In this poignant, funny follow-up to his fabled 2006 talk, Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning — creating conditions where kids’ natural talents can flourish.

Vaccine-autism claims, “Frankenfood” bans, the herbal cure craze: All point to the public’s growing fear (and, often, outright denial) of science and reason, says Michael Specter. He warns the trend spells disaster for human progress.

Games like World of Warcraft give players the means to save worlds, and incentive to learn the habits of heroes. What if we could harness this gamer power to solve real-world problems? Jane McGonigal says we can, and explains how.

At the 2008 Serious Play conference, designer Tim Brown talks about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play — with many examples you can try at home (and one that maybe you shouldn’t).

Influential pioneer who defined the alternate reality entertainment genre worldwide. Sean Stewart is an award-winning science fiction novelist, a groundbreaking figure in transmedia storytelling, and the most experienced and influential writer of Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) in the world. Hailing from Edmonton and currently based in California, Sean has founded four genre defining companies including 42 Entertainment and Fourth Wall Studios, behind ARG campaigns including The Beast, I Love Bees, Year Zero, and Vanishing Point (Microsoft). In publishing, he has continued to push the envelope of the traditional novel with the transmedia Cathy’s Book, a New York Times and international bestseller currently published in twenty countries and a dozen languages around the world.

Successful business leader passionate about raising kids to be entrepreneurs. For over 20 years, Cameron Herold has been coaching, speaking to, or helping entrepreneurs build companies on five continents. He launched BackPocket COO to coach & mentor young, fun, entrepreneurial, growth companies and help make their dreams happen. He is one of the country’s most innovative business leaders and was a leading force behind one of the most successful businesses of the decade, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?.

Headquartered in Edmonton, Grant Skinner is an internationally recognized leader in the field of rich interactive experiences. His body of work spans experimental interaction, applications, games, websites, installations, embedded devices, and mobile, with a recent focus on projects that span multiple environments. While building his company gskinner.com into a leading interactive production shop, Grant has worked with a wide range of high calibre clients including AOL, BBC, Salesforce, Nissan, Adobe, GE, Atlantic Records, Comcast, EA, CNN, and DirectTV.

Genomic scientist and champion of open source biology. Andrew Hessel is a genomic scientist and consultant in DNA technologies. He is a strong supporter of open source biology for accelerating innovation and as a counterbalance to proprietary biotechnology. He is the founding director and CEO of the Pink Army Cooperative, the world’s first cooperative (open source) biotechnology company that is working to make personalized, affordable medicines for breast cancer. Andrew is also co-chair of the Bioinformatics and Biotechnology program at Singularity University, an interdisciplinary university whose mission is to prepare leaders for accelerating technological change.

Western Canadian head of Canada’s 100% green electricity provider. Bullfrog Power is Canada’s 100% green electricity provider. As Vice President, Western Region of Bullfrog Power, Theresa Howland is responsible for leading the company’s operations in Western Canada.

Local architect passionate about urban design, art and architecture. Shafraaz Kaba is an architect and partner in the firm Manasc Isaac Architects Ltd. in Edmonton, Alberta. He has also worked in design studios in London, England and Gilgit, Pakistan. Shafraaz is the founder of Media, Art and Design Exposed (M.A.D.E.) in Edmonton, a society which creates public programs that bring design, art and architecture to the public.