“One of the great things is I get to meet people who I would not otherwise meet.”

Emanuel:    Well this is . . .  It’s been . . .  It’s a three year old festival, and I’ve been here each year – each of the three years teaching.  And for me one of the great things is I get to meet people who I would not otherwise meet either because they’re in business, or in some other area of pursuit that I just wouldn’t knock into them.  And I learn a lot from them.  Every year I have learned a tremendous amount; and in particular I would say about energy, the environment . . . technologies that are available.  That’s an area where I came to the Ideas Festival three years ago knowing very little.  I’ve learned a lot from here.  I’ve also learned a lot from people who are artists, and actors, and actresses here about art and how it influences them, and how it changes the way they see the world.  So for me, it’s really interacting with people and gaining a little bit of the knowledge that they have on topics that I don’t know anything about.