Thursday-Friday, May 4-5, 2006
The Equitable Theater (7th at 51st/52nd)
New York City
• Recap: attendee comments
• Who came: attendee list
• Schedule
• Get Gel updates via e-mail
Cathy Salit at Gel 2006
(Interested in Gel? Join us for Gel 2009 in NYC and get Gel updates via e-mail)
Associate Professor of Information Science, Indiana University (Website)
Curator of Places & Spaces
Art director and designer, founder of the Bubble Project
Author, Talk Back: The Bubble Project
Editor-in-chief, The New Oxford American Dictionary; editor, Verbatim magazine
Editor, A Dress A Day
Creator of the best-selling Day in the Life photography series;
founder, Against All Odds Productions
...and making special appearances...
Graphics by Chris Haak and Nathalie de La Gorce from One Fine Day
Music by Michael Montes from Sacred Noise
Gel 2006 Day 1 included the following experiences all across New York City:
Tour the museum's special exhibit on Charles Darwin to learn about Darwin's life and how his studies changed science and society. Attendees also get an exclusive tour of the Discovery Room, an interactive learning space that embodies environmental design and learning theory. Timing note: unlike the other tours, which are in the afternoon, this takes place on Thursday morning, starting at 10:00 a.m.
Have fun with prankster Charlie Todd, Founder of Improv Everywhere - join in his lastest MP3 Experiment and some improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (307 W 26th St between 8th & 9th Ave). Note: For this Day 1 choice, you must bring along an MP3 player (iPod or equivalent device).
Explore Manhattan's contemporary art district in Chelsea with Parsons School of Design art history professor Claudia Calirman. The tour includes established galleries and cutting-edge spaces featuring the work of emerging artists.
This full-day workshop, facilitated by Phillip Spencer-Linzie and Eve Berry, features the "community building" process developed by M. Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled. Participants practice communication skills that create the possibility for authentic connection. (See a brief "what is".) Timing note: Unlike the other tours, which are for a half day, this is a full-day seminar.
Phil Terry, CEO of Creative Good, will conduct a seminar on customer experience and how the holistic discipline is to business in the 21st century what advertising was in the 20th century. The seminar will include a live look at participants' websites and conversations around catalogs, retail, and other channels.
Join beauty and portrait photographer Helene DeLillo in her Tribeca photography studio for a hands-on seminar to learn digital tips and tricks for taking great shots of your everyday experiences. Note: you will have use of Kodak cameras (one for each participant) and printing equipment for the day.
Christina Ray and Sarah Pace of Glowlab, a Brooklyn-based art and technology lab, host an afternoon walk through Greenwich Village with their "Shuffle" deck, a set of instruction-based playing cards for experimental urban navigation, encountering often-overlooked details and patterns of city life.
Cathy Salit, President and CEO of Performance of a Lifetime, will host an interactive, improvisational session where participants will learn some of the "tricks of the trade" of the improviser and performer - in service of creating a great experience for you, your team, and your customers. (No acting experience required.)
Victor Rosansky, president of Kularing Consulting and author of two books on leadership, will host a workshop that will demonstrate how generating musical sound can act as a metaphor for aligning, integrating, and energizing organizations.
Participants will tour highlights from the museum's Painting & Sculpture and Photography collection with two MoMA lecture guides.
Myra Alperson, founder of NoshNews, will take participants to Sunnyside in Queens, one of the most polyglot neighborhoods in NYC. participants will sample Colombian, Romanian, Salvadoran, Lebanese, Turkish, Irish and other specialties on this route where they will learn about one of New York City's most intriguing communities. This experience includes a visit to Sunnyside Gardens, the first planned garden community in the US.
Gita Nandan, a member of the board of directors of GreenHomeNYC and co-founder of Thread Collective, along with Lauren Gropper of GreenHomeNYC, will provide an introduction to green building. Participants will also go on a tour of The Helena, an environmentally sound residential building located on 601 west 57th St. Participants will be transported to the Brooklyn Brewery on a biodiesel bus where this event will conclude with happy hour and a tour of the Brooklyn Brewery.
Eric Siegel, Executive VP of Programs and Planning at the New York Hall of Science, along with Stephen Uzzo, Director of Technology at the New York Hall of Science will take participants on a walking tour of the Hall of Science in Queens. The tour will have a special focus on various types of interactive technology as well as on the exhibition "Connections: The Nature of Networks." A panel discussion with some of the Hall of Science directors will be held and then participants can enjoy some neighborhood snacks on nearby Roosevelt Avenue.
Have you experienced the true flavor of chocolate, the cacao bean? Join Sarah Endline, Mastermind and Chief Rioter of sweetriot, a new cacao venture based in NYC. Sarah will share some information on the background of cacao and then take you on a cacao/chocolate tour throughout SoHo. She promises it will excite your tastebuds, stir your curiosity, and enlighten your intellect.
What makes sacred places so powerful? As a designer, how do these buildings or natural environments use light, space and form to influence us? This informal, non-religious and friendly tour led by Scott Berkun, software development team leader and software/web UI designer, will take you through some of NYC's most sacred places, providing opportunities to experience and discuss this powerful kind of design, with opportunities to compare the kinds of design work you do.
"Digital Dan" Dubno, producer and technologist from CBS News and creator of Gizmorama, will take you on a tour of the latest visualization technologies from robotics to other advances in hardware, software, and brainware.
These were the Day 1 morning experiences on Thursday, May 4, 2006. (All attendees were welcome to attend, in addition to their main Day 1 experience from the list above.)
Katy Borner, Associate Professor of Information Science, Indiana University and Brad Paley, interaction designer will take attendees on a tour of the "Mapping Science" Exhibit at the New York Public Library Science and Business branch. Attendees will learn how the power of maps help us understand, navigate, and manage both physical places and abstract knowledge spaces. Time: 10 am to Noon.
Learn how to juggle with the Flying Karamazovs at the Pavilion on Chelsea Piers! No experience required. Time: 9 am to Noon. Note: The first 200 attendees to show up at the Pier 62 Pavilion at Chelsea Piers get in.
Logo Design by Sam Brown, explodingdog.com
(Interested in Gel? Join us for Gel 2009 in NYC and get Gel updates via e-mail)
