Focus

The Dent conference explores the magic and science of visionary leadership and groundbreaking success. Request an invitation here.

12/1 UPDATE: As a special bonus,  astronaut/aquanaut Cady Coleman (@Astro_Cady) will be joining our group of divers, press and other VIPs to teach the participants about her time as an Aquarius resident during her NEEMO expedition. If Cady’s name sounds familiar, it could be from her work as a special advisor to Sandra Bullock for her role in the film “Gravity.” Or maybe just because she’s been to space three times, the last trip being a six month stay at the International Space Station.

After our successful “Aquaman” themed session at San Diego Comic Con in July, and our ongoing editorial collaborations with our friends at NASA, we have been working with Thomas Potts, the director of Aquarius Reef Base in Florida in hopes of organizing a Dent “field trip” to tour and learn about this amazing facility, and to see first hand how astronauts use the base to train for voyages in space.

High resolution footage of a NASA mission to Aquarius:

Aquarius is an underwater habitat located several miles offshore near Key Largo. It is deployed on the ocean floor next to deep coral reefs 62 feet below the surface. Aquarius is probably best known as being the location for NEEMO, (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) where astronauts, engineers and scientists live undersea for up to three weeks at a time in preparation for various space exploration expeditions.

We are excited to announce that on May 3, 2016, we will be taking a handful of divers down to tour the base (inside and out) to learn about the facility and the work that the NASA aquanauts perform there.

Invited divers will have the opportunity to spend one day diving Conch Reef with Aquarius staff to see a lunar lander mock-up frame used for NASA expeditions and instrument platforms used by industry to testbed sensors and materials. Divers will also board Aquarius for a 50-minute visit.

This exclusive outing is open to select “Denters” (2016 conference attendees, sponsors, supporters) by special invitation only. Members of the press may request an invitation (a few slots are available for non-divers) by emailing: press at dentthefuture dot com.

The following is required for all guest divers:

• Copy of a certification card from a recognized diving agency (e.g., PADI, NAUI, ADCI, military)
• Completed FIU liability waiver
• Completed participant information form indicating that guest is covered by a major medical insurance policy or a worker compensation policy
• Personal dive gear: mask, fins, swimsuit and thermal protection (Note: mask, fins and snorkel are available for rent; price is based on published program rates).

Everyone’s heard the adage that you manage what you measure, and so we all understand that it’s important to pick business metrics that encourage the right kind of growth.

But this recent retrospective on YouTube’s recommendation engine change from serving up videos with lots of views to serving up videos with lots of view time — a subtle but important difference — highlights how much metrics impact product design and your relationship with your customers.

The metrics you choose are, in fact, scope defining: if YouTube weren’t tracking how many minutes into videos people were watching (metric!), then it might not have occurred to them to re-structure their algorithm to weight it more heavily.

The United States House of Representatives is considering legislation that would protect ownership rights for companies that set up mining operations in space. If enacted into law, the American Space Technology for Exploring Resource Opportunities in Deep Space (ASTEROIDS) Act stipulates that “any resources obtained in outer space are the property of the entity that obtained such resources, which shall be entitled to all property rights thereto.”

It further requires that the United States government take action to promote, and avoid actions to hinder, the exploration and exploitation of mineral resources in outer space.

From Bloomberg News:

Nobody is going to start mining asteroids this year, or even this decade. But that hasn’t stopped entrepreneurs — including Cameron, who is an investor in and adviser to Planetary Resources, an asteroid prospecting company — from dreaming and seeking funding. Next year Virginia-based Deep Space Industries is planning to launch a fleet of 55-pound satellites to find asteroids worth sampling, followed by craft designed to dig out and bring rocks back to Earth.

So while outer space mining operations aren’t coming anytime soon, at least it’s nice to know that this Congress is thinking ahead…at least on this issue.

Dent the Future is a conference series that tackles the art and discipline of visionary leadership. The next Dent The Future conference is coming up March 22-25, 2015. Register here.

It was fascinating to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the offices on the 21st floor (about which an NDA requires that I say…not much), but we also got to spend a few minutes peppering Makerbot’s new CEO (former Makerbot President, and Denter) Jenny Lawton with questions about everything from innovations in materials science to “which Makerbot should I get first?” (Answer: The Mini).

After the tour, and a lot of hands-on time with 3D printed objects of all imaginable kinds, including dinosaur skulls and mechanical hearts, we left again in the Buicks for Fitzcarraldo, a small but gorgeous restaurant on the edge of East Williamsburg, where over dinner we heard from New York Times New Digital Products lead John Geraci. John filled us in on the transformative innovation story unfolding at the Times right now. Off the record, of course.

Even more important than the places we visited was the conversation between the participants. For this third Dent Dinner of 2014 we had a exciting and energizing crowd. Many new faces joined our familiar friends, and one guest told us “I really love a party where everyone you talk to is interesting, and this was one of those parties.”

Hosting these dinners with Buick and Silicon Valley Bank throughout the year has been a rewarding adventure for us, and we hope it’s helped to foster connections among the community as well. We can’t wait to see everyone again next March, but as always, don’t be a stranger in the meantime, we are always happy to hear from you.

We’re very excited that the early lineup for Dent 2015 is looking so good… with presenters ranging from Pulitzer-Prize Winning Editorial Cartoonist David Horsey on creativity, to Lean Startup co-founder Sarah Milstein on growing a company, to Consulting Detective Mark Duncan on, well, Decetive-ing.

It’s shaping up to be another great year for Dent in Sun Valley next March.

If you already know you’ll be joining us next year, be sure to complete your registration before September 1st, when the early bird price of $1,850 expires and the regular price of $2,250 kicks in.

Also, the Lodge building at the Sun Valley Resort will be closed for renovations while we’re there in 2015, so be sure to book your room using the Dent group rate once you grab your tickets, as rooms will disappear more quickly than usual.

It was a blast to reconnect with Bay Area Denters last week for the first of our three Dent Dinners (the next two being in Seattle on August 19th and New York on September 18th). We had a truly amazing tour of the offices where nearly all of Meta works and lives, including a chance to put on the futuristic 3D augmented reality gear ourselves.

After snapping a great group photo, we drove off in 4G-LTE enabled Buicks to House Family Vineyards for a great dinner and a very intriguing fireside chat interview with 23andMe Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jill Hagenkord, where we got a glimpse into the larger vision behind 23andMe and a few very interesting hints at where new genetics technology is likely to take us.

You can see Rusty Blazenhoff’s take on the evening here, or you can take a look through the Storify here.