Jim is an example of when greatness is “thrust upon us” against our will. What started as a simple notion to save the money of taking his kids to skate-parks in the region, became a crusade to promote youth activity in urban areas, in a safe and healthy environment. He’s been fighting for the Roc-City Skatepark now for nearly four years, and is starting to make headway. His story inspired us to fight the good fight and...

As a science geek, TED’s primary draw for me is the innovators and researchers. As a Rochester-based TEDx, with lots of research facilities in the area, we have so many choices we could put up on our stage. Ben Miller’s work is as awesome as it is potentially world-changing. Ben starts off telling us that he views the adage of “work before play” as being over. He introduces us to new memes starting with...

As mentioned, Rochester has some unique iconic landmarks.  Not least of these is the Strong Museum of Play.    As the father of a young daughter, I’m familiar with Strong Museum and a huge fan.   Growing up in Philadelphia, I have fond memories of such places as the Franklin Institute and the Please Touch Museum, and am glad we have equally inspirational and memorable spaces for my daughter to run about in and enjoy*. The second...

Larry was one of our last minute additions to the program. Because of this, his talk was quite a bit shorter than we would’ve liked, but I think he manages to hit the mark brilliantly in the time allotted. An artist with a most unusual medium, Larry uses his talents not just to entertain, but to educate and bring people together. He has worked with disparate groups all over the world, and was able to get people who didn’t...

This is our first TEDxRochester video. I’m so glad to finally give those who missed out on this fantastic event the opportunity to peek in! Actually, in this particular instance, I’m getting to see it for the first time as well as I got pulled into the lobby for other things and missed Eric’s talk. As you probably gathered from my earlier post, we had a great time at Eric’s office a couple of weeks before...