Red Burns, the ultimate Woman Entrepreneur

Red – In Her Own Words from ITP Events on Vimeo.

Fred and I went to a memorial service for Red Burns.  An incredible event that was a true celebration of Reds life.  The speakers were Mary Schmidt Campbell, the Dean of Tisch School of Arts, Dan O’Sullivan, Chair of ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program) , Bob Greenberg R/GA Tisch Dean’s Council, Barbara Burns, Red’s daughter, Daisy Burns, Reds Granddaughter, Sergio Canetti, ITP Alumnus and Friend, Sharleen Smith ITP Alumna and friend and Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara.  Listening to all of them speak about Red was incredibly powerful. 

I wrote about Red when she died telling the story of her life.  There are a few things that really resonated with me at the memorial.  Red always spoke what she believed to be the truth.  She did not hold back.  She spoke her mind and did not apologize for it.  She was a true visionary seeing the future beginning with her fascination with television and a video camera.  As Sharleen said, Red told her when she was a student at ITP that she was there to learn to learn.  She believed that innovation is about the idea and technology can help you achieve that idea.  

This video is worth watching.  Red speaks about how ITP came to be and what she set out to build although just like technology Red’s vision evolved as she wasn’t even sure what she was building from the onset.  It was apparent this past weekend what she had created.  People came from across the globe to pay respects to a woman that changed each of their lives.  The graduates of ITP have made a tremendous impact on the NY technology community. 

Red was an incredible human being and her start-up, ITP, will live on and continue to make a difference for years and generations to come.