A world of thanks

When I decided in May to apply to be the licensee for TEDxRochester, it was pretty much an impulse move. Prior to this, the biggest thing I was involved in organizing was a surprise birthday party with a few guests from out of town. But, TED isn’t just about ideas, it’s also about people. And, I’ve met some of the most amazing folks in Rochester and everyone involved in organizing this event is a part of that.

So, with the countdown clock saying 5 days and 17 hours as I write this, I’d like to take the time to thank everyone involved. As I’ve said before, I was fortunate to find an ally in the Geva and so many of the staff have jumped in to volunteer to help. There are so many people involved, but I want to single out the organizers of TEDxRochester:

Very early into this, I received a comment on this blog from Gary Jacobs, a local illustrator whose talent has been heavily utilized to pull the TEDxRochester “brand” together. But, beyond that, Gary’s organizational skills and contacts have been invaluable in putting this event together. He’s handled more than his own share of the work, and the quality of this event shows his dedication to everything TED is about.

Thank you, Gary, for every single, individual thing you’ve done for TEDxRochester. I knew I was going to like you when you suggested our first meeting be at Fujiya! Great sushi never lies.

Along with his enthusiasm, dedication and hard work, he also brought his wife, Amanda, into our organizational team. Amanda has been not only the voice of reason when Gary and I couldn’t decide on a course (almost always she’d suggest a third course that was better and we went that way), but she’s handled catering, organizing staff and details at the Geva.

Thank you, Amanda, for every single iota of effort you put into making this event a success. You juggled some of the biggest balls we had to keep aloft for this thing, but beyond that you managed to make sure that Greg was at every organizational meeting, and that’s no small feat!

We finish up Gary & Amanda’s family by saying thanks to Frank, their beagle. Frank attended every meeting and just provided a dog’s head you could pet when things get tough.

Next, we have Marge Betley who I was privileged to meet at our first meeting at the Geva. Marge is probably one of the biggest TED fans we have in our little group and she was DEVASTATED to find out we were holding the event at time where she would have to spend the whole day in the Geva’s Nextstage. Always the optimist, she quickly reworked the schedule to allow that event to be a part of TED so that she could still attend. We’ve since kicked everyone out of the theatre for the day, so in the end she won. But, in terms of support, Marge is also the author behind most of our public communications. As Geva’s Literary Manager, she knows her words and helped make us sound gooder than we would’ve otherwise. She’s also probably one of the best-connected people I’ve ever met (that I didn’t have to put my finger alongside my nose afterward). When we’d discuss some potential speaker or sponsor, Marge would chime in that she knew them. If you see a name connected with this event, chances are Marge knows them!

Thank you, Marge, for your enthusiasm and drive in making this as perfect (and professional) an event as we can make it!

Finally, we come to Greg Weber, Managing Director of the Geva. When I first sent out requests to places to hold TED, I got an out of office message from Greg’s. About an hour later I got one from Greg essentially saying “YES, YES, YES!!” I’m paraphrasing, of course. I knew from that moment that we had a chance of actually pulling this off! Aside from convincing the Geva board to donate the space, Greg has provided so much inspiration to the team when things seemed hardest. Gary was feeling a little down one day, and Greg perked him up with the simple sentence “you’re doing amazing things”. It really does sum up what we’re doing here.

So, last, but certainly not least, thank you, Greg. Your advice, experience, council and friendship truly has been inspirational and incalculable during the last few months. You never let us get negative and helped us through all of the rough spots.

Those are just the organizers (okay, not Frank), but there have been dozens of volunteers pitching in to help get things done. To you also my most heartfelt thanks for everything you’ve done and continue to do. In few days, all of your hard work will have paid off. Don’t under sell it: we’re changing the world with this event. Maybe not a lot with this first event, but it is the beginning of something even bigger.

So, when you’re milling about the Geva on Monday, please take a moment to look for the organizers and volunteers. Shake their hands, look them in the eye and say thanks for the work they’ve done. It looks like every person we have attending loves TED. These folks spared you having to go out of town and brought it to you. They really have.