Back in April, we were the media partners for the Social Innovation Camp, a weekend of talking and hacking technology ideas with a social purpose.
There was a lot of talk about technology and what Kentucky Senator Rand Paul described as "that internet thing" — particularly in reference to the San Bernardino shooters whose alleged declarations of jihad on Facebook in 2012 flew right under the FBI's noses.
Tempting though it is to scoff at the promotional stunts (not least as many of them deserve it), they provided a useful distraction from the furniture industry's woes and a couple of engaging events including "Afrofuture," a dynamic series of talks and workshops on design and technology in Africa, hosted by the department store La Rinascente.
The colloquium is part of an IBM centennial program designed to convene thought leaders - including leading scientists, academics, leaders of industries, public policy makers and IBM clients -- for a series of talks and panel discussions on transformational technologies and their potential impact on the world.
But perhaps best of all for the racing enthusiasts who wagered a record $14.4 billion in 1999 on horse races in North America was that there was plenty of talk about new technology and marketing plans to make Internet delivery part of winning new fans and helping existing ones.
Anyone who has ever trekked down to Austin for the Interactive portion of South by Southwest, a jumble of talks about technology, parties and music performances, knows that while it is an amazing confluence of the best and brightest in the start-up world, it can also be something of a nightmare to navigate.
Mr. Felske dismissed that sort of talk, arguing that technology is a broad sector that offers a manager like him a variety of choices.
There's plenty of talk about wearable technology at the moment, you can blame Google Glass for that.
"I love the idea of talking about technology in a non-patronising, non-fantastic way by looking at it through the lens of normalcy," he says.
A lot of talk about translation technologies here, including a professional app translation service accessible through the developer console.
