TED Community » Davis Masten
About Me
After 20+ years of building a design consulting practice (Cheskin) that I successfully sold to WPP, I now devote my time and attention to making the world a better place. I do this through both private and public sector organizations, always preferring to work with organizations that have the will and the resources to provoke significant change.
I serve as the Chair of the President's Circle for the National Academy of Sciences, including the National Academy of Engineering, The Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council. I also serve on the board of the NRC's Division of Earth and Life Studies which tackles subjects ranging from climate change, stem cells, ocean studies, energy, clean water and natural resources. In my role with the President's Circle, I contributed to the founding of the Science and Entertainment Exchange, an organization that hopes to use the expertise of Hollywood to attract more kids to a career in science .
I am fascinated by the field of GeoDesign and work with both startups and established companies in this emerging discipline. Likewise, I spend more time than I can currently justify following the growth and maturation of the quantified self movement. I serve on the board of Mattson & Co., the top food and beverage development firm in the US. I collaborate closely with startups, including Carena, Quantified Impressions, Medpedia and QS Labs.
To stay in touch with the next generation of designers and scientists, I donate time as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Media X program at Stanford University, advise the DMBA and the graduate design program at California College of the Arts, and collaborate with SciPlay at NYSCI. Finally, I recently learned to kayak surf which helped me remember what it felt like to be young, carefree and content to hang with my buddies all day. When I'm not busy with any of the above, I'm sitting on the water off Diamond Head, chatting with new friends and learning to catch bigger waves.
- Location:
- United States, Atherton, CA
- Current organization:
- National Academy of Sciences
- Past organizations:
- Mattson, Carena, Media X at Stanford University, Quantified Impressions
- Current role:
- Chair of the President's Circle
- Gender:
- Male
- Areas of expertise:
- Marketing + Communications, Design Research, New Product Development, Digital ethnography, Trust , Innovation, Science Communication, Location Based Services, Quantified Self
- I am:
- Athlete, Change Agent, Connector, Designer, Entrepreneur, Global soul, Idea generator, Investor, Marketer
- Languages:
- English
- My website links:
- Cheskin, Media X at Stanford
- Universities:
- Johnston College, University of Redlands, CA
- TED conferences attended:
- TED2013, TED2012, TED2011, TED2010, TED2009, TED2008
More About Me
I'm passionate about
Family, Friends, Ideas. Doing good. Learning. Catalyzing. GeoDesign, Science, Engineering, Medicine. Body surfing, Scuba diving, Skiing, SustainableGardening, Hiking, Music, Surf kayaking
An idea worth spreading
By 2020 5 billion people will have cell phones, all more powerful than today's iPhone 4. These phones will know so much about its user: where they go, what they do, their preferences, their consumption of media, with whom they connect. etc. I am interested in helping those users connect with the world around them in a way that makes for better local action and builds a world in balance with nature and beauty.
Talk to me about
GeoDesign, Climate Change, Clean Water, Oceans, Cleantech, Sustainability, the Life Sciences, the Public Interface of Science, the Quantified Self, The Science and Entertainment Exchange
People don't know that I'm good at
Surf Kayaking. Well, let me say I am not great at it, but its my favorite new sport.
My TED Story
There are so many TED stories. One of my favorites was from TED 3. All TEDizens who were authors did a book signing. One of the authors was two time TED speaker Brenda Laurel. I walked up to Brenda and said, "You may not remember me." Brenda's eyes flared and she said "Your name is Davis Masten and I sent you Christmas cards for three years and you didn't reply, you xxxhole!" Fortunately she quickly forgave me and we were laughing in minutes. I went to find my wife, Christopher Ireland. I said, "I want to introduce you to someone who I think will be one of your close friends." Off we went to meet Brenda. They hit it right off. They remain close friends. The three of us worked together to develop the first computer game for girls, Purple Moon. Brenda's second TED presentation was about the work she led on Purple Moon.
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A comment on Conversation: William Gibson said "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed yet." What futures have you seen that are here, but unrecognized?