The Wisdom of Play

To read their full biographies, go to our Speakers page. We will be announcing more in the coming months, so please stay tuned!

Dr. Debby Herbenick is the founder of MySexProfessor.com, authored Because It Feels Good: A Woman’s Guide to Sexual Pleasure and Satisfaction, serves as the Associate Director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion in the School of HPER at Indiana University (IU), and teaches at The Kinsey Institute.

Jeff Han is a former 2006 TED Speaker and the founder of Perceptive Pixel, the developer of the most advanced multi-touch solutions in the world.  Perceptive Pixel was also the winner of the 2009 National Design Award from the Cooper Hewitt, the National Design Museum of the Smithsonian Institution.

Amy Yurko, AIA, is the founder of BrainSpaces. She is both a licensed architect and educator who believes in applying brain-based strategies to the design of learning environments. Over her 20+ year career, she has planned and designed meaningful places for learners throughout the country and around the world.

Charlie Todd is the founder of Improv Everywhere, producing, directing, performing, and documenting the group’s work for over eight years. The group carries out pranks, which they call “missions” in public places to cause scenes of “chaos and joy,” sometimes using hundreds of volunteer performers at a time.

Shawn Achor is a positive psychology researcher/instructor at Harvard University. His lectures on happiness and human potential have received attention from The New York Times, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, CNN, and NPR. Shawn travels the world giving talks on the science behind individual happiness.

Muffy Davis is a World Champion disabled ski racer, having won more than 25 World Cup titles, two Overall World Cup victories and 4 Paralympic Medals, and currently one of 10 athletes worldwide invited to serve as Ambassadors for the International Paralympic Committee.

Hugh MacLeod is an artist who first made his name with “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”. He is a cartoonist, sells limited-edition prints, authored Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity, serves as CEO of Stormhoek USA, and also consults, speaks and draws private commissions.

During a 10-year, 128-game NFL career, Nolan Harrison became known as a steady, consistent defensive lineman who played for the Raiders, Steelers and Redskins. Drafted in 2001 (from IU) by the Los Angeles Raiders, he took over the Defensive End position from for Hall of Fame player Howie Long upon retirement.

Sarah Elizabeth Ippel is the founder of the Academy for Global Citizenship, an inquiry-based, urban charter school in Chicago for elementary school children. Students become environmentally and internationally minded by learning how their choices impact their community and ultimately the world.

Together, Marc and Sara Schiller are Wooster Collective: a contemporary art and street art collective. Their mission is to discover and document authentic art experiences via salons, publishing, gallery shows, and of course, their website, Wooster Collective and their Wooster Collective YouTube channel.

Robert Scoble is a well-known technology blogger/evangelist and author. Scoble is best known for his blog, Scobleizer, which came to prominence during his tenure as a technical evangelist at Microsoft. He currently works for Rackspace where he is building a community called Building 43.

New York City’s DJ Shiftee has translated his intuitive math geek mentality into far-reaching success on the turntables! With a degree from Harvard and 2 unique DMC World Champion titles under his belt, this over- achiever can only be positioned for greatness! Who says you can’t do it all? Read full biography

An-shu Stephen Kinryu-Jien Hayes, Founder of To-Shin Do Kasumi-An Ninja Martial Arts has spent his entire adult life in the pursuit of perfection through the study of the Asian martial arts and spiritual traditions, living and traveling throughout North America, Japan, Europe, the Arctic, China, Tibet, Nepal, and India.

Derek and the Darling: Derek Nicoletto cradles the six-inch chicken in the crook of his left arm as he hails a bus with his right. Sammi Garett slows the bus and lets him on board. Seconds later, the two are belting Stevie Nicks’s “Edge of Seventeen.” Scene.