"The job of the designer is to annoy the rigid." Yves Behar of fuseproject.

"I don't have slides. I don't have an accent. So, sorry for both of those." Christopher Simmons of MINE on following Yves Behar.

"Specialization precludes comprehensive thinking." Buckminster Fuller as quoted by Nathan Waterhouse, OpenIDEO.

"Creating change requires a little more work and little more bravery." Scott Thomas of SimpleScott. "I knew almost nothing about the products that I was consuming everyday." Dara O'Rourke on why he created GoodGuide.

"We decided we were better off working 4 days for our clients." Janine James of The Moderns on the creation of "Imagine the Next" Fridays.

Jessica Watson is completing her second semester of the innovative MBA in Design Strategy program at California College of the Arts' where she is focusing on sustainability and social entrepreneurship. This is her first Compostmodern conference, but she is sure it will not be her last.