Ignite Your Mind

ignite your mind 3The theme for February’s 2014 Imagine Solutions Conference is “Ignite Your Mind!” And judging from the heavy hitters slated to participate, it will. The worldclass speakers and moderators selected to participate in the Imagine Solutions annual thought leader forum are some of the planet’s brightest minds, all luminaries in their respective fields. The conference will feature five major sessions, one of which will have three parts. They are divided into categories, all of which designed to enrapture and engage.

The Greatest Challenge for Science in the 21st Century

Moderated by Paula Apsell of NOVA, attendees will listen to four top leaders of the Brain Initiative, an NIH program called Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRA IN). The program aims to transform understanding of the human brain. Speakers include Executive Vice President of Science Programs at the Kavli Foundation Miyoung Chun, MIT Institute Professor Ann Graybiel, Cognitive Fitness & Innovative Therapies Executive Director Ken Kosik and one additional world class neuroscientist to be announced will frame the vision, the issues and potential outcomes of the program of this multi-billion dollar program.

“What Can We Learn from History?”

This important question will be answered in a session moderated by veteran editor Stephen Petranek of the Weider History Group, which is the world’s largest publisher of history magazines including American History, Armchair General, Aviation History, British Heritage, Military History, Vietnam, Wild West and World War II. Petranek will facilitate discussions with renowned history book authors Richard Brookhiser, Rick Atkinson, David Duncan and Steven Johnson. Between them they’ve written 38 books on history.

“Revolution in Education”ignite your mind 2

Online education is the single most talked about topic in education today. But what does it all mean? Attendees who get to hear NewSchools Venture Fund CEO Ted Mitchell curate the “Revolution in Education” portion of the Imagine Solutions conference will find out. Mitchell is dedicated to transforming education in America. CEO P.J. Gunsager will speak about Kidaptive while Eric Westendorf, founder of Learnzillion will share that story. Coursera co-founder Andrew Ng will school the audience on college level online education. This year, Imagine Solutions also welcomes the US Department of Education to the discussion with Karen Cator, director, Office of Educational Technology.

“An Audacious Potpourri”

Session number four is “An Audacious Potpourri”, moderated by Tyler Mathison. Mathison co-anchors CNBC’s “Power Lunch” and is CNBC’s vice president for Strategic Editorial Initiatives. He also co-anchors CNBC’s “Nightly Business Report”. This bold category is ripe with the promise of delivering the most exhilarating group of speakers ever to visit Naples. The session’s three sub-categories include ‘Amazing People under 20’, ‘Leadership and Inspiration’ and ‘Global Perspective’. The three youngest people in the conference include musical sensation Llewellyn Sanchez- Werner who at age 12, was the youngest person ever admitted to Juilliard. Intel Science Prize winner Jack Andraka is known as the teen prodigy of pancreatic cancer. And Random Kids founder Talia Leman, who at age 10 raised $10 Million for Hurricane Katrina will also grace the stage. In partnership with the Shelter for Abused Women and Children, Kim Gandy will speak about domestic violence as part of the ‘Leadership & Inspiration’ segment of the Potpourri session, along with Matt Harding of “Where in the hell is Matt?”. Julian Hector of the BBC’s “Africa” will provide the ‘Global Perspective’ portion of the session.

ignite your mind“Future of Exploration”

National Geographic Society is the go-to resource for travelers and anyone looking for a better understand of the future of planet Earth and its inhabitants.The 2014 Imagine Solutions conference will once again host the truly elite members of this organization for the “Future of Exploration” session, moderated by Keith Bellows, editor-in-chief of National Geographic Traveler. Bellows, who attended the conference previously as a speaker, is a seasoned traveler and author of “100 Places That Can Change Your Child’s Life.” He will welcome and facilitate discussions with author Carl Hoffman and Kenny Broad National Geographic Environmental Anthropologist, as well as National Geographic Society photographer Peter McBride and an additional explorer-in-residence to be announced.

The 2014 Imagine Solutions conference will take place February 24 from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort. National media content partners and major brands include BBC, CNBC, NOVA and the National Geographic Society.

 

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