Fast Company Recommended Events October 2009

October

fri, october 02
Choose
International Olympic Committee announces 2016 host city
Copenhagen, Denmark

On just one day during last year's Summer Olympics, beijing2008.cn -- the official 2008 Games Web site -- racked up nearly 200 million hits. That's a potential bonanza for the host that emerges from the pack of four 2016 finalists (Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo) -- or for Steve Frayne, a 30-year-old MBA student. In 2004, he registered the domain names chicago2016.com and tokyo2016.com. On those sites, you will find "A Balanced Discussion," where Frayne compiles info and debates about the pros and cons, economic and otherwise, of hosting the Olympics. If the Games go to one of his cities, Frayne may try to capitalize on that, but for now, "you won't see any ads on the sites," he says. "It's too important to have the people get the information that they need." You say cybersquatting, he says "an investment in the future." Tussles with the Chicago and Tokyo bid committees over legal rights to the domain names have only emboldened Frayne. "We are protecting my property," he says royally, before showing some can-do, persevering spirit that some might call quintessentially Olympian. "This is the first of many times I'm going to do this." -- Zachary Wilson

fri, october 02
Enter
50th anniversary of The Twilight Zone

If Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling were around today, "I think he'd be doing things on the Internet," says Zone historian and sci-fi writer Marc Scott Zicree. "It would allow him to sidestep the production companies, sponsors, censors." Indeed, the butchering of Serling's scripts for shows such as Playhouse 90 compelled him to go rogue and create The Twilight Zone, a place where he could comment on social, racial, and political issues under the guise of science fiction, eluding the censors. "The irony, of course, is that if he hadn't been censored, he wouldn't be remembered today," Zicree says. "He died thinking his work would be just momentarily adequate." Fifty years later, it's anything but. -- ZW

sun, october 04
Earn
Association for Financial Professionals Conference
San Francisco

In the good old days, the AFP's annual conference must have been quite the celebration for the 6,500 gathered wannabe masters of the universe. If the headlines are to be believed, these are not the good old days. But wait! According to a report released by the AFP itself, the average annual salary for financial professionals increased by 3.4% last year, growing 13% more than the national average. Party on? -- ZW

tue, october 06
Diagnose
Health 2.0
San Francisco

As the quest to improve America's health-care system continues, the tech crowd is ready to offer its own prescription: Apply the fundamentals of Web 2.0 (consumer-focused tools; crowd-sourced, minable data; robust community) to the problem. More than 1,000 people from tech companies, health-care providers, and big pharma will gather to demo projects such as online doctor-visit portals, disease-specific community platforms, "the Quicken of health care," and all manner of iPhone apps and virtual coaches. We're feeling better already. -- Kate Rockwood

tue, october 06
Rescue
Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group
Istanbul, Turkey

When this league of extraordinary gentlepeople convened in Washington last spring, they were met -- as is usual for world summits now -- with a small but creative resistance. "There were about 1,500 of us," recalls Lacy MacAuley of Global Justice Action, an advocacy group that organized street protests and dance parties as the bankers and ministers met behind closed doors. Their main gripe: "The IMF and World Bank are billed as charity organizations. Really, they're loan sharks who prey upon smaller countries in their times of need." In fairness, some of those economies would have crumbled without outside financing, and it's not like there are plenty of lenders rushing to offer humongous loans. MacAuley remains unmoved -- and her allies already have tickets to Turkey. "I've talked to some people," she says. "There will be protests." -- Dan Macsai