91´«Ã½

CHICAGO -- “Say yes first, ask questions later. Commit, then figure it out,” says Mick Ebeling, who promises 91´«Ã½ Midwinter Meeting attendees an inspiring message about finding creative solutions to real-world problems by looking at them differently. Ebeling will be welcomed by Courtney Young as the featured speaker at the 91´«Ã½ President’s Program from 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 1.

What if you discovered by accident that you could change the world? A film and TV producer by trade, and an optimist by nature, Ebeling shows in his book “Not Impossible: The Art and the Joy of Doing What Couldn’t Be Done” (Atria Books, January 2015) how anyone can help change the world. On the cutting edge of the new Maker Movement, he is succeeding in finding ways to create and share new, simple, DIY technologies that offer people greater access to medical devices, communication devices and other things they need. Typical of his projects are using sunglasses, a web camera and a coat hanger to get a paralyzed graffiti artist drawing again, or making a prosthetic arm for less than $100 for a boy whose arms had been blown off in the war in Sudan. Time magazine called Ebeling’s Eyewriter one of the “Top 50 Inventions of 2010.”

Ebeling will share some of the extraordinary stories behind his successes and lessons learned and will talk about moving from “crowd-sourcing” to “crowd-solving.” He plans to launch Global Labs in more than a dozen countries and at his next “Hacker/Maker” Weekend to create a cheap “Robot Walker,” a rehab machine for kids with cerebral palsy and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Mick Ebeling is founder of and The Ebeling Group, an award-winning international production company and creative think tank. He is listed as a USA Network Cultural Trailblazer and won the 2014 Muhammad Ali humanitarian of the year award. His appearance is sponsored by Simon & Schuster.

Registration and housing are now open for 2015 91´«Ã½ Midwinter Meeting and Exhibits in Chicago, Jan. 30-Feb. 3, at alamidwinter.org. Use to make your case for attending!

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