A video site for intellectuals

For most, a conversation with Penn President Amy Gutmann or Republican presidential candidate John McCain doesn't happen very often.

But posting your own ideas next to theirs can be done online with a Web site launched last week.

BigThink.com is a multimedia site that features interviews with prominent public leaders, including authors, politicians, educators and businessmen.

The site aims to provide a forum where users can interact with the ideas expressed in the interviews, said co-founder Victoria Brown.

Current media often does not cater to "the large portion of the population who is interested in the world and what is going on," said Brown, who founded the site with Peter Hopkins.

Visitors to the site can view the interviews, comment on them and post their own content.

Big Think currently features 160 interviews - ranging from Gutmann to AARP Executive Director and CEO Bill Novelli. Site managers hope to add five more each week.

The site gives the public a chance to put their ideas next to those of high-profile figures, Brown said.

"Typically the conversations with these thought leaders and influencers go on behind closed doors, and so we wanted to open the conversation to all," she said. "The best ideas rise to the top."

Students' initial responses to the site were varied.

College junior Daniel Mabey said he thinks there is a market for a site like Big Think.

"I often search different intellectuals and watch their videos," he said. "Having a site with just this would be helpful."

But for others, the site isn't as appealing.

"I definitely would never use it," College junior Christian Myers said. "This isn't something that would ever interest me. But I'm sure that those kids who always want to raise their hands in lecture would love it. They could hear themselves talk over and over."

But Novelli, a Penn alumnus, believes that Big Think is a Web site worth visiting.

While he is unsure if Penn students will be interested in the site, he hopes that students will take the time to visit it because the interviews "are not the usual talking heads stuff you see on CNN."

"The interview questions were very thoughtful, not superficial," Novelli continued.

Novelli stressed how important posting on sites like Big Think is for his company.

"Big Think is just part of a much broader way of reaching out to customers," he said.

The site currently has 7,000 registered users who have posted 3,205 multimedia ideas.

Big Think is also planning other features, including a social-networking aspect similar to that of Facebook.com, which will provide users with a means of contacting others on the site to stimulate the flow of ideas.

By the end of the year, Brown said she hopes Big Think will have 1,000,000 users.

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