It ended with a bang.

Saturday night summit-goers partied like it was 2049. The celebration stretched late into the evening. For a taste of the day’s presentations see this article on Patricia Pearson published in the Ottawa Citizen. Citizen publisher Jim Orban addressed the crowd Friday.

Other highlights included performances by musicians Silvie and Bryan Cheng, gymnist and special Olympian Christina Campbell,  and Brie Barker with the Sanitas Playback Theatre.

Speakers included National Gallery director Marc Mayer, Guy Laflamme with the National Capital Commission and a host of others.

You can continue the conversation online by joining the 3iSummit social-networking site which can easily be linked with your Facebook profile. Tell us how Ottawa came to be your home and what your dream for our city is.

And we’d love your feedback on one or both days of  the Summit.

Let’s keep the conversation going!

We’ll see you online… and at the summit next year.

The 3iSummit opened with a formal invitation to fun. Professor Brian Little addressed the crowd from the staircase overlooking the foyer of the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre.

“Some times in our foolishness we are inadvertently wise,” Little told the crowd. “Let’s be foolish today!”

Little’s remarks were applauded loudly.

Then summit goers were lead through a round of “community speed-dating.” Participants were invited to share 30-second introductions with those standing nearest them. Afterwards, Clare Brennan was among those who shared their experience with the crowd. Brennan was most struck by his brief conversation with a grade 12 student whom he was pleased to see at the summit.

“When I was in grade 12 what I was doing was walking around with my buddies talking about why none of us could talk to Joan Foley,” Brennan said.

In the theatre itself, former Ottawa mayor Jacquelin Holzman was among those introducing summit speakers in the theatre itself. Like many, she was eager to share her own vision of Ottawa’s future.

“I want Ottawa to be a second home town for all Canadians,” Holzman said.

Soon, architect Douglas Cardinal was on the stage. Cardinal described how he first came to Ottawa to fulfill Pierre Trudeau’s vision of Canada through his work designing the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau.

“He wanted to have a place where all cultures could be celebrated,”Cardinal said. “So we would learn as a nation to embrace one another’s cultures.”

Cardinal also shared his own dream that Canada “become a nation where our first nations have an equal place in Canadian society.”

Cardinal was followed by youth activist Aliai Lual who described her own experience of “starting from scratch” and having a “second chance” after immigrating to Canada from war-torn Sudan.

“It is through my interaction with people that I have been able to see what is possible in life,” Lual told the crowd.

Later Pinchas Zuckerman, music director with the National Arts Centre orchestra, demonstrated how he uses technology to teach students remotely at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. Zuckerman is adamant that technology and the ability to share information is key to a better future.

“It’s so important. We need to give people information, regardless of the field,” Zuckerman said.

Although Zuckerman was careful to stress that his own use of technology was no substitute for one-on-one instruction, at least in the field of music.

“This is not a substitute. This is an enhancement. If anyone tells you different, they’re wrong. Don’t argue with them. Just tell them ‘you’re wrong,’” Zuckerman said.

Blind and deaf Ottawa resident Penny LeClair was also amongst the presenters.. She prompted Twitter user robertdekker to write “Penny LeClair: Ottawa world leader in accessibility for ALL citizens.”

Olympic kayaker Angus Mortimer led the crowd through a brief warm-up that he describes as “all it takes” for an athlete to prepare for an Olympic level performance. Mortimer went on to say that he has been lucky enough to paddle rivers throughout the world but said he has paddled “no body of water that is nicer than the Rideau River.”

Mortimer said his dream for the next generation is that they have a river to paddle on.

That’s just a taste of the many inspiring speakers at the 3iSummit. For a taste of day two click here. You can continue the conversation online by joining the 3iSummit social-networking site Let us know how Ottawa came to be your home and what your dream for our city is.

Another funky radio ad for the 3i Summit.  check it out!

Listen to the ad CHUO produced – lovin’ the jazz!

Check out these pictures of the 3iCycles in their natural habitat. Leadership Ottawa and the 3i Summit are showcasing these environmental cabs that will hit the streets in the Spring of 2010. But you can go along for the ride as we take the bikes on a tour of the Byward Market. The creativity and innovation that went into designing and  creating these cool cabs is the kind of out of the box thinking that the 3i Summit aims to inspire.

Listen as 3i Summit organizer Bart Bakker talks about how the idea for the Summit was born and who is speaking. You’ll get a taste of what the Summit experience will be like.

In part two of his interview with Fred Sherman Bart talks about his own dreams for Ottawa and shares his ideas on the best way to keep a society moving forward.

The 3iCycle, brought to Ottawa by Leadership Ottawa, will be starring in the movies. Their good looks and charisma landed them in environmentalist David Chernushenko’s latest documentary. Check out the pictures of the 3iCycle on the set. The 3iCycle is a  new creative form of transportation and just the kind of innovative thinking the 3i Summit aims to inspire.  Lights Camera Action!

David Chernushenko photographs the 3iCycles as they make movie debut

The 3iCycles on camera with David Chernushenko checking them out

3iCycle is ready for a close up

The film crew checks out the 3iCycle

Click play to listen to members of the the 3i Summit team interviewed on CHUO’s Saturday morning program Black on Black. Many thanks to CHUO, Adrienne Codette and all the hosts of Black on Black.

Leadership Ottawa goes to Overbrook for a community day.