THINK and INK Conference Dates Announced

THINK speaker James Randi.

Two of the country’s biggest ideas conferences—and general schmoozefests—are around the corner. The third edition of the INK (Innovation and Knowledge) Conference will take place from Thursday, October 11 to Sunday, October 14 at the Marriott in Pune, and the second installment of THINK returns to the Grand Hyatt in Bambolim in Goa from Friday, November 2 to Sunday, November 4.

INK, an offshoot of the TED talks (see our guide to the various conferences here), will be co-hosted by David Rowan, the editor of the UK edition of Wired magazine; Joi Ito, the director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab; and Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons. The list of speakers is yet to be announced. Like in the previous years, the conference fee, for Indian nationals, is a hefty Rs1 lakh.

THINK, an initiative of newsmagazines Tehelka and Newsweek, has roped in speakers such as James Watson (who along with Francis Crick decoded the structure of DNA), magician James Randi (whose claims to fame include bending forks with his mind and breaking Houdini’s record by remaining underwater for 104 minutes), and George Galloway (the British politician and journalist known for his fierce opposition to the Iraq war). While entry to the conference is free, engaging with the speakers at breakfasts and lunches comes with the price tag of Rs31,000.