[Philip Lelyveld comment; While I find the quote by Samil Ismail, Singularity Institute's founding Exec Dir, that "Technology is the only driver of human progress,” disturbing - since in scifi that outlook usually leads to a distopia - it is remarkable that so many of these gatherings are taking place worldwide.]
Their offspring is Pioneers Festival. In just one year since it started, it’s grown from under 1,500 attendees to more than 2,500 international guests. Pioneers managed to draw in a bevy of international thought leaders in health, science, disruptive tech, investors, hackers, journalists and serial entrepreneurs. And, much like the Dublin Web Summitheld two weeks ago in Dublin, Ireland, they created a heady mix of people from all over Europe, Eastern Europe and the US.
See the full story here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferhicks/2012/10/31/when-a-festival-has-nothing-to-do-with-music/