[[Originally posted on Core77]]

“What I created, I need to destroy.” Richard Saul Wurman was on fine, curmudgeonly form on the opening day of BIF6. In particular, he seemed indignant that the 18-minute speech format he coined with the TED conference has been so widely replicated around the global conference circuit. “Speakers are practicing!” he said, in outrage. “They know it’s going to be taped and on the fucking television or computer!” This, said one of the world’s most convincing hams, quashes both creativity and sincerity. “When you want me to stop talking, say ‘that’s it’. Be an editor,” he challenged BIF’s organizers, who limit their speakers to a mere 15 minutes. And to his credit, conference founder Saul Kaplan picked up the gauntlet, standing up after Wurman’s time was (well) over and quietly proclaiming “that’s it.” (Wurman, to give him his due, meekly capitulated.)

Read the rest of this post, complete with photos, over at Core77.com