TEDxRochester

I have never been more excited to attend my first TEDxFlourCity 2015: Branch Out Event! Now this event wasn’t just ANY ordinary event, you had to apply to get in. Getting in is ALSO just as competitive. If you do NOT apply a month in advance, odds are NOT going to be in your favor– Unilocal!Tip. The location for this event was being held at the spacious Kilbourn Hall in the Eastman Theater. TEDxFlourCity 2015: Branch Out combines extraordinary research and innovation in our community with unique stories and unusual perspectives. Presentations’ consisted of TEDTalk Videos and Live Speakers to spark deep discussions and connections in a small group. Your goal is to be a tree in the middle of a light-​bulb «Branching Out» to build connections with others there, which was the OFFICIAL Tee-​shirt Logo that came with your ticket-​BONUS! Upon check-​in, everyone received a badge with there name. This badge consisted of your story based upon the results of your application. My Story: Funny, Outgoing, Adventurous and Informative– just like Jimmy Olsen from Superman. With my badge in hand, I was ready to explore the event.
Check-​In Coffee Hour: Pour CoffeeParlor with Joe Bean Coffee Roasters gave a lesson on the various drip methods to get the best quality of coffee into your cup with the least amount of waste. Plus it supplied me with all the caffeine I needed to get through the morning lectures.
Interactive Labs: Various vendors’ set up interactive activities, and projects to work on upstairs. I went right for the Tiny Fish Printing Lab, where I produced an AWESOME Roc City TedX Logo on paper. Next up was the Rochester Brainery where they had a Truth or Dare Station, and of course I picked DARE. I ended up having to sing the Backstreet Boys «Quit Playing Games With My Heart» song on video, and having it uploaded for the event. Well nailed that DARE, and received a ten dollar gift-​card to The Brainery. RIT was holding there Human-​Human Interface Challenge, which consisted of me attaching myself to multiple electrodes with another person. When another person moves, you are then FORCED to move with there movement. It was different having another person control me like that, I felt like Pinocchio on strings.“I’m a Real Boy!”. Finally, we all the opportunity to write down a group we are all apart of. We then place what we wrote down in a flower pot, and other people contribute to that pot, hence letting it grow! Tom Myers and John Lam did an excellent job organizing this portion of the event.
READY, SET, GROW: Introductions where made by William Monteith who is the Founder and Director of TEDxFlourCity. Looking at this guy puts a whole new meaning to the term «Branch Out». I have never SEEN such a standing ovation from both men and women. This portion included speaker Cathy Rasmussen– who taught many parents and professionals to spur communication and literacy using Cued Speech. Hearing her story was extremely touching, I wanted to go right for the tissue box.
EVOLVE: You couldn’t stop evolving as you watched Elizabeth Schirmer Shores speak about using/​developing sustainable technologies that save lives. She demonstrated how a simple water device can purify water in Africa in a matter of second’s. Everyone enjoyed this demonstration as she moved the water device around the stage. Elizaebeth is the CEO of Untapped Shores International, a non-​for-​profit organization that equips travelers’ luggage with hand-​held, life-​saving technologies. Love that doctors outfit Elizabeth!
NEW HORIZONS: Natasha S. Alford gave an informative lecture on The Courage to Report. She shares how the most important facet to powerful news is having the courage to report it, be it as a citizen or reporter. She now works as a reporter at WROC-​TV telling stories of impact for the communities and people who inspired her journey. A statement she repeated throughout was that Courage is the quality of the mind or spirit that enables a person to face Difficulty, Danger, and Pain.
OVERALL: Branch Out!, Tiny Fish Printing Lab, RIT Electrodes, The Flower Pot, William Monteith– You Go Girl!, Elizabeth Schirmer’s Water Device, The Brainery DARE, Tear Jerk-​er Cathy, and to all the GROWING CONNECTIONS… see you next year!

We had a great time at TedxRochester.
The talks were all engaging. I genuinely felt that each of them were worthwhile and thought-​provoking. The venders were all informative. The last-​minute change of venue to East High School proved to be great. The space was perfect for us. We are looking forward to returning next year.
My only critique was that we were frustrated with the timeline execution.
We were happy to have time to network and mingle, but it could have been done much better. We arrived a little early but found that the «start» time was quite a while before the program start time. I’m forgetting now exactly how long — — but I think it was 90 minutes. And after that, we also had a very, very long lunch (2 hours maybe?).
And after all the unexpected downtime, the program ran late. We ended up feeling very rude and ducking out during the last speaker because our ride had been waiting in the parking lot so long.
But again, other than the timeline, it was a wonderful event. Thinking about contacting them to volunteer next year!

An amazing experience — each year I step out of these talks inspired, motivated, and excited for our community. Rochester is an immensely creative city and this is the place to come to hear about unique and innovative projects and stories people share.
This year, the conference took place at East High. It was fitting that the learning would take place in a school. It was inspiring to be back in a high school to learn after nearly 10 years since I stepped foot inside the school I graduated from.
If anyone has an skepticism about Rochester’s future growth, I recommend you sign up for TEDx next year. Your outlook will change and will inspire you to get involved anyway you can. The purpose of these TEDx talks is to shed light on aspects of our community that deserve some extra love or recognition. It’s amazing to see people connect and discover the opportunities they now have after meeting just one person that can help take their project one step further.
One thing that made this year awesome is that the event took place on a Saturday so you didn’t have to take a vacation day! I hope they continue that trend for future years.