Skip to main content

TEDxBuffalo: Immediate Impressions

I had the good fortune to attend the first ever TEDx in Buffalo. The event took place on October 11, 2011 at the Montante Cultural Center on the Canisius College campus in Buffalo, NY.

During TEDxBuffalo, over a dozen speakers took the stage to tell stories and engage the audience. There was no overarching theme that I could detect, although many of the speakers talked about ideas or innovations that took root or have been developed in Buffalo, NY and the surrounding area.

My purpose with this post is to provide brief summaries of all the speakers and links to additional information. I know many people in Buffalo were very excited about this event, and I hope this will provide a sense of the talks for those who were unable to attend.

THE SPEAKERS

Ethan Cox
Community Beer Works
Website: http://www.communitybeerworks.com/
Twitter: @EthanBFLO

Ethan Cox led off TEDxBuffalo in fine fashion with an interesting story about beer and why it serves as a modern day community builder via the third places where it's made and served, such as breweries and bars.

Dr. Barbara Seals-Nevergold and Dr. Peggy Brooks-Bertram
Uncrowned Community Builders
Website: http://uncrownedcommunitybuilders.com/
Twitter: @uncrownedqueens @peggybertram

Think of a resource like Wikipedia, but geared toward collecting and preserving the vast histories of African American men and women, and you have the vision of Uncrowned Community Builders. Barbara Seals-Nevergold and Peggy Brooks-Bertram talked about the project at TEDxBuffalo: how they established the project initially to gather records from the Women's Pavilion Pan Am 2001, how it eventually expanded to include African American men, and how they aspire to make the technopedia the best resource of its kind and an enduring part of Buffalo -- where it originated.

Remy DeCausemaker
Research Associate
Website: http://civx.us/, http://foss.rit.edu/, http://innovation.rit.edu/
Twitter: @remy_d

Remy DeCausemaker (who might have emerged right out of a Neil Stephenson novel) spoke passionately about open source and open data, and the importance of benevolent hacking to bypass proprietary, inflexible systems in favor of efficient, open approaches.

Patrick Lango
White Cow Dairy
Website: http://www.whitecowdairy.com/

In the tradition of Joel Salatin, Patrick Lango spoke honestly about the challenges of operating a small dairy farm and the success he achieved when he began producing yogurt and bringing the product directly to customers.

John Bordynuik
Plastic2Oil
Website: http://www.plastic2oil.com/

I'm hoping one day I can tell people I was in the room with John Bordynuik before he was famous. Because Plastic2Oil sure sounds like a game changer. Employing a new technology, Plastic2Oil has developed a process to transform unsorted, unwashed waste plastic into ultra-clean, ultra-low sulphur fuel.

Eric Walker
PUSH Buffalo
Website: http://www.pushbuffalo.org/

Eric Walker compared the modern city to a living organism, and he noted how many cities like Buffalo are sick. Fortunately, he has been moved to community activism, and his TEDxBuffalo talk focused on his efforts to bring solutions to Buffalo.

Brandon Kessler
ChallengePost, Challenge.gov
Website: http://ChallengePost.com/, http://www.challenge.gov/
Twitter: @challengepost, @ChallengeGov, @bkessler

ChallengePost and Challenge.gov both use social networking with collaboration tools to solve problems. As Brandon Kessler explained, the sites enable people to challenge the public to solve problems and accomplish goals collectively. Challenges are issued to increase awareness, foster participation and action, and generate innovation.

Stacey Watson
Drop-In Nation
Website: http://www.dropinnation.com/
Twitter: @StaceyWatson716

Stacey Watson looks and sounds very much like the tough, committed educator played by Michelle Pfeiffer in the film Dangerous Minds. Except Stacey Watson is the real deal. Moved to action by the high school dropout rate in Buffalo schools, Stacey developed a curriculum specifically for dropouts. She detailed why her program works in her TEDxBuffalo talk.

Patrick Finan
 Block Club
Website: http://www.blockclubcreative.com/
Twitter: @BlockClub

Patrick Finan was the only TEDxBuffalo speaker who asked people to do less instead of more. Actually, he challenged the audience to reflect on their lives and consider making do with less -- for example, a smaller house and a more modest lifestyle. Because smaller, Patrick continued, makes for a richer, calmer, and more satisfying life.

Chuck Banas
Buffalo SmartCode Committee
Website: http://www.buffalogreencode.com/
Twitter: @newbuffalocode

Chuck Banas probably pulled off the most difficult feat at TEDxBuffalo. He made the subject of zoning interesting. In essence, he elaborated the problems with Buffalo's current zoning codes (which are too restrictive and lead to sprawl and parking lots) and demonstrated why the forthcoming Buffalo Green Code will implement smart growth standards that enhance the quality of life for city residents.

Karen Armstrong
Future Cities
Website: http://www.futurecity.org/

Another innovator committed to improving student performance in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Karen talked about her involvement with The Future City Competition, a national, project-based learning experience where students imagine, design, and build cities of the future.

Drew Kahn
The Anne Frank Project
Website: http://www.theannefrankproject.com/

The original TED is rightfully famous for riveting talks and "ideas worth spreading". Drew Kahn's talk to close out TEDxBuffalo was as moving and inspiring as any TED talk. Drew's story was ostensibly about an Anne Frank play that he ended up tweaking to incorporate elements and characters from Rwanda and the genocide in that country. But the broader theme of the talk was our shared humanity and accepting the fundamental truth: we all share 99.9% of our DNA and we're all in this together.

Muraho, TEDxBuffalo!


ORGANIZERS

TEDxBuffalo would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of many committed people. Thank you to Kevin Purdy and the rest of the TEDxBuffalo team.

LINKS

TEDxBuffalo website
http://www.tedxbuffalo.com/

TEDxBuffalo on Twitter
@tedxbuffalo

#TEDxBuffalo Stream on Twitter
#tedxbuffalo

WNYMedia
The Report from TEDx Buffalo by Brian Castner

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When Weak Connections are Valuable at Work

I recently contributed an article to Information Outlook, the online magazine of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). The title is "When Weak Connections are Valuable at Work", and it's about how new networking tools enable us to cultivate workplace connections with people we rarely (or never) see but who can help us in important ways. Download the article as a PDF or read the web version below. When Weak Connections are Valuable at Work (PDF) When Weak Connections are Valuable at Work If you’re not sure who the weak ties are in your social network, look at the contacts on your phone. Chances are, there are some people in your contacts list you don’t call (much less see) on a regular basis, but you find it useful to keep them listed for those occasions when you do need to contact them. Perhaps your doctor, babysitter, mechanic, or accountant fits this description. If you use a social network like LinkedIn or Twitter professionally, you will have even mo...
2 comments
Read more

Electric Snow Blower?

UPDATE - 12/15/2009 After some back and forth, we went with the Snow Joe Ultra 622U1 13 Amp Electric Snow Thrower. I'll be commenting about its performance as the winter progresses and we use it regularly, but we already had a chance to try it last Thursday (12/10), when the first big Lake Effect snow of the season dumped more than a foot of snow on us here just south of Buffalo. Based on the test run, the Snow Joe performed admirably, handling the one foot high snow in our driveway without issue and essentially doing everything I expected of a powerful torque but lightweight snow thrower. ORIGINAL POST - 8/17/2009 I know it's only August, but I live in Buffalo, and you always need to think ahead about snow. The last two winters, we went without any snow removal machinery, and it hasn't been fun. The first winter I just shoveled, and the second we hired a plowing service. The plow service was better than shoveling all the time, but there were still too many times ...
24 comments
Read more

The Business Model Innovation Factory by Saul Kaplan (Book Review)

As a culture, we strive for personal transformation. Whether it's eating better and getting fit, redefining our professional value proposition through training and education, or simply trying to be kinder and gentler, we're constantly reinventing who we are and what we can do. We may not be successful all the time, or achieve breakthroughs like those featured on The Biggest Loser or facilitated by Tony Robbins , but millions of people successfully transform and reinvent themselves every year. Unfortunately, the very organizations where we work generally do not do the same. As Saul Kaplan elaborates in The Business Model Innovation Factory , most organizations struggle to transform from their core, initial business models and tend to become stagnant and vulnerable to disruptive competitors. The example Kaplan leads with is Blockbuster, which for a time owned the brick and mortar video and DVD rental space, until they were "netflixed" by a disruptive competitor (...
20 comments
Read more