It’s been a crazy few days.

The Ungrounded flight was fun but exhausting. Everyone on the flight was incredible - brilliant, accomplished, and really nice. It was a bit tough doing a hackathon in flight but IDEO did a good job facilitating. You can see a full writeup of the flight by Chrissy: http://venturebeat.com/2013/06/14/brainstorming-at-30k-feet-reflections-from-the-hackathon-in-the-sky/

After arriving at the hotel we had some free time. I grabbed a pint with some friends and then walked through Regent’s Park - an old favorite from when I lived in London. At 6pm we went over to the House of Lords where Baroness Scotland of Asthal greeted us; she was a great host and treated us to a tour of Parliament and a great cocktail reception.

We were still hungry around 11pm so a few of us went on an adventure around SOHO to find some food - we ended up grabbing some delicious dishes in Chinatown.

Today we had back to back summits. First was a G8 Innovation Conference with some nice TED style talks. The morning was capped off with an appearance by Prime Minister David Cameron. It was great to see him in such a small venue and he gave a nice speech on Britain’s efforts to foster innovation.

The afternoon switched to the DNA Summit and we got to hear from several of our fellow Ungrounded participants - also lots of fun. We were then brought to a gala at the Royal Academy of Arts - a great way to finish the official segment of the trip.

We’re on our own now - I’m spending the next few days catching up with friends in London before spending a couple days in Edinburgh mid-week. I’ll then return to London for another few days before heading out on the 23rd.

Great start to what I’m sure will be an awesome trip!