TEDxYYC: Take-Aways Tuesday March 2, 2010

Alright, so I’ve had a few days to digest Friday and let everything that happened sink in. Now, it may take several more months before the true ramifications of TEDxYYC begin to surface for all that attended. But as we wait for those gears to spin here’s my initial feelings on the first TEDxYYC.

First and foremost, TEDxYYC was a fabulous event. To the committee that put it on, you did a fantastic job. It was professionally organized and the attention to detail was impeccable. From the general vibe to the gorgeous art work from Kid Bello; it was a one of a kind event for this city. So thank you for letting me participate, I’m extremely grateful.

Anyways, I digress. Much will be said on blogs about the eight speakers at TEDxYYC and other details surrounding the day, so I’ll leave that up to them. What I want to talk about is the overall impact of the event. There’s no better way to describe what TEDxYYC was truly about then to leverage, my furry little thespian friend Wil Knoll, who summed the vibe of the event in these words.

Each one of the speakers today struck a different chord with a different attendee. And that’s why this was a beautiful day.

And he’s absolutely right. (and he yes, actually talks like that.. I’m kidding buddy)

You’ll probably hear about the astonishing demonstration of 18 year old wunderkid Eden Full and her solar-powered bamboo sticks of power or the passionate talk from Ben Chapman about the importance of the Arts. Or you’ll hear about John Manzo’s intriguing look at Calgary’s 3rd wave coffee culture and what it means to the growth of culture in the city. Or you’ll hear the new urbanists all wax poetic about Chris Turner’s (epic name and initials by the way) analysis of our crumbling urban lifestyle.

Each one of these talks struck a chord with a different attendee and that was the beauty of TEDxYYC and the take-away.

But the one talk that struck a chord with me was Rick Castiglione’s.

Calgarians will know Rick from the glory days of 2&7. Many Calgarians will also wonder, like I did, what happened to Rick. He used to grace our evening news every night for 15 years and then he was gone. Gone like a puff of smoke.

Well, it turns out the Rick has been doing fine. Just before the corporate conglomerates got a hold of our treasured networks, he decided to do something different. To go back to the roots of story telling. Instead of toil away at 12 second soundbites, Rick has spent the past few years teaching the next wave of journalists and also telling stories from around the world. From Africa to Belize to South America to remote reservations in our own backyard; Rick has been telling stories through personally (and sometimes privately) funded documentaries.

For a foolish serial entrepreneur like myself, with more great ideas than anything, Rick’s decision to follow his passion was the perfect elixir at the perfect time. Someone who on the outside looked like they had it made in the shade, was able to walk away and follow their passions. For someone like myself, if he, at the height of their career was able to do this, then so can I.

For me that was my take-away.

For everyone else in attendance, there were different take-aways.

Stories are still alive and the ability to do something you care about is still alive. Each of these speakers is able to survive and excel in something. But it’s something they believe in. From Lorrie Matheson to Eden Full, we can all follow our passions.

We just have to decide to do it.

That right there was the beauty of TEDxYYC and I have a feeling it’ll be the launching pad for further passions and even better ideas.

If you’re interested in the TEDxYYC event you can watch some of the talks on BNETtv’s site, including Ben Chapman’s enthralling talk (which is embedded below).

(You can also watch an additional interview with Rick below)

Categories: The-Calgary-Vibe, the-tedxyyc,

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