TEDxHickory 2012

TED came to Hickory on Saturday in a big way.  It clearly was an unqualified success.  The presentations taken as a whole were “marvelous”,  “wonderful”, “magnificent”, “stunning”, “beautiful”, “very instructive” and so on.  These are not my words but responses to my questions from other viewers as I worked my way out of the theater after the day was done.

A number of people mentioned Bill Carson, the retired rocket scientist from IBM who helped put men on the moon and helped invent the GPS and other amazing devices, and who is now an apple farmer over at Altapass near Little Switzerland on the Blue Ridge Parkway – well, that’s only part of the story – you really need to find Bill and get filled in.  Ask him about music, and history, and – oh yes – “Sweet Lips”.  Contact him at www.altapassorchard.com

The day began (for us attendees) at about 9:30 with some snacks and coffee, included a lunch which I ate with some new friends in the museum main floor surrounded by some 60 paintings commemorating a mythical breakfast these modern painters "had" with Van Gogh. One of the finest aspects of TED was the networking.  Like many people, I began by interacting with friends established from other occasions, then began meeting new friends in this very open atmosphere.  The meetings ended at four in the afternoon and featured 14 presenters.  

The discussions centered around Hickory, NC, a town and a region in the process of recreating itself after the American furniture and textile industries abandoned it for foreign riches.  I was surprised to find that Hickory is in some pretty high cotton, technologically speaking, in addition to its association with its large data centers for both Google and Apple.  It was also interesting to hear of the work being done in several different areas to work on the rehabilitation of people who have fallen on hard times lately.  All this to help make Hickory a community and not just a town.

Alan Jackson tells us not to call this event TEDxHickory, but TEDxHickory 2012.  And he called it the “first annual”.  Good.


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