Fortune Conferences – Where the Best Minds in the World of Business Meet.

Overview

At FORTUNE, we see the world changing fast, and in unpredictable ways. Much of this headlong change is driven by the Internet, which is restructuring business and society in astonishing ways. The small are acting large and the large are learning to act with the speed and flexibility of the small. It was our fascination with these growing trends that prompted us to launch the first Brainstorm conference in 2001. The next and fifth will be our most focused look yet at how the world is adapting. The theme for the conference is "Life in a Connected World."

Brainstorm brings global-minded business leaders together with leading thinkers from government, science, art, academia, entertainment, technology, and other key fields to explore both the present and the future. The gathering will have a special focus on technology and its impact, now and in the future. How does the new connectedness change business, society, culture, and daily life around the world?

Brainstorm—even more so than other FORTUNE conferences—is guided and organized by our editors. Our group is kept small to promote a high level of interaction and cross-fertilization of ideas. It's easy to develop new relationships. Past participants—many of them repeat attendees—include King Abdullah of Jordan, Tyco's Ed Breen, President Bill Clinton, venture capitalist John Doerr, EasyJet's Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Fred Krupp of Environmental Defense, Flextronics' Michael Marks, Colorado Governor Bill Owens, Wipro CEO Vivek Paul (now Texas Pacific Group), Ralph Reed, Ken Roth of Human Rights Watch, Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP, eBay's Meg Whitman, and Paul Wolfowitz.

Brainstorm 2006 will be hosted by FORTUNE and the Aspen Institute at Aspen Meadows on June 28-30, 2006. The program will include different formats—dinners, general plenary sessions featuring panels and one-on-one interviews, short solo presentations to small group roundtables, and fireside chats—all designed to facilitate in-depth dialogue.