Brilliant Brunch at SXSW 2013

At this past SXSW interactive conference, which took place in Austin March 8-12, GE rounded up a bunch of modern innovators - Bre Pettis, Founder of Makerbot; Damian Kulash of OK Go; Tumblr Founder David Karp; Carla Diana, Creative Director of her own design firm; and Jake Lodwick, Founder of Vimeo and Elepath - to form a 'Brilliant Brunch' series. 

Hosted by GE CMO Beth Comstock and Comedian Baratunde Thurston, this video is a conversation that reveals how these creative individuals got their start, what inspires them, and how they work.

Ron Finley: A Guerilla Gardener in South Central LA

While we mostly post video blogs revolving around the direct connection between business and technology, this week's post is a bit different. After stumbling upon Ron Finley's TED Talk, entitled 'A Guerilla Gardener in South Central LA,' we couldn't help but to make a deeper rooted (no pun intended) connection of how Finley turned what was harming his community into the source of helping it. As he says in his talk, "To change the community, you have to change the composition of the soil." And while you may think he's just informing his audience about garderning, the bigger picture is connecting the dots between his experience to any lesson in business or technology.

What Most Schools Don't Teach

Recently gone viral, 'What Most Schools Don't Teach' is a short film stressing the importance of integrating computer programming and coding into education systems. Tech influencers like Facebook Creator Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft's Bill Gates, and even superstar Will.i.Am, argue that in this Digital Age, coding is the basic foundation for, virtually, any industry - agriculture, medical, you name it. Though most of us view computer programming as rocket science, there are simple ways of approaching it. Watch the video to get a better insight on this much-recently-talked-about topic.

Steven Johnson: Where Good Ideas Come From

Steve Johnson poses the question, "What are the environments that lead to unusual levels of innovative creativity?" From this questio,n he delves into different types of environments by looking back in history to going over today's modern environments then comparing them and how they differ. Will there be a difference in levels of innovations and great ideas when he compares what has sprouted from these environments?

Margaret Heffernan: Dare to disagree

Margaret Heffernan encourages everyone to disagree. As most people tend to avoid conflict, those that challenge each other and are not each others "echo chambers" are the best partners. As questions are raised, people are being challenged and progress ensues.