Thank you to all our presenters, attendees, sponsors and volunteers for being part of an amazing weekend. The energy created from one single weekend in Chicago has resonated throughout the nation—and the world.

We’ve started a movement, and we’re glad you’re part of it.

But first, we need your feedback. What was your best moment? Do you have a favorite ‘idea worth sharing’? Share your thoughts below by leaving a comment.

9:30am: NIC starts off with a keynote speech by Gregory Pappas, head of the Greek America Foundation, on starting a movement. Greg shows a video of a lone shirtless man dancing in a field among others who are all seated. He may not seem like a movement all by himself, but he is – and soon he is joined by a crazy dancing follower, which makes two. There is strength and leadership in being the first follower, says Greg. Soon the video shows three dancing, and three’s a crowd. Before long there is a group of more than 50 people dancing together in the grass. It is a movement started by one, but that one has influenced all those around him.

NIC 2010 – Open from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.

9:50am: Bill Margaritis, Senior VP of FedEx Corporation, is talking about how the perceptions of Greece seen in the news are very real, and these perceptions carry spillover effects to Greeks worldwide. He urged the audience to carry a Socratic style, using a quote from Socrates: “The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” He engaged the audience in a dialogue on Greece’s financial crisis and posed the question: How did we go from a country that 2,000 years ago set the basis of civilization to a culture of expecting outsiders to influence our destiny? Audience members are offering their opinions and debating whether the changes for Greece must come from within or with influence and help from outside.

NIC 2010 – William Margaritis from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.

10:30am: Jim Gianopulos, CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, talks about the effects of increasing, fragmented media influences on people’s attention spans and that that means for the entertainment industry. Though opportunities are ever-expanding, says Jim, people’s time is still finite. From 2004 until today the number of media types has more than quadrupled.

Jim also talked about the creation of Avatar, Fox’s most successful film by far. He showed an exclusive video – never before seen, special to this conference – on the creation of Avatar. The actors wore special body suits as they acted out the scenes, which were then inserted within Avatar’s hi-tech computer programs to create the Na’vi and the entire Pandora world. The actors’ facial expressions, said Jim, were the hardest to replicate on a computer screen. Due to Avatar’s huge success and the success of other 3-D films, Jim said that Fox will be releasing most of its upcoming films in 3-D.

NIC 2010 – Jim Gianopulos from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.

Niki Leondakis, Chief Operating Officer of Kimpton Hotels, is talking about her hotel chain’s early commitment to green technology way before green was “in.” At Kimpton, sustainability was made a priority at all levels of the company, from the women who cleaned the room to those at the front desk to the heads of the company. Niki shows how sustainability brings profitability in the long run by conserving energy and doing what’s best for the environment. She also tells us that consumers are willing to pay a little extra for a hotel room such as Kimpton’s when they know they’re getting a green product.

NIC 2010 – Niki Leondakis from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.

11:45am: Oscar-winning filmmaker and President of HBO Ministries Kary Antholis uses “The Pacific” miniseries as an example of a successful new kind of viewer experience. The process began by raising awareness by trying to attract subscribers. They posed a specific question: What did the experience of fighting in the Pacific theater of WWII do to young men? The Pacific established its distinct brand through smart advertising, such as a partnership with Comcast and lots of social media and other innovative ways to create a ‘user experience’ – for example, The Pacific Blu-Ray (which comes out in November) comes with incredibly moving commentary by WWII veterans over the film reel, giving viewers additional insights into the history of the Pacific theater and the miniseries’ historical accuracy.

NIC 2010 – Kary Antholis from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.

12:20pm : Cat Cora takes the stage talking about her roots as a Greek-American girl from the South. She is so energetic! Her organization, Chefs for Humanity, was modeled off Doctors Without Borders. This was her first venture into the nonprofit sector – and just a few months later, Hurricane Katrina hit. Cora and her group of chefs dropped everything and went to hurricane-affected areas to assist in getting food to victims during a very critical period. She talks about her travels to Nicaragua and most recently to Haiti just last month – says Cora, it was shocking to see the situations in tent camps, where people have nothing to eat but mud cakes with zero nutritional value. Chefs for Humanity is a human resource organization (as opposed to a fundraising organization) that is able to mobilize hundreds of chefs to assist in crises. She is now talking about the importance of not just feeding humanity, but creating sustainable projects for humanity to help themselves.

NIC 2010 – Cat Cora from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.

12:50 – Danialle Karmanos talks about her formula for creating her nationally successful youth fitness program, Danialle Kormanos’ Work It Out. She broke it down pretty easily: She “thought GREEK,” where every letter stands for something she did. G is for generating ideas. A few years ago she was so moved by news reports of the epidemic of childhood obesity that she began searching for ways to make a difference. Her next step was to Recruit, followed by Emphasize integrity and Enthusiasm.K stands for Keep Focused. Many of the populations of children Danialle was working with could easily be barred from activities that required expensive equipment. The kids live with tremendous amounts of stress because of their home lives and unsafe environments. Therefore, Danialle implemented a one-hour yoga program in an environment (typically a local Boys’ and Girls’ Club) where kids feel safe.

Danialle just showed a beautiful short video on kids talking about how her program helped them – they said they taught their parents and family members about what they learned in yoga, especially that if you give up you need to keep trying.

NIC 2010 – Danialle Karmanos from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.

2:00pm – Peter Diamandis, Founder and Chaiman of the X PRIZE Foundation, just began talking about the extraordinary power of exponential technologies and how the key to the future lies in understanding them. He is using the example of cell phone usage growth in Africa – what will it mean when billions more people “come on line”? He gives some examples of how technology has changed the world: in 1880, it took a month’s wages to travel from Chicago to NYC. Today, that takes half a days’ wages.

The future, says Peter, is a world of abundance, where people have enough foods and enough resources – with the key lying in exponential technologies. A few years ago, a $10 million prize drove 26 teams around the world in the spirit of creating a new generation of space entrepreneurs funded by the private sector. Similar competitions organized by the  X Prize Foundations are jump-starting diverse industries from genomics to efficient vehicles. Extremely inspiring!

NIC 2010 – Peter Diamandis from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.

Managing Director of Costa Navarino Achilles Constantakopoulos talks about a new model of tourism that respects local communities and environments. For example, NEO – the Navarino Environmental Observatory – studies climate change and its effects on local communities. Costa Navaino is developing a program that supports local businesses and cooperates with local business – all in the “greenest” possible ways. In the Messinia community, the hotel resort is reviving traditional Messinian recipes and culture by promoting it wherever possible.

Achilles mentioned that he took note of this morning’s discussion on Greece’s reputation as a result of its financial crisis, led by Bill Margaritis. He said he took note of everyone’s thoughts and will take them home to share with Greek officials – and added that he is very optimistic about Greece’s future.

NIC 2010 – Achilles Constantakopoulos from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.

President of Coca-Cola in Canada Nikos Koumettis talks about Coca-Cola’s green innovation initiatives. For example, implement “water neutrality,” where Coca-Cola tries to return to communities the equivalent amount of water they use in their beverages and production. This and other similar projects are done via partnerships with the WWF and other eco organizations. Nikos also talked about sustainable packaging for Coca-Cola produces, and how the future of packaging is in permanent bottles (rather than one-time-use, throw-away bottles). For example their PlantBottle (now only available in Canada) uses 30 percent plant-based materials. Coca-Cola is also developing 100% recycled clothing – and Nikos has generously donated a 100% recycled, earth-friendly fabric hat to all NIC conference-goers.

In terms of its sustainable innovation in refrigeration, Nikos talks about Coca-Cola’s pledge to use HFC-free equipment by 2015 that will greatly improve efficiency of coolers, vending machines and fountain equipment. They have similar big goals for their delivery trucks – their Canada fleet is the most energy efficient in Coca-Cola’s industry, with low-emissions, fuel-efficient trucks.

NIC 2010 – Nikos Koumettis from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.

Kostas Mallios, general manager of strategy and business development for Microsoft, begins by talking about the conditions for innovation: what is it, and how do we encourage it? The trick is to push innovation into four key areas: big ideas, prototypes, metrics, and efficiency. Success happens at the the intersection of innovation and business-as-usual. He shares his 10 simple rules – perhaps most importantly, says Kostas, is ‘More Yes, Less No.” If you say no, you’ll never cross over into change or allow for innovation. He also highlights the importance of rewarding failures and not just success – because each failure is a lesson learned and opportunity not to make the same mistake again.

He makes an observation – that there’s a direct link between age and creativity, and those who are youngest take the greatest risks, and are therefore the most innovative. Out of Archimides, Galileo, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein….all were most innovative in their twenties. He gives a nod to the young, smart, crazy-eyed people with wild ideas and their courage in sharing their ideas to the older people, who control the resources – and encourages the older generation to encourage and nurture the young to innovate.

NIC 2010 – Kostas Mallios from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.

Thomas Kalaris, Chief Executive of Barclays Wealth in London, shares his insights on Greece’s debt crisis. A combination of a bloated, inefficient public sector, intensified by a large shadow economy and widespread corruption has created an overwhelming financial crisis in Greece. He proposes innovation as the key to solving the crisis – based on three “pillars” drawn from several ideas touched upon at today’s conference. One pillar is becoming a global leader in green technology, which can be enabled through foreign investment. For this to happen, says Thomas, Greece’s corrupt bureaucracy must change. The next pillar is becoming an “owner” of the Mediterranean – by making Greece an easier place to do business. The final pillar is making Greece the gateway to the Balkans. These are all ways that Greece can become a sustainable global leader, rising from its debt crisis and setting an example for the rest of the world.

“The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it.” – Epicurius

NIC 2010 – Thomas Kalaris from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.

4:15pm: Performance artists Natasha Tsakos talks about the relationship between theater and technology….the theater has gone dark and Natasha is now in a suit costume performing “Up Wake” – a performance she wrote that combines a backdrop and background music/audio with her own synchronized movements, confusing the eye as to whether Natasha is truly in front of us or part of the backdrop. She talks about how this is a time of collaboration in innovation. She encourages us to “suspend our disbelief” in order to let our creativity run free.

NIC 2010 – Natasha Tsakos from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.

4:35: University of Illinois-Chicago professor Zizi Papacharissi talks about main ideas covered during today’s presentations. She points out how each of the NIC presenters understand the difference between an idea and an innovation. There are three common themes across each of the presentations: Connection, Expression, and Disconnection. She uses the DARPA Red Balloon Challenge earlier this year where 10 balloons were released into the United States, and teams were challenged to find them all. The search for the balloons was done completely via social networking. The Web and new social media platforms have given people entirely new ways to present themselves, communicate, display our social connections and connect with strangers we have something in common with. She thanks all for sharing their innovations and ideas today.

NIC 2010 – Zizi Papacharissi from Greek America Foundation on Vimeo.