Oregon Humanities

Good Ideas on a Sunny Day

TEDxPortland—an independent spin-off of big TED, “Ideas Worth Spreading” TED—happened on one of the first dry, sunny days of spring, so it would have been natural to see more than a few empty seats in the Gerding Theater at the Armory, especially as the day went on. That’s not what happened. Sure, there were a few more seats in the theater by day’s end, but only a few.

What was the pull to stay in a dark theater on a clear day listening to thirteen speakers talk about everything from food to bikes, green building to wind power, curing cancer to boredom? Could have been the event price tag: $50. Could have been the free food and coffee. Could have been the entertainment by PHAME, Storm Large, Thomas Lauderdale, On the Rocks, and School of Rock.

But judging from the conversations happening in the lobby and on the sidewalks outside, the ideas coming from the stage were just too intoxicating, stimulating, and inspiring to walk away from: a moving duet about curing, fighting, and laughing in the face of cancer from survivor Jim Riswold and oncologist Brian J. Druker; green developer Mark Edlen’s praise of jaywalking as a metric of success in a city and call for the next “big, stupid idea”; Wieden+Kennedy creative director John Jay’s warning that comfort is our greatest threat in making progress as a community; food writer Karen Brooks’ claim that “food is trust, food is a handshake”; Intel cultural anthropologist (who knew?) Genevieve Bell’s call to embrace boredom, to wake it up and tap into its generative potential.

By the end of the day, the event was the second-highest trending topic on Twitter—in the country! Looks like people need ideas and conversation, whether online or in person, as much as they need sunshine in spring.

There’s still time to buy tickets for TEDxConcordiaU in Portland on May 14—different line-up, same great chance to be inspired.

03 May 2011 | Events Community New Ideas
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