Tech Awards For Humanity: "Cash Prizes" Galore And Al Gore's Meaningless Speech . . . And Amazing Laureates!
By Tom Foremski - November 20, 2009
Last night I attended the Tech Awards Gala, which celebrates technology benefiting humanity, with the award of five $50,000 "cash prizes."
Technology in the service of humanity seems a better description because all of the 15 laureates chosen, communicated a quiet humility, patience and a stubborn purpose in making a big difference in the lives of many people. It was awe inspiring.
Many of the ideas were simple but powerful: distributing camping lamps with rechargeable batteries and recharging them every day at a central location so that kids can do homework and parents can read or work; attaching a code to medicines to check their validity through a simple text-message; and much more.
Unfortunately, only five of the laureates won a prize yet each of them deserved it. Many work with annual budgets of just $10,000.
The Tech Awards are grand affairs, full of Silicon Valley "royalty" with some 2000 people decked out in black-tie and glittering gowns. If that ballroom were a country, it would vault into the top 100 in terms of GDP, for that evening.
Which is why it always strikes me that $50,000 is a bit stingy. But I have a solution:
- Place a pen and paper at every dinner place setting and play a game of picking the laureate you think will win.
- You get to see a short video focused on each laureate, you tick the box next to the one that's your favorite.
- If you pick all five correctly your table congratulates you and you take home the central flower setting.
- At the end of the awards, you then have an opportunity to make a contribution to your favorite laureates. You fill out your credit card number, fill in the amount of your contribution and the money is divided among the laureates.
It's a great opportunity to raise money because everyone is emotionally moved by the story of the laureates. The organizers are literally letting money walk out when it could be left on the table, collected, and donated. That's my 2 cents.
The rest of the evening wasn't as good as hearing the stories of the laureates. The presenters of the awards, big names like Michael Splinter, CEO of Applied Materials, which founded the Tech Awards, were tedious attempts at inspirational speeches. All the right words but lacking in anything else.
The worst of the lot was former vice-president Al Gore, who received the Global Humanitarian Award.
First, he thanked super VC John Doer and his other pals at Kleiner Perkins, before mentioning the Tech Award winners. He then launched into a very long speech that sounded like he had literally taped-together hundreds of well-meaning phrases that were meaningless when heard together!
I tried to concentrate and listen to what he was saying but it all sounded like a typical politician's speech. He sounded like a parody of someone imitating Al Gore give a speech about global warming. It was awful. He got a standing ovation.
Afterwards, I checked around and asked if others had a similar experience. Everyone said yes.
All the laureates gave far better speeches. Al Gore should give his prize and appearance money to the laureates that went home without any "cash prize" money. (All the presenters emphasized the "cash prize" constantly, so often that it became the catchphrase for the evening.)
I enjoyed the evening and I support the work of the Tech Awards and I hope that more money can be raised for the incredible work that the laureates are doing in some of the poorest regions of the world.
- - -
(Note to organizers: I'd love to be able to embed some of the videos I saw last night. Could you please make those available along with a handy donation form?)
Here are descriptions of the laureates: Technology In The Service Of Humanity
SFGATE- Tech Awards recognize innovation
San Jose Mercury - awards honor social entrepreneurs
Tech Awards Recognize Science in Service to Humanity - Tonic
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Comments (7)
Last time I checked, Al Gore was charging $175,000 for a speech.
Posted: November 20, 2009 4:34 PM
I'd love to know if he was paid to appear...
Posted: November 21, 2009 10:47 AM
Point of clarification: Al Gore was not paid a fee for appearing at The Tech Awards Gala on November 19, nor did he receive a cash prize. He came to the Gala at his own expense to receive the 2009 Global Humanitarian Award (in the form of a trophy) and to honor the accomplishments of The Tech Awards Laureates from around the world who were the true focus of the awards ceremony.
The Tech Awards Laureates are here in Silicon Valley for a week of networking, conferences, workshops, and appearances to promote their projects. Most often, these connections are even more valuable to the Laureates than the $50,000 unrestricted cash prizes given to five of them. In its 9 years of existence, the program has awarded more than $2 million and inducted 215 Laureates.
In addition to supporting the year-round international program, The Tech Awards Gala benefits The Tech Museum, providing major annual funding for the museum's educational programs and galleries, whose principal beneficiaries are Bay Area school children.
Posted: November 22, 2009 7:31 PM
Thanks David, I love the work that The Tech Awards has done and I'd love to help you raise even more money for these amazing ventures. Very inspiring. And also glad to hear Al Gore was able to contribute his time for free.
Posted: November 22, 2009 11:42 PM
Thank you, Tom, for your support of The Tech Awards. We are working on getting you the Laureates' films created by director Sandy Smolan. Thanks for sharing them with your audience. Coming soon.
Posted: November 23, 2009 6:35 PM
I was very impressed by the Tech Awards. For a less cynical take on it, check out this link: http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/11/25/al-gore-what-were-you-thinking/
Al Gore's speech was inspiring if you actually listened to the words. He said: "One day, our children will ask: what WERE you doing? Watching dancing with the stars? It's time to get political." His emphasis on our responsibility to future generations resonated with me. Bravo to the organizers - The Tech Awards really is the Oscars of the Tech World.
Posted: November 25, 2009 9:36 AM
Thanks Alison. I guess I was fed up with all the preaching from the podium so it was very refreshing to see the laureates not takling, but doing. That was much more inspiring than Mr Gore's performance. And I, too, support the work of the Tech Awards and hope that they continue to find and reward worthy organizations, do-ers rather than talkers.
Posted: November 25, 2009 12:38 PM