Bob Boster

Artist, Brainstormer, Business leader, Concerned citizen, Connector, Explorer, Foodie, Idea generator, Musician, Parent, Performer, Potential employer, Project manager, Sales specialist, Technologist, World traveler

Having found my way into audio manufacturing from a rich background in theatre, college radio, independent music, media criticism, and sound art, I'm proud to run a heritage audio brand (Clear-Com) which focuses on allowing people to collaborate in real time. I'm passionate about a lot of different kinds of music and like to see it live. I enjoy cooking for my family, craft beer, women's soccer, traveling, and making a difference for teams of people doing complicated things, including making live TV, executing sports events, producing theatre, delivering complex medical procures, laying trans-continental cables, and producing complex events like TED. I have a deep connection to the following places - southern New England, Chapel Hill NC, SF Bay Area, New Orleans, Amsterdam, Las Vegas, San Diego, and London. Finally, I self-identify as a flâneur and would be pleased to meet like-minded folks. There is of course more to talk about, but it seems better done either in person or at least more directly. Looking forward to connecting!

Using shared cultural experiences to help overcome manufactured left-right political divisions.

As we approach a pivot point in human activity driven by AI-enabled technology advancements, I think the 'curatorial arts' - deep passion for selecting compelling and personalized information for humans to interact with - will become more and more important. How, why, when, and for whom all become interesting questions that need to be addressed, but this is clearly a set of problems to solve that can make a difference. Curation has the potential to counter-balance some of the dehumanizing effects of social media and AI on culture (assuming 'human agents' are doing the curating, of course) without moving away from the vast universe of assembled knowledge that we have all become accustomed to.

A/V, Broadcasting, Craft Beer, Independent Radio, Intercom, Live Music, Media Criticism, Professional Audio, Theatre, US-based Manufacturing, Women's Soccer Fandom

Like most aware digital citizens of our current age, I've been familiar with TED for years, but my association with TED comes as a result of Clear-Com's collaboration with the TED production team. During this time I have gotten to know the amazing Mina Sabet, TED's Head of Production, and have worked closely with her and her team to make sure they are aware of the latest and greatest communications tools in our arsenal. So while my visit to TED of course includes my strong interest in the program this year, it also is my first chance to see this amazing team in action firsthand and witness how some of the most compelling content available is made.

I have a knack for triangulating people's stated musical interests with other life factors to help them find musical (and other cultural) adjacencies which they may now have been aware of. This goes back to my days at legendary college radio station WXYC (associated with UNC-Chapel Hill) where we had (and still have, BTW) a mandatory open format - meaning all the radio shifts had to play multiple genres/styles of music. It remains a magic trick I can do to this day, even if sometimes I have to do a bit more research into 'the new' as I'm no longer tracking the latest releases and new arrivals to the scene (or scenes as the case may be).