There I was, 2 weeks ago sitting in an auditorium on a Sunday attending TEDxCMU.   It was an inspiring and emotional day with 12 fantastic talks from local and national presenters.
One of the talks was by Luis von Ahn, a CMU professor.  It only took me a minute to realize that I was in the presence of an amazing innovator, and that I had the privilege of being one of the first people to hear about his latest project.
All the confirmation I needed that what I witnessed was important came …

How do you teach entrepreneurship to high school juniors?  In only one hour?
I had the privilege this summer of speaking for an hour to students at the Neighborhood Academy, a college prep school in Pittsburgh for low-income students, about being an entrepreneur.    “Being an entrepreneur” is certainly a broad topic, and you could choose to focus on a number of different areas.  I decided that I would have three goals: make it simple, make it inspiring, and make it practical.
So when I was considering what topics to cover, I stayed …

BloggingInnovation is a popular innovation site, with several articles published each day from a number of contributing authors – including me, as of this January.
Each month they have a series called “Innovation Perspectives” where they pose a question to different authors.  This month’s question was “What product or sector is in desperate need of innovation?”, and I contributed an article focused on innovating the higher education industry.  Read the full article here.

A North Carolina principal was terminated for approving an “innovative” fundraising idea proposed to her by the parent advisory council.  Their idea was to allow students to make a $20 donation to the school’s new technology fund in return for 20 “points” that could be added to two of their exams (10 points per exam).  For example, if a student scored a 68 on an exam they could add 10 points to make it a 78.  After enough parents complained the school district stepped in, stopped the program, and terminated …

Can someone please innovate the school fundraiser?
Like most people, I’m happy to support local school fundraisers.  They usually don’t cost more than $10-$20, the money goes to a good cause, and I usually either get something of value (like wrapping paper or frozen pizzas) or I’m sponsoring the efforts of the kids (if say they are “running for dollars”).
But I can’t stand being interrupted at my house.