Last month, I was at TED, which is always a mind-bending experience: listening to some of the best brains in the world talk about subjects that cause you to shift the way you think.
The most interesting juxtaposition was between the talks given by Bono and upstart rocker Amanda Palmer. Bono was in full rock star brand mode: powerful, entertaining and engaging. He didn’t miss a word of the script on the teleprompters. Soon after Bono spoke, Palmer came on stage. She was humble and vulnerable, talking about her philosophy of asking her fans to help her create her music. She used Kickstarter to fund her new album. Her goal was to raise $200,000. She ended up raising $1.2 million. After both Bono and Amanda spoke, the person sitting next to me in the audience said, “Now, who’s the real rock star?”
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