Thus the risks are with the creatives?
I think creativity is the most competitive kind of economic activity. There are business risks and psychological risks. Having ideas is a lonely business. It is a personal choice – and it’s a difficult choice. Some people relish this, but some people want security and safety. In my view creative people, the first group, are unavoidably creating an economy of failure. People fail much more often trying to be creative than in other kinds of work.

This includs is a lot of learning, doesn’t it?
It does, and for everybody in all kind of industries. Learning is different from education and is more important. It is is self-driven, self-motivated, voluntary and continues until you die. It’s interesting to look at people and organisations to see if they have a capacity to learn.

Still, Iceland’s young people are in the midst of a social revolution, French magazine Owni wrote in a 2011 dispatch.

After the failure of Iceland’s banking system and its economy, Iceland’s young people went through something of a sea change:

"Young people refuse to embark on a classical career, preferring to just get by making art," writes a journalist from the magazine.

"Treating the past like a blank canvas has become a popular idea among Icelandic young people…the crisis has changed people’s minds and brought about a refusal of politics as it is practiced everywhere."

And, with Iceland still to emerge from its five-year downturn, the country could again be foreshadowing where mainstream Europe is heading — just as it did at the start of the crisis.

Designed for people looking to start their own tech company, the free mobile app Tech Startup Genius helps users through the early stages with a series of flash cards containing information about important people, organizations and buzz-words they need to know. This new method of business coaching, available for the iPhone and iPad, was developed by entrepreneurs in the New York and Silicon Valley start-up communities.

The iOS app, from Brainscape, can be used to test your knowledge on the go. There are four categories: People you should know, Orgs you should know, Company formation basics, and Fundraising basics. You can either choose a category to answer questions on, select ‘Random mix’ to answer questions from all of the categories, or search through the flash cards to get a refresher.

After you’re shown a question, you tap the screen to flip the card over and see the answer. Then the app asks how well you knew this and you can rate it from 1 (not at all) to 5 (perfectly). If you say you didn’t know the answer, the card is thrown back into the mix and will come round later for you to try again.

Tech Startup Genius

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Stoner (tee hee), recently announced the state government’s support for local technology companies eager to make their mark in famed Silicon Valley.

The NSW Government will assist up to 12 early-stage tech ventures, helping with renting office space and accommodation from the newly-opened technology incubator StartUp House.

During a trade mission to the US in January, Mr Stoner said: “The NSW Government is committed to growing our digital sector and this announcement will help Australian entrepreneurs get a foothold in the US market by providing a subsidy to access the co-working space and accommodation at StartUp House from May 2012.”

StartUp House is a joint venture between Australian entrepreneurs Elias Bizannes and Bardia Houseman and New Zealander Stephen Weir. It’s a 36,000 sq ft facility that includes office space – both shared and premium – a café, and a hostel for entrepreneurs.

“StartUp House aims to provide start-up companies and entrepreneurs with a rich collaborative working environment connecting them to fellow entrepreneurs and mentors.”

“Silicon Valley continues to be a leading hub for high-tech innovation in the United States and an important target point for NSW technology companies with global ambitions.”

StartUp House also just so happens to be the site of the NSW Government’s new trade and investment office – though whether Mr Stoner will himself be bunking down in the hostel remains to be seen.

“Our San Francisco office will be driving business and investment opportunities between NSW and the US and highlighting NSW expertise in sectors including ICT, digital services, research and development, and clean technology,” he said.

When you consider the cost of earning an MBA–that can easily exceed $100,000–most people begin to seek alternative ways to network and gain professional insights. Kane Sarhan and Shaila Ittycheria are co-founders of Enstitute, a program for young aspiring students to be mentored by some of New York’s top entrepreneurs.

Enstitute currently enlists 31 well-regarded NYC entrepreneurs from 15 different companies who are participating in the mentorship program. Some of these mentors include founders of Thrillist, HowAboutWe, Nestio, Bit.ly, Pixable, Flavorpill and SinglePlatform.

Sarhan and Ittycheria feel that the “right path” to becoming an entrepreneur is to think outside the traditional education model. The not-for-profit Enstitute program is open to 18-24 year olds who have obtained a minimum of a high school diploma. 15 students will be be accepted to participate in the two-year apprenticeship in New York.

Enstitute

EON Creator is an interactive virtual 3D learning environment that invites users to select a scene and objects to interact with, as well as create and customize 3D lesson plans for training and general education.

EON Reality, Inc. is the world’s leading interactive 3D software provider for businesses and education based on virtual reality technology. Their creation tool lets users easily build engaging interactive learning simulations, which can be totally customized and then displayed on a laptop or in a fully immersive environment.

The easy-to-use interface allows users to quickly choose from thousands of 3D objects to configure, scale and position within the space. These can be combined with PowerPoint presentations, videos, images and links to generate quality learning experiences. After creating a customized scene, it can be viewed and shared with others in stereoscopic 3D.

These impressive virtual 3D environments inspire new ways of learning. The videos below show a medical environment for learning about the skeleton and the brain, and a nature environment for exploring animals in a garden community:

Illinois-based insurer State Farm has appeared on our virtual pages several times before, but recently we came across a reason to cover it again. The topic this time? Next Door, a new, branded café the company recently launched in Chicago. Offering financial coaching and classes, the space is designed to help State Farm get closer to the local community.

Supplied with locally made treats and artisanal coffee, State Farm’s new Next Door Café is billed on its Facebook page as “a creative community space and café where anyone can ask questions about finances and insurance stuff and find answers. No pressure. No sales pitch. No kidding!” The café is open from 7 am to 10 pm daily, with expert-led coaching and classes during the the day. Also on hand are free wifi, a library and a meeting room. Everything is free, in fact, “except the coffee,” says the company, which also offers up the space for local events.

The Mobile Media Toolkit shows you how to use mobile tech to enable citizen media and encourage independent voices. Learn how to capture quality audio and video on your mobile phone.

Getting the thumbs-up was a partnership with Google’s YouTube, which made Vice one of the charter channels in its $100 million original video initiative. That channel launches in the first quarter of 2012. An offer from a major broadcast network’s news division to produce a Vice show, on the other hand, got the gong; Ari Emanuel, co-CEO of William Morris Endeavor and Vice’s agent in Hollywood, warned Smith off the deal, fearing the network would throttle the Vice voice. Instead Emanuel used the offer as leverage to get a similar offer from the more creator-friendly HBO. “HBO’s ludicrous,” says Smith. “They’re sort of the opposite of MTV. I shouldn’t say that, but they are. They really give a sh– about the artist and what you’re doing, and they don’t try to piss on your stuff, and the money’s not an issue. It’s the holy grail.” (Vice, by the way, also has a show on MTV, The Vice Guide to Everything.) Having Freston’s blessing has helped Vice get entrée to people like Emanuel and megaproducer Brian Grazer, with whom the company is in talks to launch an independent film fund. Having Freston around has also been an inspiration on a personal level, says Smith.

Of the existing verticals the biggest by far is the Creators Project, which highlights the role of technology in the artistic process. The project is entirely underwritten by Intel, which reached out to Vice in 2009 about a partnership and ended up with agreements to spend “tens of millions of dollars over many years,” according to Intel’s chief marketing officer, Deborah Conrad.

The genesis of the Creators Project serves as a microcosm of the emerging digital- content paradigm that Vice is helping to shape. Intel spends plenty on traditional advertising: The chipmaker’s marketing budget for 2010 was $6.3 billion. But traditional ads are simply no longer an effective means of reaching young consumers, who are getting ever more of their media calories from online video, mobile apps and even videogames, says Conrad. “An 18-year-old isn’t just sitting back in front of a TV watching channels and getting blasted with commercials,” she says. “It was obvious that for us to introduce our brand to that group of people, we had to do it in a way that was authentic to the way they consume content.”

Intel is far from the only major marketer having this epiphany. “You have all these new opportunities to be directly connected to your consumer and all these new platforms that need content but aren’t yet fully funding it,” says Ben Silverman, chairman of Electus, a “next generation” studio owned by IAC. Working closely with marketers from the concept stage on, Electus has produced series for NBC, MTV and the Food Network, among others. “A lot of advertisers are looking in and saying, ‘We want to play in this new world,’” says Silverman.

Stephanie Smiedt

2006 Painting Recipient

I am responsible for leading the creative direction and brand image of 'bobble' www.waterbobble.com.

I have the background in both visual arts and product development. As a visual artist I was awarded the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship, The Ian Potter Cultural Trust and a residency as Australia's representative at the International Studio and Curatorial Program which brought me to New York.

My product development experience with Product Sourcing leads to the production of numerous consumer goods manufactured in China.

I cofounded bobble in 2009. As creative director I look after product development, all creative, media, activation and social media. Thanks to the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship I now live and work in New York.

John Chisholm Marten (1908-1966) established the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarships through his estate, to provide financial support for talented Australian artists to help them achieve their dreams.

Mr. Khade probably would not be in business with a prince had he not attended a networking cocktail reception hosted by the Dalit Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the five-star Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai this year. There he met the Indian businessman who introduced him to the Arab sheik, who helped him to globalize his company.

These kinds of connections are crucial to the nascent Dalit business community. Because Dalit businessmen often lack the social connections that lead to business ideas, loans and other support, a group of Dalit entrepreneurs created the chamber in 2005. It aims to build those networks so Dalit business leaders can help one another grow. The group has about 1,000 members, all of whom run companies with an annual turnover of at least $20,000.

It recently organized a meeting where Dalit businessmen pitched ideas to Tata Motors, one of India’s biggest car companies. Mr. Kamble, the Dalit contractor, said that of the 10 companies that attended, 4 had signed deals and 4 more were in negotiations. “There was a time when people like us could not even approach a company like Tata Motors,” he said. “Now we go meet them with dignity, not like beggars. We are job givers, not job seekers.”

As an Australian going to the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA) for the first time, you will encounter something you never expected at an international arts conference: evidence of Australia’s dominance in this artistic genre.

It is a reflection on how we view our country’s role in the in the art world that one of the most surprising aspects of ISEA is the overwhelming number of Australians that are presenting papers, exhibitions and workshops. International leadership is something that you don’t expect as an Australian; it is not a word often found in an arts and cultural dialogue in our country. But in the area of art, science and technology, Australian art is the milestone of world–class endeavour and Australian practitioners and organisations set the tone and direction for the world. Once you realise this, it becomes absurd for Australian practitioners to pursue an aspirational leadership when the mantle of responsibility for real leadership is so obviously ours.