For the past few days, the erupting Icelandic volcano with the best name ever has shut down all air travel to and from northern Europe, stranding, among millions of others, the community of change agents who were gathered in London for the 2010 Skoll World Forum. Eyjafjallajökull gave them a blank whiteboard—they gave us TEDxVolcano.

I guess it's just what happens when hundreds of people from the leading edges of social change are plucked from their various paths and dropped into the same city for a few days of unplanned, tangential time. In thirty-six hours, an impromptu team of individuals and organizations assembled a TEDx event, which they hosted and live-streamed today, Sunday evening London time.

The event was intimate but featured rockstars of the social change community. Cara Mertes, Head of Documentaries for Sundance, described the volcano-related situation we are now facing as a fortunate, indeed a miraculous, "sneak preview" into the future, when the natural world becomes out-of-sync with human society due to climate change. This preview is fortunate, she said, in that it can help us learn, and miraculous in that it is peaceful—which may not be the case when we must deal with the real thing. Matthew Bishop, author of Philanthrocapitalism and U.S. Business Editor / New York Bureau Chief at The Economist, talked about how some have failed to see that the paradigm has changed since the financial meltdown of 2008, and how that prevents them from seeing that doors that had been closed are now open. He also argued for a focus on the "enabling problem"—one that will help us solve many others—by ensuring that the media plays its proper role in improving the quality of public debate, rather than polarizing issues and turning important discussions into simplistic shouting, as it often does. Nathaniel Whittemore, the catalyst for TEDxVolcano, described the event as an illustration of the power of "Why not?", pointing out that when enough people come together saying "Why not?" it becomes a "Hell yes!" He will surely write about the event, so be sure to check out reflections on his blog as well. TED's June Cohen did a wonderful job as host.

It is pretty awesome that this group of people planned, hosted and streamed this event in a weekend. Thank you!

View a recording of TEDxVolcano below: