It happens here: Consumer-centric Innovation in Charlotte and beyond

photo via sirconferences

I wanted to quickly highlight a handful of design+innovation events in the Queen City before they sneak up on us!  Who knew we were such a hotbed?!

• Perhaps as a preview to TEDxCharlotte, TED conference founder Richard Saul Wurman is visiting Charlotte to host a double feature on 4/7 and 4/8.  The first is “Charlotte as a Learning Playground,” which is geared to be “an interactive conversation on Charlotte’s present and future identity.”  At $199, it’s a little pricey, but one perk is that it’s at the new Ritz Carlton Uptown, where attendees can enjoy a fancy spread of hors d’oeuvres and try out the locally filtered water through its first-of-its-kind LEED setup.
• Charlotte’s own AIGA chapter is coordinating the city’s first annual Design Week, and they’re kicking it off at Imaginon on 4/13 with a Design Unplugged panel discussion of local creative directors and businessfolks.
• The next two conflict with an innovation event I’m attending in Chapel Hill, but I figured I’d share it here for those staying local that weekend:  Barcamp Charlotte is hosting version 3.0 at Area15 on 4/10 and the Southern District Conference for the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) is in Charlotte on 4/9-11, themed The Economy of Design.