During last week’s Colorado Innovation Network (COIN) summit, we had to opportunity to witness numerous sharp minds share their thoughts, ideas and visions for the future. One of those sharp minds was Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who sat down with us to discuss Colorado’s entrepreneurial spirit and its place as a leader among the nation in all things cutting edge.

In part two of our interview with Gov. Hickenlooper, we get conceptual, dissecting the very meaning of innovation, the future of COIN and Colorado—plus, the governor gives some very good advice to those looking to think differently.

Innovators Peak: Do you find that, when talking about things like COIN, that the word “innovation” is hard to define?

Governor Hickenlooper: Innovation is doing anything different. It’s the same way that people talk all the time about leadership. What is leadership? I think we just keep distilling it and leadership is any time you persuade someone to do something they weren’t originally planning to do; to believe something they didn’t believe before.

The beauty of that is everybody can be a leader because we all persuade people from time to time and we all are leaders from time to time. That’s one of the things we’re looking on how to infuse that into COIN, because COIN is basically leadership.

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This year’s Colorado Innovation Network (COIN) Summit brought together 300 industry leaders from around the world to discuss innovation topics ranging from Science and music to global innovation hubs and the Internet of Things. 

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Chris Herndon – Guy Most Likely

District 11 City Councilman Herndon’s a bit of a pro-learner: He has a bachelor’s degree from West Point, a master’s in management from Webster University, a fellowship at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and earned a master’s in public administration from the University of Colorado Denver – plus, a certificate in Lean Six Sigma. He knows … a lot. He’s also on the fast-track: He was elected by his peers in July to serve as City Council president for the year ahead – a reboot for a city councilman of three years (or maybe you’d just call it a system update). This guy is all sorts of #Winning.

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As much a veritable “who’s who” of the Colorado social scene as it is a blowout for innovation in the state, Colorado Innovation Network’s 2014 Summit (COIN) boasts an unparalleled guest list of 275 economy-drivers from around the world and across the country. This year’s speaking itinerary, spanning the two-day period of Aug. 26-27 at the MicNichols Civic Center Building, touts – among other left-brainers – opening remarks from Schwab Executive Vice President Andy Gill, an address from Gov. Hickenlooper, a keynote led by General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt and a lecture from Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei.

In an effort to truly use the event as a networking opportunity, we’ve compiled 10 COIN attendees you’ll want to brush up your mingling skills with while there – or maybe hit up for a cup of coffee or an Incredible Pedal next time they’re in town.

The First Five:

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