I met Seth in Aspen. He's a "keeper". It turns out that he's a good friend of Halley's. I could have guessed.

During the marketing discussion in Aspen, Seth was one of the few people who I thought really "got it".

He has a thread on his blog about the purple polar bear that "increased visitor numbers to the zoo by 50%."

Some people argued that it was a hoax, then Seth dug in and is now convinced that it is true. He says he doesn't want anymore email about it. ;-)

Where's Halley's blog?!?

I just uploaded more photos to the TypePad photo album. The great thing about digital cameras and blogs being one of the things I love to talk about is that I can take pictures as part of my conversation. ;-)

Today we went around the room and everyone got up and said their name, title and affiliation. I was Joi Ito, CEO, Neoteny, Japan. The coolest was, "I am Noor Al Hussein, Queen." ;-)

Unfortunately, Bill Clinton's discussion was "off the record" so I can't blog it, but it was the most intelligent, moving and inspirational presentation I've ever heard. I almost cried afterwards. He's absolutely amazing.

PS : I took notes so if anyone is interested, iChat me. ;-)

Just posted some photos from Aspen. Will post more later.

I DID NOT know that. That's amazing. ;-p Picture taken in Denver airport

I had to say a few things navigating the airports and other people talking was distracting, but sitting in the plane not watching movies, reading or doing anything except thinking and staring out the window was interesting. What was the most interesting was that after the initial discomfort, I wasn't bored and started exploring a very nostalgic space in my head. The scenery outside the window and the clouds were actually really interesting.

I spent the first hour or so thinking about how I was going to blog this or that thought, then I decided not to think about blogging or really think about anything particular. I tried to just "hang out with myself." Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I should do it more often. A few things to remember next time. Don't drink and eat a lot before the "day of silence". I spent the first half of the day getting my head clear. Although the plane was a good place to be quiet, I would have liked to walk around in the woods or something. Even if you are silent, noisy people around you are distracting.

Anyway, I arrived quietly in Aspen and saw a fox run across the airport parking lot. That was cool. Then I felt dizzy and realized that Aspen is at 8000 feet and that I felt dizzy last year too. Anyway, the conference will start this evening. I hope that have wifi at the Aspen Institute so you can all be there with me. ;-)

Having some mail problems. If you sent email in the last few hours, please send again. I am now forwarding to a variety of mailboxes so even if you get a bounce, it's likely I'll be getting it in one of my other mailboxes. I'll let you know when it's all working again.

I can't believe it's been a year since I went to Brainstorm 2002. Brainstorm 2002 was one of the best conferences I went to last year. Brainstorms is a conference where the editors of Fortune Magazine invite 100+ people to discuss a variety of issues. I think that the 100-150 number is a very special number for conferences. It's just the right size to get a great deal of diversity, but also be small enough to allow people to get to know each other. This year, Fortune is holding the conference jointly with the Aspen Institute.

My favorite speaker last year was Shimon Peres. I blogged the event last year. I think it was the first conference I blogged live. A few quotes from my own blog.

The King of Jordan just said, "We find ourselves between Iraq and a hard place." ;-)

Shimon Peres

First, he told us that he had just received a call from the Prime Minister and that another bomb had gone off in a University...

"I have no hatred in my heart for the Palistinians."

He thinks that maybe the Palestinians may be able to build the first real Arab democracy since they are building from scratch and have watched other Arab nations and their problems.

"We are just two tragedies meeting in the same place. I hope that this doesn't turn into a third tragedy."

"I believe that the greatest liberation in the 20th century was the liberation of women."

"Since we can't build a world government, let's build a world NGO. Have the companies come together and pay insurance. Have a board of directors with members such as Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela. Totally based on volunteering. No one forcing. This may be able to handle the problems that globalization is creating."

"Television made dictatorship impossible, but it made democracy intolerable."

"What can you learn from History? Very little... History was written with red ink, wth bloodshed. We should educate our children how to imagine, not how to remember."

Some students and a Rabbi were discussing how you can tell when night is over and day has come. One student said that when you can tell the difference between a lamb and a goat, day has come. Another student said that when you can tell the difference between a fig tree and and an olive tree, the day has started. The Rabbi says, when you see and white man or a black man and you call him your brother, the day has come. When you see a rich man or a poor man and you call him your brother, the day has come.

If this year's conference is as interesting as last year's, I'll have a lot to blog about. I also got an OK to bring Hecklebot with me, although I haven't confirmed that there will be Internet access for us at the Aspen Institute. I'm leaving for the aiport in 5 hours. Hope to see you there or along the way.

Rebecca MacKinnon, CNN Tokyo Bureau Chief

The show should be aired on CNN International next week or so depending on whether there is other "breaking news". I will be a talking head in my own little box. I've been on CNN before, but this is my first "Max Headroom" appearance.

Rebecca, the Tokyo Bureau Chief is a fellow GLT and a friend. I set her up with an IRC client and got her logged into #joiito. She has an exciting and sometimes dangerous job. It definitely looks like a lot of fun. She had a gas mask and a helmut in her office...

Happy Birthday Cory!