- David Bornstein
- Author, "How to Change the World"
- Posted: 05/28/10 | Recorded at Gel 2010
New projects changing the world: David tells how studying the Grameen Bank, an early case study, led him to a larger exploration of social entrepreneurship - culminating in several examples of great projects going on today.
See also:
• How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, by David Bornstein
- Randy Garutti
- Chief Operating Officer, Shake Shack
- Posted: 05/27/10 | Recorded at Gel 2010
Shake Shack is insanely popular in New York - and soon, in other cities as well - and for good reason: it's a good experience, from the food to the service to (yes) the line. As Shake Shack's COO, Randy Garutti is responsible for the growth, performance and excellence of the business. Here he walks us through some of the ingredients in the Shack's success.
(Gel 2010 attendees were lucky enough to taste Shake Shack custard during the break after Randy's talk!)
- Matt Haughey
- Founder, Metafilter.com
- Posted: 05/26/10 | Recorded at Gel 2010
As the founder of Metafilter.com, Matt Haughey has created one of the most successful and vibrant online communities in the world. At Gel 2010 he describes some of the lessons he's learned along the way. Matt is a longtime Gel attendee and it's a privilege to spotlight his outstanding work.
(Coincidentally, just days after Gel 2010 the online community of Ask Metafilter stopped a human trafficking attempt in New York City. See also the Mother Jones article on the incident.)
See also: Matt Haughey on Twitter
- Jason Fried
- Founder, 37signals
- Posted: 02/23/10 | Recorded at Gel 2006
"Less" is a competitive advantage, explains Jason Fried, especially in software development. Fried's company 37signals, which authored the book Getting Real and has created several popular Web applications, lives this philosophy and has enjoyed great success as a result.
- Bill Brownstein
- Founder, Kids RX
- Posted: 12/23/09 | Recorded at Gel Health '09
- 2 comments
A pharmacy can offer friendly and personal service - and thrive. Bill Brownstein, founder of Kids RX, describes the approach he takes in his New York-based pharmacy and the outcomes that he and his customers have enjoyed as a result.
- Marion Nestle
- NYU professor and author of "Food Politics"
- Posted: 08/18/09 | Recorded at Gel 2009
- 3 comments
What you should eat, and what companies want you to eat, are not necessarily the same thing. Food expert Marion Nestle explains how we got to this point, and what you can do to choose the healthiest food.
See also:
• Marion's quote in The Atlantic
• List of cute organic brands quietly owned by much larger companies
• Nestle's books - Food Politics and What to Eat
• Video of Marion Nestle on the Colbert Report (Aug. 19, 2009)
- Chip Conley
- CEO, Joie de Vivre Hospitality; author, "Peak"
- Posted: 05/27/09 | Recorded at Gel 2008
- 2 comments
As the CEO of a boutique hotel company, Chip Conley knows something about creating good experience - both for guests and employees. In his recent book Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow, and in this Gel talk, Chip explains how to understand good experience through Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
See also: Chip's interview in Good Experience
- Seth Godin
- Bestselling author, entrepreneur, and agent of change
- Posted: 04/21/09 | Recorded at Gel 2006
- 11 comments
Why are so many things broken? In this entertaining talk - one of the favorites of Gel 2006 - Seth Godin gives a tour of things poorly designed, the reasons why they are that way, and how to fix them.
See also: Seth's Blog, where Seth writes daily on marketing, business, and other issues
- Clay Shirky
- Author, "Here Comes Everybody"
- Posted: 04/21/09 | Recorded at Gel 2008
- 2 comments
Social networking thinker Clay Shirky talks about the transformations in corporations and society brought about by the spread of networked communications. His book Here Comes Everybody covers similar themes.
- Bridget Duffy
- Chief Experience Officer, Cleveland Clinic
- Posted: 04/14/09 | Recorded at Gel 2008
- 9 comments
Creating a good patient experience is the focus and mandate of the Chief Experience Officer at the Cleveland Clinic, one of the world's top-rated medical facilities. In this talk, Bridget Duffy shows the theory and practice of patient-centered care, including an on-stage demo of an innovative patient gown.
- Danny Meyer
- Restaurateur, author
- Posted: 04/14/09 | Recorded at Gel 2007
Hospitality is the key element of success, argues New York restaurateur Danny Meyer. He should know: his restaurants are consistently the highest-ranked in Zagat's New York survey. Go to Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Shake Shack, or any of Danny's other restaurants and you'll have an opportunity to see how hospitality forms a good experience.
After watching this Gel video, take a look at Danny's book Setting the Table, where he explains his thoughts on hospitality in more detail. Recommended.
See also: Two very different types of good experience (and Cipriani)
- Natasha Schull
- Asst. Prof., MIT
- Posted: 02/24/09 | Recorded at Gel 2008
- 1 comment
Las Vegas casinos increasingly pay attention to their customers - their likes, dislikes, moods and patterns - in order to create an engaging experience. As Natasha Schull explains, the stated goal of these new designs is "customer extinction" - the moment at which the customer is out of money. This talk, essential viewing for anyone in the design or user experience fields, underlines the neutral nature of customer experience methods: like any tool, they can be used for good or ill.
See also: The flip side of customer experience (Good Experience column)
- John Williams
- Founder, Frog's Leap winery
- Posted: 02/24/09 | Recorded at Gel 2007
Frog's Leap creates outstanding wines - but that's just the beginning. For almost 30 years, John Williams has built an organization that creates good outcomes for customers, employees, and the earth. (Frog's Leap was organic from the beginning, well before it became trendy.) Case study in "creating good" in many ways simultaneously.
See also:
• Video of Garrett Oliver, Brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery (from Gel 2008)
• In Napa, Some Wineries Choose the Old Route (NYTimes Aug '08)
- Garrett Oliver
- Brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery
- Posted: 02/10/09 | Recorded at Gel 2008
- 5 comments
Authenticity plays a central role in brewing good beer. Garrett Oliver, world-renowned brewmaster, explains how beer is like bread - there's a big difference between the real and the fake - and how it's possible to create a great product while growing a responsible, sustainable business.
See also Garrett's book: The Brewmaster's Table
- Marissa Mayer
- VP of Search Product and User Experience, Google
- Posted: 01/06/09 | Recorded at Gel 2008
Five years after her first Gel appearance (at the inaugural event in 2003), Marissa discusses what new experiences she has helped create - in particular, the new iGoogle service.
See also the Good Experience interview of Marissa from 2002.
- Phoebe Damrosch
- Author, "Service Included"
- Posted: 12/16/08 | Recorded at Gel 2008
- 2 comments
Phoebe was the first female head captain at Thomas Keller's prestigious New York restaurant Per Se. Here she describes the experience of entering the dining-and-hospitality field, then learning to deliver world-class service to some of the world's most discerning customers. Her book Service Included also describes her experience at Per Se.
- Alex Lee
- President, Oxo International
- Posted: 11/20/08 | Recorded at Gel 2008
- 4 comments
If you spend any time in the kitchen, you're likely to use an Oxo product regularly - an apple corer, vegetable peeler, whisk, or the ever-popular salad spinner. Oxo is practically the definition of "good experience" in cooking utensils - from grips to weight distribution to the aesthetics of each device - and so president Alex Lee was a natural candidate for the Gel stage.
While Oxo typically develops its own products, here Alex talks about the rare Oxo products that have come outside inventors. (In each case, the inventors themselves sound just as interesting as the devices they create.)
