Now two years later, I'm still hooked on the event and was excited to attend my third TEDxSalem. I failed to buy my ticket early for the discount, but did manage to buy it before the event :). Tickets were also available at the door, FYI, but I wanted to be sure to have a spot and a fancy pre-printed name tag.
Given the winter we're having, of course snow was scheduled for the day of the conference. Luckily, the organizers decided to stay the scheduled course, and lucky for me, I live downtown and and only had about a two block walk to the venue.
I bundled up on that Saturday morning and headed to the Salem Convention Center. I arrived and queued up in line to get my name tag, then grabbed by goodie bag with the most important part - my commemorative mug :)
(my hallway to the outside world :))
The convention center
There were quotes from past speakers decorating the lobby area.
The morning started out a little bit disappointing. They had advertised that breakfast would be provided, but all that was available was bread (and toasters for you to toast your own) with peanut butter and jam, Kind bars, and coffee/tea/water. Hmmm. Not that appealing, especially for the gluten free crowd. Oh, and the first year I went, I was happy to see that they served locally roasted coffee, but this year it was just run of the mill coffee, but maybe that was the agreement they had with the convention center.
I grabbed some coffee and a Kind bar and entered the auditorium to find a seat. When I walked through the doors, I loved it! Last year the conference was downstairs, and the room just felt off; it seemed too big or something. This year it was upstairs, and it looked just about perfect. The space was just the right size, the blue mood lighting was awesome, there were couches up front, and it felt like a real TED event. I found a seat in the middle near-ish to the front next to another girl who appeared to be there alone. As I settled in and perused the agenda for the day the girl in front of me turned around and exclaimed, "You're my doppelganger!!" We both had curly hair and glasses. (Btw - Her curls looked way better than mine that day, so I totally took it as a compliment :)) And that just sort of exemplifies how TED events are and the feeling of the whole day. Everyone's there to have this shared experience and kind of connect with humanity (maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but that's how it feels) and it's common to just strike up a conversation with someone you don't know.
The day was broken into four sessions with "recess" between each. The sessions were made up of (mostly local) speakers, videos from the big annual TED conferences, and performances. I used my handy dandy notebook they provided to take notes on everything (I'm a habitual note taker), but don't worry, I'll just highlight my favorite things :)
Please note - they did not totally keep to this schedule.
The first session started with an intro to the day. The theme of "Revolution" was introduced as meaning a "sudden and complete change." We were invited to hold the opposing mindsets of curiosity and skepticism, openness and critical thinking, and inspiration and action. This year's artist in residence, Kathryn Cellerini Moore, took the stage and explained her artwork installation which was inspired by the Wizard of Oz. She explained that Dorothy had the tools and experience she needed in order to achieve what she wanted, and that for us, with each challenge and memory, we place a brick in our own roads. The wheelbarrows in the installation are to remind us of the hard work that it takes to maintain our yellow brick roads.
Then we had a short yoga experience guided by Mikki Trowbridge from Indigo Wellness. The yoga was meant to put us in the right mindset to receive the ideas we were going to hear and engage with the day ahead of us. I think it worked! (Or at least I liked it!) It was a calming experience but also a shared experience with everyone in the room. I don't think I've ever done any yoga before, and it reminded me that I really should fulfill my goal of getting over to Indigo sometime soon to try out a beginning yoga class (maybe watch for a future blog!)
The highlights of session one for me, besides the yoga, were a video we watched about urban gardening (check it out here, it's quite good), and a talk by Karen Holman, a local chemistry professor. Hers was probably one of my favorite talks (but I heart science). She told us about a metallic element, ruthenium, which has shown lots of promise as a cancer treatment. You could totally tell that she's a teacher, because she explained the concept in a way that was very understandable. She taught us that healthy cells have a few "hands" that will grab onto ruthenium (thinking it's iron), but cancer cells have a bunch of "hands" that will grab it, and those levels of ruthenium in the bad cell's environment will cause it to self destruct. Meanwhile, the healthy cells don't really get harmed, so the cancer patient has very few side effects. Karen told us that this treatment has been stuck in clinical trials for 15 years, and that there are many other helpful drugs that are stuck like this one is because they just can't get funding. She encouraged us to crowd fund medical research like this. And, she suggested we donate through consano.org because they have a vetting process.
As you can tell, I totally forgot to take pics during session one. Well, I thought about a yoga pic but my arms were otherwise occupied. Blog fail!
As you can tell, I totally forgot to take pics during session one. Well, I thought about a yoga pic but my arms were otherwise occupied. Blog fail!
After session one, there was a recess. While I really enjoyed most of the day, recesses seemed a little haphazard/chaotic this year. Last year I knew what was happening and when and enjoyed participating in some fun activities. This year, I wasn't sure which activity was happening and where it was. There was no real schedule or anything posted, and some of the activities just seemed to not be going on. During this recess I first admired the snow that had begun falling, then tried some tasty Krave Jerky at their free sample table. I liked the cherry/pork variety the best. Then I watched the taping of a music video that RiverCity Rock Star Academy was hosting (TEDx participants could sing lead in a song about revolution - then they showed the finished product during session 4). There were no snacks served during this recess :(, but there was more coffee, so that was a partial win. Book Bin, a downtown business, had a little booth there too with books that catered to the TED crowd.
Session 2 soon started. During this session, we watched a video about a girl and her banjo...and China! It was interesting! The highlight of this session for me was Jerry Braza (whose bio says he's a retired WOU professor) who spoke on mindfulness. I really appreciated what he had to share. He explained that as we get busier and our minds are full of more things, we consume more (in various ways). Mindfulness is living in the present moment. It's about moments. Moments make up the quality of our lives. He encouraged us to cultivate those moments by stopping, breathing (uniting body and mind), and calming (focusing what's happening in the moment and lingering longer). He said that bells are reminders for us to stop and pause, and that "bells" of mindfulness are all over. They are everything and everyone we connect with. He asked, "What do you see or hear in the world that could be a bell of mindfulness?" As an example, he told a story of he and his wife simply noticing the Super Moon together. They stopped, paused (breathed), smiled, and lingered longer. The super moon can be a bell of mindfulness. I really enjoyed his ideas on this.
After session 2, it was time for lunch. There were a few huge buffet lines set up downstairs in the big lobby/foyer part of the convention center. I had signed up for a gluten free lunch, but none of the food was labeled gf. I did ask one of the employees who assured me some stuff was gluten free, but since it seemed a little sketchy and my apartment was just a short walk away, I chose the safer option and walked home through the snow that had been falling.
Snowy view from inside my apartment.
When I got back people were milling about and session 3 was about to start.
I found a seat and pretty soon, an older couple sat next to me. The wife struck up a conversation with me she asked if I knew any of the speakers and I said nope, I just really like TED stuff. She said that they were there to see her daughter who was going to speak during the next session. The mom was super nice and momish and told me about her daughter and said normally she lets her mom read her work, but for this speech, she wouldn't even tell them what it was about :)
One of my favorite speakers of this session was Yesenia Gallardo who spoke about insects as a sustainable protein source. Insects emit less greenhouse gases than traditional livestock, take less water per pound, have a high feed sufficiency (the insects don't have to eat much to gain weight), and insect farms can be located in urban areas. The MC even mentioned that there had been crickets available to try during the lunch recess, but my field trip home must have made me miss out on that culinary delicacy.
My other favorite speaker of this session was Gina Ochsner, the daughter of the mom I sat by. She talked about examples of revolutionary people in the Romanian and Czechoslovakian revolutions. She pointed out the importance of words and suggested I ask myself if I'm using my language to build bridges or to build fences. When she finished her speech, her mom and I gave each other a knowing smile.
Also during session three, members of the crowd were brave enough to join in on some middle eastern dancing!
Then it was time for our final recess. I didn't do a ton during this recess, but did enjoy some local Kettle Chips and a Kind bar and admired the snow. I thought about trying to get in on a chair massage, but I finally realized that there were sign up sheets and I should have signed up well before now if I wanted a slot! I also saw some posters where you could vote for what talk you wanted the mayor to hear.
I failed to mention earlier, but Pedal Power was a sponsor and they had two stationary bikes up front. Anytime you wanted (including during the talks!) you could get up and take a turn pedaling. The bikes were supposedly supplying some of the power to the stage! I thought it was a great idea, and a good way to help people listen (since some people need to be active!). These people below were giving it a spin ( :) :) :) ) while they waited for session 4.
Pretty soon session four, our last session, was ready to start. I really enjoyed this entire session!
We watched this video by Ken Burns called "Bring on the Learning Revolution." I really liked this video and it's worth the watch. He talked about how human resources (talents) are buried deep. You have to go looking for them. You need the right circumstances for them to show up. He argued that education doesn't currently work to find people's talents. Education is based on linearity - do this and you're set for life. But really, you find your talents organically in relation to your circumstances. He pointed out that human communities depend on a diversity of talents. I love that point so much. And he thinks that local education should be able to adapt to local circumstances and not be standardized. Our goal should be uncovering aptitude AND passion in students. Where those to converge is where the sweet spot is.
All the speakers in this session were great. First was a local speaker, Warren Binford, who covered the topic of pornography and how it is negatively affecting the actual wiring of the brains of young people who are exposed to it. I found her talk really insightful as to why we have some problems (criminal problems!) that are so prevalent today.
Next up was Alia Braley who traveled from Massachusetts to be there! I loved her talk and she brought up ideas I had never considered. She talked about using non-violence to create a revolution. For her master's thesis, she set out to answer the question, "Can we use nonviolence against ISIS?" She found that ISIS always grows in correlation with violent warfare. War gives ISIS a purpose and helps them recruit people. One of her main points was that protesting isn't the only non-violent revolutionary action available to us, and in fact, it's the weakest option! Government depends on business, education, media, religion, and armed forces to keep it stable and in tact. Non-violence can be used in all of these realms. Then she gave some great examples. Business - In one part of the middle east (I think..), when the government kept shutting off the power intermittently, all the businesses banded together and closed until electricity was consistent. Social Media - groups make parody videos to counteract the ISIS propaganda. Religion - Imams refused to pledge allegiance to ISIS. And, when ISIS put "N"s on the homes of Christians (for "Nazarene"), non-Christians put "N"s on their own homes. Education - families chose to keep their kids home from school. The problem is that we understand the power of violent action more than we understand the power of non-violent action. What if we put money towards those who are already doing these non-violent actions instead of towards war? Non-violent actions are twice as likely to effect change than violent actions. Unless we become more literate in non-violent actions, we'll just recreate what we expect to see, which is violence. If we were oppressed, we wouldn't want people to drop bombs on us. We'd want them to give us materials to help us break free.
The last speaker was Renee Mitchell. I think she was also from out of state. She told the story of her life and how she rose above hard circumstances and followed her heart. She shared this quote with us, "You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level." She started the talk just telling a story, then changed over to telling it in poem, which I enjoyed.
Once all the speakers were done, the MC got back up on stage and was joined by those who made the event possible. He had us think about what our own revolutions are and then picture what is standing in our way. Then he had us get out our keys and jingle them at our opposition, like the Czechs did to their oppressors as they left :)
What a great day it was! I'd recommend taking part next year. TEDxSalem 2018 will be January 6th and the theme will be "Through the Looking Glass."
I found a seat and pretty soon, an older couple sat next to me. The wife struck up a conversation with me she asked if I knew any of the speakers and I said nope, I just really like TED stuff. She said that they were there to see her daughter who was going to speak during the next session. The mom was super nice and momish and told me about her daughter and said normally she lets her mom read her work, but for this speech, she wouldn't even tell them what it was about :)
One of my favorite speakers of this session was Yesenia Gallardo who spoke about insects as a sustainable protein source. Insects emit less greenhouse gases than traditional livestock, take less water per pound, have a high feed sufficiency (the insects don't have to eat much to gain weight), and insect farms can be located in urban areas. The MC even mentioned that there had been crickets available to try during the lunch recess, but my field trip home must have made me miss out on that culinary delicacy.
My other favorite speaker of this session was Gina Ochsner, the daughter of the mom I sat by. She talked about examples of revolutionary people in the Romanian and Czechoslovakian revolutions. She pointed out the importance of words and suggested I ask myself if I'm using my language to build bridges or to build fences. When she finished her speech, her mom and I gave each other a knowing smile.
Also during session three, members of the crowd were brave enough to join in on some middle eastern dancing!
Then it was time for our final recess. I didn't do a ton during this recess, but did enjoy some local Kettle Chips and a Kind bar and admired the snow. I thought about trying to get in on a chair massage, but I finally realized that there were sign up sheets and I should have signed up well before now if I wanted a slot! I also saw some posters where you could vote for what talk you wanted the mayor to hear.
I failed to mention earlier, but Pedal Power was a sponsor and they had two stationary bikes up front. Anytime you wanted (including during the talks!) you could get up and take a turn pedaling. The bikes were supposedly supplying some of the power to the stage! I thought it was a great idea, and a good way to help people listen (since some people need to be active!). These people below were giving it a spin ( :) :) :) ) while they waited for session 4.
Pretty soon session four, our last session, was ready to start. I really enjoyed this entire session!
We watched this video by Ken Burns called "Bring on the Learning Revolution." I really liked this video and it's worth the watch. He talked about how human resources (talents) are buried deep. You have to go looking for them. You need the right circumstances for them to show up. He argued that education doesn't currently work to find people's talents. Education is based on linearity - do this and you're set for life. But really, you find your talents organically in relation to your circumstances. He pointed out that human communities depend on a diversity of talents. I love that point so much. And he thinks that local education should be able to adapt to local circumstances and not be standardized. Our goal should be uncovering aptitude AND passion in students. Where those to converge is where the sweet spot is.
All the speakers in this session were great. First was a local speaker, Warren Binford, who covered the topic of pornography and how it is negatively affecting the actual wiring of the brains of young people who are exposed to it. I found her talk really insightful as to why we have some problems (criminal problems!) that are so prevalent today.
Next up was Alia Braley who traveled from Massachusetts to be there! I loved her talk and she brought up ideas I had never considered. She talked about using non-violence to create a revolution. For her master's thesis, she set out to answer the question, "Can we use nonviolence against ISIS?" She found that ISIS always grows in correlation with violent warfare. War gives ISIS a purpose and helps them recruit people. One of her main points was that protesting isn't the only non-violent revolutionary action available to us, and in fact, it's the weakest option! Government depends on business, education, media, religion, and armed forces to keep it stable and in tact. Non-violence can be used in all of these realms. Then she gave some great examples. Business - In one part of the middle east (I think..), when the government kept shutting off the power intermittently, all the businesses banded together and closed until electricity was consistent. Social Media - groups make parody videos to counteract the ISIS propaganda. Religion - Imams refused to pledge allegiance to ISIS. And, when ISIS put "N"s on the homes of Christians (for "Nazarene"), non-Christians put "N"s on their own homes. Education - families chose to keep their kids home from school. The problem is that we understand the power of violent action more than we understand the power of non-violent action. What if we put money towards those who are already doing these non-violent actions instead of towards war? Non-violent actions are twice as likely to effect change than violent actions. Unless we become more literate in non-violent actions, we'll just recreate what we expect to see, which is violence. If we were oppressed, we wouldn't want people to drop bombs on us. We'd want them to give us materials to help us break free.
The last speaker was Renee Mitchell. I think she was also from out of state. She told the story of her life and how she rose above hard circumstances and followed her heart. She shared this quote with us, "You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level." She started the talk just telling a story, then changed over to telling it in poem, which I enjoyed.
Once all the speakers were done, the MC got back up on stage and was joined by those who made the event possible. He had us think about what our own revolutions are and then picture what is standing in our way. Then he had us get out our keys and jingle them at our opposition, like the Czechs did to their oppressors as they left :)
What a great day it was! I'd recommend taking part next year. TEDxSalem 2018 will be January 6th and the theme will be "Through the Looking Glass."
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