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+# Killer Talks 
+
+One of the distinct joys and privileges I've had as Community Manager at "Basho":http://basho.com is being able to attend, view, and facilitate Technical Talks. Technical Talks are a form of intellectual currency; talented speakers are heralded and sought after (for good reason), and fanboys like me memorize URLs of favorites so they can get credit for introducing a classic to a newcomer. ("Bro, you haven't seen Hickey's 'Simple Made Easy?'")
+
+When you see a talk you love, it sticks with you. Why was it so memorable? A few potential reasons:
+
+* The ideas and assertions were actually novel and new, and presented with passion (even if you disagreed with them)
+* Someone was able to take abstract, esoteric concepts and turn them into something comprehensible and concrete
+* The speaker was a pure entertainer, and had a perfect mix of technical depth, wit, wisdom, and passion
+* The slide quality and talk preparation were second-to-none
+* The speaker didn't use slides, and it blew your mind
+* The production quality (filming, editing, etc.) were exceptional and should be emulated
+* Someone took a huge risk and blew you away (like killing production nodes mid-talk) 
+
+These also might be helpful for those of you seeking pre-talk inspiration. ("Talent borrows. Genius Steals.")  
+ 
+As usual, **pull requests are encouraged**. I'll be updating this regularly but there are scores of killer talks out there, and I've only seen a trivial portion of them. *If you're contributing a talk, include a few words on why you're adding it and some sort of self-attribution so that people can know from whom it came.*	
+
+Enjoy. 
+
+Mark 
+
+### Talks (in no particular order)
+
+* [Simple Made Easy](http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Simple-Made-Easy) (Rich Hickey, Strange Loop 2011.) Hickey talk 1 of N that's worth every minute (even if you don't care at all about programming).
+* [An End to Negativity](http://jsconf.eu/2011/an_end_to_negativity.html) (Chris Williams, JSConf.eu 2011). Pure passion. 
+* [Ben Fried's Surge 2011 Key Note](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNhn-bNc96Y) Lessons learned and practical advice on the importance of being a generalist. Also, no slides. 
+* [Inventing on Principle](https://vimeo.com/36579366) (Bret Victor, CUSEC 2012) Driven thinker and technologist 
+* [WAT](https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat) (Gary Bernardt, CodeMash 2012.) Hilarious and entertaining. Almost a perfect lightening talk. 
+* [Instant-ish Real Service](https://vimeo.com/37930578) (Ted Nyman, BashoChats) Smart and witty. Also gives you a simple call to action (which many people forget to do when presenting).
+* [How Eventual is Eventual Consistency?](https://vimeo.com/37758648) (Peter Bailis, Basho Chats) One of the best examples of how to take an esoteric, abstract concept and turn it into a practical talk with concrete findings and advice. Peter's also a great speaker.