Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4


After the morning rush-hour traffic jam (seriously), Aspen opened up to all its glory as the Aspen Design Summit welcomed attendees, leaders and volunteers to the valley. A couple vanloads took the trek up to Maroon Bells, a beyond-spectacular setting where we hiked strolled and listened to Niles Eldredge riff on Darwin. A box lunch by the waterfall and some friendly chat with two park rangers later, it was back to the Aspen Meadows Resort for registration and orientation.

After opening remarks by David Gibson, Dorothy Dunn and Ric Grefe ("We believe in demonstrating value by doing valuable things"--awesome), it was on to moderator John Thackara to get this moving. The presenters were inspiring, but too many of them went typically over time (what part of 10 minutes didn't you understand)--and one totaled up a whopping 35 minutes! No matter. Once Thackara took to the stage with his quick whit, healthy cynicism and frankly intoxicating voice, we knew we were in capable hands for the week.

The hard content and Action Studios begin tomorrow. Fingers crossed that we can all get past agreeing that education is good.

[For an overview of the history, hopes and dreams of the Summit, check out last month's Core77 Aspen Roundtable.]

More pics after the jump.