Joan was a wonderful find.  Gary, Amanda, my wife and I were all at the Rochester public market one weekend getting our goodies and enjoying some empanadas while we discussed the upcoming event.  The conversation had drifted toward who should host the event when a voice came from on high to give us the answer.  It said…

“To the owner of the red Camry parked in the handicapped spot, please don’t move it.  We’ve called the tow truck and we’re about to provide the market visitors with the opportunity to laugh heartily at you!”

Okay, my memory might be a bit foggy on the exact quote, but those who have been to the best damn public market in the country know I’m probably not too far off.  As the voice of the public market, Joan is a Rochester icon and we knew we had to have her!

But, once we got talking with her and getting to know her we began to understand her love and passion for the market and all that it does such as educating inner city youth about vegetables.  And, since they’re the only place inside the Inner Loop to get fresh vegetables, she takes her role as evangelist for the market seriously…at least, that is, until someone parks illegally!

Enjoy her video slowly.  It has to last you all year!

Joan is in the Marketing Director, Communications Manager and Director of Special Events at the Rochester Public Market

You see, even though those first few months aren’t spent actively working on the next year’s TEDxRochester, ideas are starting to form in my head.  Then, we start working on the event itself and they start to bloom.  And get bigger.  And bigger.  And bigger!  Eventually, they get so big that I can’t imagine that we’d ever pull off such an audacious plan.  And, with that the excitement careens into the brick wall.

Fortunately, I have a wonderful, supportive wife who reminds me why we’re doing all of this and that we’ve already accomplished the impossible by simply putting on the first TEDxRochester.  Even more than that, we’ve now done it three times with each one more successful than the last!  She is, to me, the embodiment of “behind every great man…”  One day I hope to be that great man.

But, more importantly, I’m part of an amazing team of people who are as passionate about TEDxRochester and the Rochester area as I am.  I started this journey alone three years ago next month, but am proud and humbled by what Amanda, Gary and I succeeded in doing that first year together.

Since then, we’ve added new members to the team (and lost some).  TEDxRochester gets bigger and better each year, sure.  But, last year we all came together of a like mind and said “It’s nice to talk about improving things.  When do we actually start to DO something?”  After months of discussion, the inspiration came from the TED mothership itself.

For those who haven’t heard of it yet, allow me to introduce City 2.0.

Formal announcement of our plans will be coming next month as part of the RocCity Design Week, which Gary is spearheading.  An informal announcement will be this Thursday at an event we’ve been looking to do for the last few years: the TEDxRochester Alumni Group.  We’ll be bringing our past speakers together in a room to put our ideas to them and get their input.  We’re looking to harness the power of  what we’ve already done to help move our plans even further along.

With all of these plans coming to fruition, the preparation blahs were a bit worse this year.  The ideas floating around in my cranium this year go beyond audacious, and in my opinion, border on the insane.  Even my wonderful wife couldn’t pull me from the funk.  So, I shared my lofty ideas with Gary.  As usual, instead of calling the men with the big nets he started building on them with his own over the top ideas.  We both ended up agreeing that “go big or go home” is the only way to make this “thing” we’re doing work.

And, the fortune cookie?  Well, when the blahs were at their worst yesterday, I decided to open up one of the fortune cookies I’ve had sitting on my counter for about a week…

We’ve got a great team supported by our brilliant families.  We’ve got a plethora of the best and brightest that Rochester has to offer to bounce ideas off of and leverage.  We’ve got great momentum from our previous work to build on.  And now, even the fortune cookies are behind us.  What can’t we accomplish?

It should also be noted that starting next year the Harley School will need to move forward without Tim, as he has accepted the position of Head of School at the Iolani School in Hawaii.  We wish him the best of luck, and all of our envy for his new climate!

Timothy R. Cottrell, PhD, is Head of School at The Harley School. His impressive math and science background includes a broad array of experiences in communications, technology, engineering, teaching, and business ownership. He grew up in Geneseo, N.Y. and attended Syracuse University where he received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. He completed his graduate work at Princeton University where he earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering.

Barcamp is a great event held twice a year at RIT’s Golisano College of Computing and Informational Sciences. Dubbed an “unconference”, it’s an opportunity for everyone to share their knowledge with everyone else. All attendees are welcomed to present their own talk on any topic. Our first year there, Gary & I learned a ton about how to pick locks, for example!

It’s run by the students at RIT, and we’ve become good friends and partners with them. They’re a smart bunch, and we’re very proud to be associated with them. At least I will be at the event, so if you see me say hi! There will be no meetup this weekend for TEDxRochester, so this is a great opportunity to check out Barcamp!

$eedNY was a campaign to create a fund in New York state to provide capital to entrepreneurs just starting out on their journey to success.  The seed stage is the highest risk stage of a venture and by investing in this stage New York has the potential to be a leader in innovation.

Having achieved success in the creation of such a fund Theresa Mazzullo’s company, Excell Partners, became the “distribution point” for these funds in upstate New York.  What an amazing opportunity this presents for Rochester to become the wellspring from which so many new, innovative entrepreneurs can get their start!  I’ve spoken to more than a few young go-getters graduating from our local schools who view this region as a great place to launch their own ventures, and access to this fund plays a large part of that.

In her talk, Theresa introduces us to the topic of seed funds as well as a very small part of the history of innovation that has come from Rochester.  Those of us who love the Rochester area can beam a little brighter with pride in what our area has accomplished!

Theresa is the Chief Executive Officer at Excell Partners. Excell is a state-supported seed venture capital fund, which invests in high tech start-ups emerging out of the communities and universities across Upstate New York. To date, Excell has invested in 21 companies representing multiple industry sectors. Prior to joining Excell, Theresa was the President & Principal of EPIC Advisors, Inc, a 401(k) retirement plan company with $1.5 billion in retirement plan assets that was sold in 2005.

After this year’s event, Mark invited us to his house for his annual Boxing Day celebration.  It was a great time, but for me my favorite part was watching Mark show off some of his artwork (he’s a HUGE fan of Kazimir Malevich) to my three-year-old.  As one of the leading pioneers in stem cell research, I have no doubt that he will be in some way responsible for adding 10-20 years to her life.  I think it’s just amazing that she gets to meet and engage with him on such a personal level!  I honestly have this vision of her winning her 6th grade science fair because “Uncle Mark” helped her clone a frog or something…

In this talk, Mark gives a great overview of stem cell research, its past and potentials.  It’s a highly accessible talk which brings great hope for the future of our health.

Mark is Professor of Neurology, Genetics, and Neurobiology and Anatomy at University of Rochester School of Medicine and is Director of the University of Rochester Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute. He is one of the pioneers of stem cell research and directs research on multiple topics, including spinal cord injury, genetic diseases and cancer. He is an inventor on multiple patents, has consulted for multiple pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and was a founding scientific advisory board member of Acorda Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on treatment of neurological disease. He is co-author of over 140 scientific publications.

I think I mentioned it once before a long time ago…but, one of the defining moments in my life was when I was 10.  I was channel surfing and when I got to our PBS station, they were showing a commercial for this new science series by astronomer Carl Sagan called “Cosmos“.  I managed to remember when it was airing and from that night forward you could find me every Tuesday night, at 9pm, eyes unblinking and glued to the TV.

It was during the course of that show that I fell in love with science.  Sagan had the ability to only explain the methodologies, purposes and benefits of science in a way anyone could understand.  But, even more so, he was at heart a poet who drew you into the wonder and grandeur of the universe.  Neil deGrasse Tyson (Sagan’s protege) and Brian Cox are doing an admirable job filling his shoes today, but they’ll never replace Sagan.

So, with that introduction, you can imagine how quickly I jumped at the opportunity to meet with the guys from Prove Your World when they said they were putting together a TV show to introduce kids to and educate them about science and that they were targeting the 8-11 range!  That’s the magic age at which they still haven’t had  their wonder and awe beaten out of them, but are mature enough to understand the material presented.

And, that’s what they’re looking to convey.  The sense of wonder that can only be had when viewing the world through the lens of science.

Their performance speaks for itself, but I wanted to give them some kudos…we had rehearsal the day before the event and our team wasn’t convinced the way they presented it would be interesting enough for the audience.   The Prove Your World team understood and took it to heart.  What you’re about to watch is only a pale impression of the presentation they gave just the day before.  The rehearsal was good, but they really knocked it out of the park during the real thing!

Watch and enjoy!

* My wife hates when I call our newborn that.

The people behind Prove Your World are science, child development, education and entertainment experts committed to creating an entertaining, scientifically accurate, developmentally appropriate, and educationally sound science-learning experience for an under-served target audience. The structure and content of their forthcoming television show, “Prove Your World” on WXXI, and their website, are driven by this commitment and expertise and grounded in current national science education research, theory, and practice.

Yes, there is another TEDx in Rochester this year.   It’s name is TEDxFlourCity, and while we are both part of the TEDx family they’re independent events.  TEDx licenses aren’t granted by geographic area, but to individuals.  I’m the licensee for TEDxRochester and TEDxFlourCity is licensed to a fellow by the name of Bill Monteith.  I’ve met with Bill and offered some advice and experience, and Bill even attended last year’s TEDxRochester.

We at TEDxRochester are very excited to have another event going on in the area.  As you might recall, there was an event named TEDxLila that was held in the spring after the first TEDxRochester.  That event was held at the Harley School and we got to attend.  The original licensee has moved out of the area, and I had been under the impression that the event had legs under it again.  But, since the domain’s no longer registered I’m guessing not.

Additionally, there’s another event named TEDxSJFC (St. John Fischer College), but I’m not sure the status of that one as their page hasn’t been updated in a few months.

How can Rochester handle having so many TEDx events?  Easy…we’ve got a lot of great people in this area with a lot of great ideas!  We can’t highlight all of them in a single event.  Having more than one just increases the chances that we’ll get to hear more of them.    They’re not “competition”, they’re complementary.

So, keep an eye on their sites and register to get in as soon as you can!

Sometimes we are so enamored with new developments that we lose sight of the simplest ideas. Embracing the bicycle as a solution to traffic, pollution, and health problems is one of those solutions that just seems too simple. But it has been shown to make cities more livable, and and certainly healthier.
Jon Schull is the director of the innovation center at RIT, and has been a great promoter of new ideas around the world, but his passion and advocacy for the Rochester Cycling alliance and the resulting Greater Rochester Active Transportation System, is what we really wanted to feature on stage. While working with Jon, it became apparent that the topic of transportation can become mired in historic data and politics. We wanted to tell the simple story of how our communities are historically connected and how active transportations systems are a natural result of this evolution. He’s already made many of us on the team rethink our commuting practices, our reliance on internal combustion and our connection with local history.

Jon Schull directs R.I.T.’s Center for Student Innovation and co-founded the Rochester Cycling Alliance. A biological psychologist, information technologist, entrepreneur, and author of 12 patents, he is an ardent cycling advocate.