese government, he was able to pass TED a video statement about his work and share his thoughts with the world. He is currently still detained by the government with no date of release.

 
 
Morgan Spurlock's TED Talk very much sums up how a great story unfolds and how to push the right buttons in people to get to the truths. Often at time that leads to awkward and yet entertaining truths. Enjoy:

 
 

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This year's TED was very special for me. After being away from the United States for 6 months, TED felt like my big welcome party and gateway back into the country, and it was nothing short of being awesome.

 

Nothing could have prepared me for what happened for the past half a year, having drop my work and attend to my family. It did give me a much needed break from my busy work and life in the US to be with my family and ponder about my present and future. For the past 3 years I have been running at full speed and didn't spend a moment to slow down to recalibrate, until now, and this year's TED gave me my first validation of my renew self.

 

This is my third year at TED, after first attending as a TED fellow in 2009 and attending TEDActive in 2010. 3 TEDs later, I have finally managed to pace myself properly so I wasn't burnt out by the second day. Instead of staying at the hotel, I opted stayed with a couple other fellows Eric Berlow, Nassim Assefi and Seth Raphel a couple miles away at a little apartment. Having no car nor bike with ruined knees from my marathon, I was at the mercy of Nassim, who was wonderful enough to give me a lift back everyday - that helped me go home and sleep early.

 

It also took me 3 TEDs to realize how much more the connections and conversations at TED meant for me. I freed myself from the obligation of attending every talk, and to spend quality time, having quality conversations with the extraordinary individuals there, of which included TED Fellows, artists, designers, business consultants, entrepreneurs, event organizers, poker players and change makers. At the end of the day, it almost doesn't matter what they do because all of them were remarkable human beings. One of the most memorable moment from this year's conference was when Rafe Furst took the stage to talk about life lessons he learnt from playing poker. What he said connected with me deeply, summing up my thoughts about life. Rafe boiled it down to 3 simple points: 1. There is a difference between a good decision and a good outcome. 2. It is one long game. 3. There is a difference between a winner and a winning person. I have been so focused on running the short race, I was burnt out and lost focus on the bigger picture and what was more important to me, Rafe reminded me of my place in the larger plan.

 

I left TED this time with 3 things: 1. Realizing that it is alright not to be an expert in anything; 2. My passion is in bringing people together and making connections of a strategic level, and 3. Education is something that I will be getting involved in a lot in 2011.

 

My TED experience ended with a road trip with Eric Berlow to LA, spending quality time sharing our passions on mapping connections, building communities, design and education. Only at TED, you'll get a chance to meet someone so similar but yet approaches from a totally different perspective. I am looking forward to the collaborations that are going to come out of the people I met.

 

I believe that it is of no coincidence that I got to where I got to, the hardship that I had to endure given me the time to reflect upon my life and recalibrate, the timing for this year's TED was impeccable and the people I had the privilege to meet made it the best TED ever. Thank you for everyone whom I met and hang out with.

 
 

The making of the video:
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