Random Talks

Life is serious enough, so James Curleigh wants us to go outside and play. In fact, he and his Oregon-based company KEEN Footwear encourage everybody

Japan has approximately 430 inhabited islands. It took Atsuko Isamoto, though, to create a website called Ritokei linking them all together. With the

People love working for Ricco DeBlank. Two years after he took over the Ritz-Carlton Osaka in 2003, for example, an industry survey ranked it as Japan

Sungene Ryang wants to coax a new generation of Asian entrepreneurs and venture businesses into the fray. As an associate partner at visionary global

Suppleness and steely toughness—two seemingly incompatible attributes—describe a supermaterial many have dreamed of. Now Kazuhide Sekiyama and Spiber

Hans Reitz shares a vision with 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus: a planet utterly without poverty. In 2008, the two established t

An early advocate of mobile video and established expert in the field of digital media, Sandeep Casi worked for large corporations for the best part o

A partner at renowned design firm IDEO and the co-leader of both IDEO’s Bay Area operation and its Asia initiative, Owen Rogers stands squarely at the

Bill Werlin was born in Colorado mountain territory and grew up working at his family’s ski area, surrounded by the majestic Rockies and untainted ski

For the Deaf, the subtlest of hand movements and aspects can express vast meaning yet convey little to voice-oriented humans. Junto Ohki now stands as

Some geniuses really know how to have fun. Take Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Revered for conjuring up gaming masterpieces like Sega Rally Championship, Space Ch

Inspired by the world renowned annual arts event in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, Burning Man has become a global cultural movement with more than

Every well-run NPO needs caring, dynamic and versatile executives like Miho Walker and Amy Moyers. Before joining Living Dreams, Amy spent ten years h

Are we living in the era of the bold eccentric, the realm of the unfettered visionary? Masaki Takeuchi thinks so, and he should know: he’s the man in

Brainstorms are Tom Kelley’s stock-in-trade, and when he says creativity is the secret to economic growth, people listen. After all, Tom helped take g

Masashi Kawamura has an idea lab. In that lab, called PARTY, he and several fellow creatives perform the advertising equivalent of alchemy, fusing raw