Creativity Central [Marty Baker]

 The worst seats in the house at the Trinity Rep were suddenly the best.   Because lurking beneath row K was something more truly coveted in this gathering of techno-converts.   A power outlet strip.   There we were – a group of bloggers and presenters slaves to the few available outlets.

It was Mad Max without the apocalyptic scenery and well-guarded petrol tankers.   The man next to me was putting the finishing touches on his afternoon presentation.   I glanced at his BIF Summit badge and recognized the name – Dr. Richard Satava.

Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center, and Senior Science Advisor at the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command in Fort Detrick, Maryland, Satava  co-developed the first surgical robot.

He's done many things in his life – from deciding which cutting-edge medical technologies the U.S. military will pursue, to saving lives as a surgeon in the heat of battle, to teaching surgery at Yale and the University of Washington, to serving on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy – yet there he was moving slides around on PowerPoint and battling with me for space on the power grid.

I reluctantly let him win.

Seated next to him was Andries van Dam (Andy) , Thomas J. Watson, Jr. University Professor of Technology and Education and Professor of Computer Science.   He was also mentor and teacher for the late Randy Pausch.   We talked a bit about Randy and my father’s work for the Worchester Foundation on the birth control pill.

On the other side of me was Laura Fitton (Pistachio) who has over 7,000 people following her on Twitter and the queen of micro-blogging.   She was user her Nokia phone to create a live video feed for her readers.   As soon as Dr. Satava left for his presentation, we dived for the last remaining outlet in the power strip.

All of which means, that’s while some power is ephemeral, true power is sitting next to a strip.

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