One other thing from TEDx

“One picture’s worth a thousand words? You give me a thousand words. I’ll give you the Lord’s Prayer, the 23rd Psalm, the Hippocratic Oath, a sonnet by Shakespeare, the preamble to the Constitution, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, the last grafs of the speech by Martin Luther King to the march on Washington and the final entry of Anne Frank’s diary. And I wouldn’t trade you for any picture on Earth.”- Scott Simon, on the power of stories

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.

Tyler, meet TED

In just a few weeks, I’ll be hitting up TEDxMidAtlantic, a one-day conference held at the Maryland Institute College of Art. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, and, as the logo suggests, this is an offshoot of the TED mothership.

The Baltimore event on November 5 boasts an incredible lineup of speakers. Scott Simon (NPR’s “Weekend Edition Saturday”), Sonja Sohn (HBO’s “The Wire,” more recently a Baltimore volunteer), the federal CTO Aneesh Chopra, and plenty of other artists, writers and thinkers helping to make our world a better place. And will I be tweeting there? And will I bring back photos and video? Heck yeah I will.

Registration is already full, but feel free to hop on the wait list.