E-Brain.
The @rt of Innovation
1, 2 & 3 March 2011

Prior to the conference mayor Rombouts of 's-Hertogenbosch received the international keynote speakers and workshop leaders in the town hall. The mayor warmly welcomed them in his city and after that he had a pleasant informal talk with his guests.

Anticipating life changing trends
Advancing technology brings about change in organizations. Social media and innovative technology both influence and change the way we work and live. Lines of communication get shorter, geographic distance is no longer a barrier for cooperation and hierarchical relationships change. In the 21st century we see a change from directive to interactive leadership. That is why it is essential to develop creativity as a new core competence.

Keynotes and presentations
The well-attended conference opened on Tuesday 1 March with an interesting and varied programme of keynotes and presentations.
The speakers were Coen Free (president EFODL), Gerard Puccio (Buffalo State University, USA), Harry Greiner (City College Norwich), Piet Desmet (University of Leuven) and Dimis Michaelides (Performa Consulting Ltd.).  

Gerard Puccio defined creativity as a the ability to modify self-imposed constraints ( 'patterns and habits'). He also stated that creativity and creative leadership are competencies that can be learned and improved. Dr Puccio argued strongly in favour of developing these creative competencies.

Dimis Michaelides emphasized that creativity =  action: "Imagine something new and make it happen". Michaelides was both a knowledgeable and an entertaining keynote who illustrated his argument with spectacular magic tricks. One of his remarkable quotes:  "Reward success, celebrate failure and punish inaction".

Harry Greiner gave an interesting presentation on Web 2.0, Web 3.0 en Social Media. Greiner also looked to the future, at new technologies and new ways of thinking that will be impacting education in the next few years and provided some ideas on how these can be leveraged to the benefit of institution and individual. One of the things he said was that it is important to take steps to integrate the digital platforms used by students with the digital platforms of a school. 

Piet Desmet  talked about the educational value of technology. "How to integrate E-learning  and  'Classroom learning' in a way that is worthwhile?"  He made the point that although technology offers a great many opportunities, in general too little has changed and illustrated this with the Penrose ‘impossible stairs’.

Masterclass Dr. Gerard J. Puccio
Next to the keynotes a number of internationally recognized experts delivered workshops / master classes and presentations on 2 and 3 March. Dr Gerard J. Puccio  professor at Buffalo State University was one of the experts who delivered master classes both on Wednesday  2 and Thursday 3 March. Next to being professor and chair of the International Center for Studies in Creativity, Dr. Puccio is author of numerous scientific articles and books and he is an authority in the field of creative thinking and creative leadership worldwide.  

Contact:
Reina van Casteren 00 31 73 6200224 or r.vancasteren@kw1c.nl