Today, I heard Adam Leipzig speak on “Hollywood Creativity and
Entrepreneurship.” Mr. Leipzig stood about 5’7”, 5’8” and delivered a timely
and refreshing message, not with fervor and intensity, but with poise and a
gentleness that invited and challenged the listeners to transform society “ten
percent over the next ten years.” The challenge was presented, and I accepted
the challenge.
Adam Leipzig is
the Senior Vice President of Walt Disney Studios and President of National
Geographic Films, with successes including "Dead Poets Society" and "March of the Penguins." He spoke about “niches” and “micro-niches,” and revealed to
us the value of vulnerability: “The thing that the world wants most is the most vulnerable
thing you have... What if you made a small difference over a
medium length of time?”
The highlight of the evening was when Mr. Leipzig opened
the floor for questions, and I was offered the mic. I used the 30 second window
to introduce myself, sharing that I am a student whose desire is to reform
education and who was inspired by a man teaching calculus on YouTube who has a
world-wide classroom. Mr. Leipzig, being an advocate of “strengths-management”
asked me what I was “superbly good at,” in which I could go home this evening
and upload an instruction video that would immediately gain 5 students. I answered “networking,”
after a few moments of hesitation.
After the talk, I lingered for a bit. I did this
purposefully, because I knew that I would find at least one person who would
come up to me with some valuable information after I declared my intention to
the room, on air, and online. This person did, in fact, appear. “Are you the
education guy?” she asked. “That’s me!” “Have you heard of Udacity?” (I, in
fact, did. I just read about them a few weeks ago in a magazine article.) “Ben
Nelson just got granted $25 million in seed funding for Minerva, his Ivy-League
start-up. Contact him and ask for a job.”
That’s in fact what I will do.
