The University News Service has published a media release on the college's Design Intersections symposium series focusing on the inaugural event, "Disruptive Effects: How Design Is Changing Your World (and how to profit from it)."

Speakers for the symposium are:

• Jane McGonigal, director of game R&D for the Institute for the Future
• Tom Erickson, interaction designer and researcher at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center
• Nora Paul, director of the University's Institute for New Media Studies
Tom Fisher, dean of the University's College of Design

The purpose of the Design Intersections series is to:

• Stimulate business community thinking about design and its application in new ways.
• Inspire designers to see opportunities in periods of rapid, unpredictable transformation.
• Learn how design can impact global issues including environment, healthcare, the economy, communications and culture.

The symposium -- sponsored by the College of Design in partnership with Larsen, a Minneapolis-based national design, branding, and interactive agency -- is open to the public and takes place Thursday, March 18, 2010, 12:00-5:30 p.m., in the 3M Auditorium at the Carlson School of Management. It is open to the public. Registration is $150 and includes lunch and reception.

• "University of Minnesota College of Design Disruptive Effects Conference: Epic" by Doug Powell, merge