IDEAS Boston 2007

Hey! Looks like I'll be blogging the IDEAS Boston 2007 conference tomorrow (Thursday), all day long. So keep an eye on this space.

WHERE: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 600 Atlantic Ave.

WHEN: Thursday, Oct. 4., 8:45 - 5:45. It might be sold out already, but here's the registration site.

WHAT: According to a story that ran in the Globe's Business section on Monday, IDEAS Boston is "a conference that celebrates innovation across multiple disciplines." Is the event sponsored or organized by the Boston Globe's Ideas section, you ask? No! Although -- perhaps confusingly -- the first IDEAS Boston conference, in 2004, was organized by the Boston Globe. Now IDEAS Boston is a nonprofit venture; the Globe, along with WCVB-TV and 90.9 WBUR, is one of the event's "media partners."

WHY: Quoting the Globe again, "Unlike industry and academic forums organized around narrow themes, IDEAS showcases emerging concepts, breakthroughs, and Boston-area researchers, performers, and entrepreneurs in a variety of fields." According to the official website, "IDEAS Boston is meant for those looking to connect the dots in new ways, big thinkers, those wanting to jump-start their imagination."

WHO: Tom Ashbrook, of NPR's "On Point," will moderate. This year's event will introduce innovators in music, architecture, physics, cell biology, and other fields. They include:

* David C. Kang, an expert on the history and politics of China and North Korea

* Derek Lovley, UMass Amherst microbiologist

* Martha Mason, artistic director and choreographer; and Jonathan Bachrach, an artist and research scientist at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab

* John C. Warner, green chemistry advocate

* Erik D. Demaine, MIT mathematician

* Bisola Ojikutu, infectious disease physician and director of international programs at Harvard Medical School's AIDS division

* Ioannis N. Miaoulis, Museum of Science director

* Panos Panay, Internet entrepreneur

* Nader Tehrani, architect and urban designer

* Emmanuel K. Akyeampong, a Harvard professor who helped to establish the African Public Broadcasting Foundation

* Nancy G. Kanwisher, cognitive neuroscientist

* Kecia Ali, a BU professor of religion

* Joan S. Brugge, Harvard Medical School cell biologist

* Edward L. Glaeser, urban and social economist

* Jay Allison, NPR broadcast journalist

* Michael Gandolfi, composer and music professor

* Anna Schuleit, painter and installation artist; and Deborah Henson-Conant, performance artist, will perform during the "artistic breaks."