Guidewire Group

It says something about Saturday’s TEDx Austin event that I’m still wondering how to describe it. It doesn’t help that other attendees represented the day in impressively creative ways. Check out Cesar Torres‘ gorgeous illustration of key phrases from the day and Austin Kleon’s sticky notes of the speakers. And for a complete rundown of who spoke about what, Jon Lebkowsky’s post is hard to beat. But the general vibe and conversations of the day don’t seem to translate well to a straight-up blog post. Lest you think I’m lazy, check out the event’s Facebook page, which features poems, mind maps, and stream-of-consciousness writings.

I know what you’re thinking: what kind of new-agey, hippie-dippy crap did you folks engage in? Well, there were no drum circles or controlled substances and no one waved crystals over our heads. But we’d probably have gone right along with it if there had been. It was a multi-faceted day, covering subjects from cancer to poverty to space travel to healthy eating. And each of these subjects was presented to us by a creative, intelligent, passionate expert on their area. So Dr. William Merrell made me care about sea walls and Galveston Bay and the ‘Ike Dike.’ Turk and Christy Pipkin got me excited for their documentary, ‘One Peace at a Time.’ Christopher Mueller almost lost me with his in-depth talk of genetic sequencing and analysis – until he pulled me back in with nifty computing analogies that tied the whole picture together. And while I may be biased, Chris Shipley’s concept of small businesses coalescing to solve big problems helped me imagine a whole new approach to the structure of the business world.

I think, though, that what set TEDx Austin apart was a decidedly personal aspect to the day. Interspersed with talks on space travel and genetics were musings on subjects that affect our psyches. Prenatal psychologist Carrie Contey spoke on the importance of taking ‘pauses’ in our daily lives – not simply for the sake of silence but to integrate the input our brain has been tasked with. Mark McKinnon talked not about the politics for which he’s known, but about luck and chance and keeping count of the beads in your jar. (You’ll have to trust me on that one until the video gets posted.) In a talk that spoke to everyone in the room, Steven Tomlinson mapped out finding your calling in life, rather than just a career. I’m really not sure why this man doesn’t have a cult of people following him around at all times. Once the videos are posted, put his at the top of your viewing list. And to top it all off, we were treated to two amazing musicians, John Pointer – a true one-man band – and Ruby Jane, a 15-year-old fiddler and singer of which I briefly considered becoming a groupie.

It was a truly unique, enjoyable day that left me energized, contemplative, and maybe just a little bit hippie-dippie. The organizers of TEDx Austin should be enormously proud of the finished product, especially considering most, if not all, of them worked for free. There was a fair amount of skepticism in the air going into the event – and a fair amount of bubbling excitement and energy at the end of the day. I’ll have to be bleeding from a major artery to miss it next year. If this is the future of tech conferences, sign me up.