AboutEventsMembershipNewsResources
News > Press Releases > Ken Jennings, Jeopardy Champion, Addresses Utah Information Technology Association (UITA) Annual Mem
 

"I am extremely impressed after my first event! Insightful and stimulating."


Jim Weeks
Asst. Director, Salt Lake Small Business Development Center, Salt Lake Community College

 

 

[print]

 

 

Ken Jennings, Jeopardy Champion, Addresses Utah Information Technology Association (UITA) Annual Members Lunch

“Nothing is Trivial in the Information Age,” Jennings says

SALT LAKE CITY, March 31, 2005 –“There is information in all things, and almost no piece of information is really trivial,” says Jeopardy Champion Ken Jennings III. Jennings was the keynote speaker for Utah Information Technology Association (UITA) annual membership meeting held at the Little America hotel in Salt Lake City today.

Currently the $2.5M champion winner of the national game show “Jeopardy,” Jennings came to address a filled ballroom that represented a portion of Utah’s 2,900 information technology companies who are UITA members statewide.

Jennings noted that the rate of human learning is expanding exponentially since the beginning of recorded time. Research estimates that the amount of all known information had doubled in 1,500 years. From that time, the doubling has escalated to the point that some experts now believe human knowledge is doubling every 1.5 years.

Click for a gallery
 
 
Click for a photo gallery
 
Members only: Listen to Ken's complete remarks online! CLICK HERE!
 

“This seems to be considered a problem,” Jennings said. “That we are being bombarded with information as if it’s ammunition and it’s about to go off and destroy us. I don’t understand that reasoning at all. In my opinion, there’s been no more exciting time to be alive than right now, when there is so much information.”

As personal background, Jennings noted that during Jeopardy’s taping, one of the things that was both exciting and humiliating to him was to realize how much about Greek Mythology he knew from reading Thor comics as a child. Likewise, much of his astrology knowledge came from watching bad science fiction movies as a teen.

“All these things are good,” Jenning maintains. “If I’m cooking with my wife, maybe I’m learning some more about French or Italian that I didn’t know before. If I’m watching ‘Tommy the Tank Engine’ cartoons with my son, I find myself learning the names of train cars, and new facts about engines.”

The secret to life, Jennings concludes, is to foster and to treasure the natural curiosity that permeates every day of your life.

“Whether or not it leads to winning $2.5M on a syndicated game show, every bit of learning is valuable, and you should never stop learning,” he said. “Even if it only makes the world a richer or more fascinating place to live in, there’s nothing trivial about that.”

For more information about UITA, readers can contact the association directly at 568-3500 or visit www.uita.org.

About UITA
As Utah’s premier professional organization for technology companies, the Utah Information Technology Association (UITA) exists to form closer relationships with industry and community leaders, develop superior management talent, sharpen professional skills and help gain access to capital. For more information on UITA, please visit http://www.uita.org.

Agency Contact:
Cheryl Snapp Conner
Snapp Norris Group
T) 801 208-1100

UITA:
Richard Nelson
T) 801.568.3500


| 3/31/2005 2:01:10 PM | 0 Comments

UTC Insider

BECOME A MEMBER and get more insight from industry leaders.