The Fast Pack

The place: Telluride, Colorado.

The event: The Fast Company Advance, a celebration of Fast Company's second anniversary.

The gathering: A roundtable of more than 50 of the best brains in business -- a two-day conversation among change agents from some of the world's biggest and best-known companies; senior leaders from young, fast-growing companies; business thinkers and educators from Europe and South America; activists from the world of politics and public policy; economists and anthropologists, strategists and scientists.

The rules: No speeches, canned presentations, or overhead slides.

The topics: Four questions that cut across the world of work, challenging themes that are both personal and universal. In a world where change occurs at a faster and faster pace, is speed the ultimate competitive weapon? At a time when the stakes in business are rising higher and higher, which is more powerful -- fear or trust? With whole industries up for grabs and careers hanging in the balance, what kinds of practices really work at work? And in this period of opportunity and uncertainty, how should each of us define "success"?

The record: We taped the entire two-day conversation. Here we present an edited selection of comments made by the participants. These Advancers offer provocative insights and useful practices -- table talk that defines the new world of work and the new rules of business.

The Round Table

Candice Carpenter is a founder and CEO of iVillage, a Web community-builder that wants to humanize cyberspace. Previously she was president of Q2, Barry Diller's cable network, and served as president of Time-Life Video and Television.

In 1984, Laurie Coots started at Chiat/Day, working on the Apple account; in 1997, as COO of TBWA Chiat/Day in Los Angelese, she recently played a lead role in the new Apple campaign.

David Dreyer recently completed a two-year stint as senior advisor to Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin. He is now a principal with TSD, a firm specializing in communications strategy and information technology; its clients include the Committee to Bring the 2004 Olympics to Athens and the Body Shop.

A leading authority on technology and aging, Mary Furlong is founder and CEO of Third Age Media, an Internet-based company with programs and services for older adults. Before founding Third Age, she was president of SeniorNet, a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to educating older adults about computer technology.

Seth Godin is founder and president of Yoyodyne, the Internet's leader in online promotions. He is also founder and president of Seth Godin Productions, a book developer and packager that has produced more than 90 books for top publishers since 1986.

Thornton May runs Cambridge Technology Partner's Management Lab, which tracks strategy and technology issues in 600 large companies.

As Intel's vice president for business development, Avram Miller serves as the company's ambassador to Hollywood and the world of new media.

Peter Moore is managing partner at Inferential Focus, a market intelligence firm that detects economic, social, and political changes in the United States and the world.

In addition to creating IBM's ThinkPad brand, John Patrick serves as the company's chief technology officer for the Internet and is the architect of IBM's "Get Connected" program, driving expanded use of the Internet both within the company and as a model for others to follow.

Harriet Rubin is the founder of Doubleday/Currency, a business-book publisher of such authors as Andy Grove, Peter Senge, and Max DePree. In addition, she is the author of The Princessa: Machiavelli for Women (Doubleday, 1997).

As a senior research scientist at the Institute for Research on Learning, Patricia Sachs uses her training as an anthropologist to investigate learning in the workplace, the role of technology, and the transformation of work.

For nearly 20 years, Larry Smith held senior national security positions in the U.S. Congress and the Department of Defense, including counselor to secretaries of defense William Perry and Les Aspin. He has taught history at Dartmouth College, and public management at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

As chairman, president, and CEO of VeriFone, Inc. Hatim Tyabji has taken the company public, grown the annual revenues from $31.2 million to $600 million, and merged with Hewlett-Packard in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at about $1.4 billion.