Fast Company Recommended Events June 2009

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wed, june 10
Write
Ballpoint Pen Day

On this day in 1943, brothers Laszlo and Georg Bíró filed a patent for what's now one of the world's most common writing instruments. Others had tried to design a self-inking mechanical pen that rolled on a ball, with little success. The Bírós perfected the design, named it the Birome, and opened a pen shop in Argentina. In 1945, the pens went on sale in the U.S., at Gimbel's in New York, for $12.50 each ($145, inflation adjusted). The store sold $125,000 worth on day one, and Bic, which bought the patent, has sold 100 billion-plus since 1950. Rolling, indeed. -- ZW

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fri, june 12
Power Up
RoboGames
San Francisco

They play Connect Four. They mix martinis. They paint. And at this sixth annual event, robots go head-to-head in categories from navigation to remote-controlled flame throwing. In the past two years, the gathering has doubled to 70 events and entrants from more than 80 countries. Spectators will witness AI technology powering amateurs' homespun creations. Our favorite contest: the SOBotz (translation: 16-ounce robots) Combat. May the best bot win -- and survive. -- KR

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sun, june 14
Bookmark
Special Libraries Association Conference 2009
Washington, D.C.

Cara Schatz wants to make one thing clear: Members of the SLA are, in fact, special. "They work at huge companies, like McDonald's and General Electric, and they inform C-suite decisions," says Schatz, a conference organizer. "They need to know the latest, greatest ways to find information." Attendees this year will hear a keynote from Colin Powell, discuss buzzed-about tech innovations (Twitter), and unwind at themed mixers. Web-savvy librarians who know how to party? That really is special. -- Dan Macsai

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mon, june 15
Chatter
NeoCon World's Trade Fair
Chicago

Does the mere thought of PowerPoint-glutted conferences send your fingernails inching toward your eyeballs? Then we suggest the pecha-kucha night at this designers' gathering. The brainchild of Tokyo architects Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein, pecha-kucha (Japanese for "chatter") nights began in 2003 and have since spread to 180 cities. The boozy boardroom-meets-poetry-slam format brings a vibrancy to the loathed PowerPoint by applying a set of strict rules: Artists and designers show 20 slides for 20 seconds each. That's 6 minutes and 40 seconds to reveal inspirations and original works. Then they shut up, sit down, and let us get back to our drinks. -- KR