TEDxMidAtlantic post-show report

Andy Carvin (NPR's social media guru) takes a picture of the infamous timer that ruled the day. (Photo by the Baltinerd)

It was a fantastic day down at the Brown Center, to say the least. TEDxMidAtlantic was a resounding success. Never having been to a TED conference before, I learned that TED isn’t so much about its acronym (Technology, Entertainment, Design) as it is a conference of ideas, thinkers and dreamers. The people who spoke were exactly that. You had Tony Geraci, who is helping to change the way students in city schools think about food. You had Sonja Sohn talking about taking a year away from her work for something she really believed in. You had Mark Walsh delivering a “modest proposal” on how to fix a broken Internet.

The theme of TEDxMidAtlantic, specifically, was “The Power of Stories,” and some of the stories told today I’ll have trouble forgetting. Like the diabetic child Geraci met in New Hampshire who motivated him to make a difference. Like the Sarajevo teen who moved Scott Simon. Like the funny and heartwarming way Peter Agre went from humble beginnings to Nobel laureate. Like Tyler Cowen’s hyper-meta stories about how stories are deceptive and misleading and terrible. But that’s another story. >_>

The lobby was packed during breaks. Like way packed. (Photo by the Baltinerd)

 

You’re probably thinking, “Gee, Tyler, this is all well and good, but I wasn’t there. Can you do anything else to rub it in my face?”

My answer? Sure I can. But I don’t really need to. If you missed anything (as I did, due to work engagements), video from all the speakers is posted right over this way.

And speaking of video, I caught up with curator Dave Troy afterwards to pick his brain…

TEDxpectations

*monster truck guy voice* THURSDAY THURSDAY THURSDAY!

TEDxMidAtlantic is tomorrow at MICA. Statistically speaking, if you’re reading this, you probably aren’t going. Capped at 550 attendees, the event is full. They had to turn away 250, according to a Sun piece by Gus Sentementes.

Can’t make it? They’re running a live stream starting at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow. And I’ll be buzzing around with my Flip cam at the after party. Whether I see you there or not, have fun. And check back here afterwards.

Powered up for success

Dominic Cerquetti onstage with his band, Rare Candy, at Tigercon 2009 on Sept. 26 at Towson University. When not rocking out to video game tunes, Cerquetti works as a programmer for Firaxis, a Hunt Valley-based game developer. (Photo by the Baltinerd)

Dominic Cerquetti thought he was just goofing around with high school friends on the computer, making computer-generated objects in 3D Studio Max. But when an artist from local video game developer Firaxis came to a career day at his high school, he realized his hobby could lead to a job.

“He was like ‘Hey, want me to show you some 3D stuff?’ And he popped out some models from ‘Sim Golf’ and showed us these incredible houses and people they had modeled and golf courses and all this crazy stuff,” Cerquetti said.

Cerquetti realized he could never stack up as an artist, so he decided instead to go into programming. Cerquetti graduated from Loyola University Maryland in 2006 with a degree in computer science. He then got a job as a programmer for Firaxis, the Hunt Valley team known as much for its flagship series, “Civilization,” as its lead creative mind, Sid Meier.

Interview with Mario Armstrong

Courtesy marioarmstrong.com

Click here to listen!

The Baltinerd talks with radio host and tech guru Mario Armstrong about the growing Baltimore tech scene, what the state needs to do to keep the talent, how he got his start and his dream digital refrigerator. Mario spoke to us by phone while traveling in Phoenix.

City Paper covers the rebounding tech market

City Paper put out a really cool article yesterday about a topic I’ve recently been exploring myself. It’s a fantastic, meaty feature and I’m wondering if I can be pissed at them for beating me to it.

Game developer Benjamin Walsh, who lives in Towson, and brand strategist Tina Tyndal, who lives in Silver Spring, met at a September 2008 meeting of the International Game Developers Association. Walsh said he was looking for a way to network with video-game professionals at a time when he believed programmers dominated many of the meetings in the area.

“I’ve been doing a lot of networking in the area, going to D.C. and Philly,” he says by phone on the Sunday after Innovate Baltimore’s first event. “I didn’t see anything that really appealed to me. We work in technology, but we involve a lot of other disciplines, not just programming. Since I’m not a programmer, it’s hard to talk in a room of people who are just talking about codes.”

While some of these events, such as Innovate Baltimore, are initially only social gatherings, and others, such as Ignite, are oriented around presentations, over time each event becomes a little of both. Entrepreneurs need good ideas and talented employees to be successful, but they also need to be able to present their ideas well to raise investment money. While many event organizers and attendees are attracted by meeting others in the city doing similar work, they are also looking to find new people to work with and improve both the presentation and content of their own business plans.

Tyndal, an avid gamer whose speech is peppered with marketing terms such as “brand leveraging,” says that she was looking for a way to bring together different disciplines in the tech community. “What I wanted and Ben wanted was an opportunity for professionals to have drinking socials,” she says in a phone interview. “Our group definitely brings in some extra people from the video-game side and the marketing side.”

And of course, if you want to help me with my project, by all means, let me know.

Q+A with Gus Sentementes

Gus Sentementes is a Baltimore Sun reporter and the guy behind BaltTech. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for us the other day. We’ll probably be hearing more from him in the future…

What helped Baltimore become a hub for tech startups?

I think Baltimore has been attractive for tech startups for a couple reasons. There are lots of smart people being churned out by the local universities, i.e. JHU, Towson, University of Maryland, etc. It’s also still a comparatively inexpensive place to launch a tech business, when compared against other East Coast cities. But the strength of the region goes beyond just Baltimore city proper, there’s a lot of activity and innovation going on in the counties around Baltimore, too. It helps that the state sees a major influx of federal dollars every year, that support many, many small and mid-size businesses in terms of outsourcing and contracting. There’s a lot of high-tech expertise rooted in federal government and military work that often blends into the civilian and private sector. Lots of cross-pollination.

Is it fair to call Baltimore a geeky city? Why or why not?

There are two sides of Baltimore. Sure, there’s the geeky side, where people with plenty of education and degrees make positive contributions to society on a par with some of the other most vibrant cities in America. But there’s also the poor and desperate side of the city that too often seems to be on the outside looking in. The greatest challenge right now is to bridge these two realities.

What motivated you to start BaltTech?

After spending several years writing about the worst and most depressing aspects of life in Baltimore, I wanted to take some time to write about some of the smart, innovative things our fellow citizens are up to, in the form of their technology exploits.