2009 Biomimicry Conference in San Diego

October 1, 2009

The Conference started with greetings from a lesser anteater and a three banded armadillo.

Then we embarked on a double-decked bus for a tour of the zoo. Along the way we stopped 4 times to hear examples of biomimicry from the SD Zoo professionals.

After the tour Paula Brock, CFO of Zoological Society of San Diego, officially welcomed everybody and introduced this evening's featured speaker Chip Heath.

These are some of my notes from Chip's presentation:
Our natural world is a library of solutions, a library we need to protect and value.
Chip told a story of an amazing Antarctic Ice fish that has the ability to break down the oils using natural detergents at -2º F. Even though the picture of the fish doesn't evoke empathetic sighs and awwws, it can inspire and teach us a great deal.

How do you build an innovation hub?

To answer the questions, Chip presented a framework from Michael Porter's book, "The Competitive Advantage of Nations".

1) Factor Conditions
2) Related Industry
3) Home Demand
4) Strategy, Structure, Rivalry

and here are some of my insights:
"Your friends are your friends. Your rivals are your friends", "Talk shop promiscuously" - sharing information at the beginning of a developing industry is beneficial for every party involved. Collaboration, networking, collaboration, networking, collaboration.

"Everything looks like failure in the middle" - it's an opportunity to gain invaluable insight, which will foster confidence and could lead to a success of the project/product.