TEDxHickory 2013

Would you like to make a presentation at TEDxHickory?  You can DO it! Yes you can – don’t worry about the people up there on the stage struggling with the floor covering, the lighting, the microphones, losing their places, and all that.  There’s ANOTHER way, maybe a BETTER way to get your ideas across at TEDxHickory!  

Emily Miller
"Craftomics"

There is a Magic Key that a lot of people find at TEDs.  It is called the Key of Networking. And even before the main show begins, Networking is well under way.  Networking begins an hour or so before the performers even get on the stage, and then there is a lunch break, (Networking break), probably another break later on, and when the show is over, sure some of the people will rush out and run away, but those who have important questions to ask, or things they want to say or talk about, will hang around for a while to get to know other attendees.  It’s a great opportunity to meet the people who are making Hickory into the city it will be ten years from now.  This is the place to bring your ideas, your questions about the future, and general outlines of things you are trying to bring into our community right now.  

Get some really good business cards made up.  I print mine out on my computer, but next year, before TEDxHickory 2104,  I will go by a fine shop in Hickory and get some professional cards made and I will take those with me.  I urge you to do the same.  Why?  At TEDxHickory, everybody you meet will ask you “what brings you here”, or “what do you do?”  And you will be ready.  Your business cards are your introduction.  And if those people are curious, or maybe say something like “that looks interesting”, you might have some small handy brochures printed on stock paper and about the size of a postcard or an envelope.  They can be professionally prepared also, printed on slick paper, perhaps folded over one time.  And for those people who have deeper questions, you will have some handouts won’t you?  And – oh yes – don’t forget to ask THEM those same questions:  What brings YOU here, and what do YOU do?  And listen to them.  And ask them questions.  Get their business card and see if they have any handouts.  You might want to contact them in the future.

Ted Abernathy
"Technology ~ Competitiveness"

A lot of the presentations at TEDxHickory mentioned significant hot-button items such as Curiosity, Innovation, Creativity, Ideas, Imagination and other concepts and everyone agrees that these issues are “great” but there was not much discussion about what those things ARE, or how to find or develop these concepts and feelings.   And this is where you can break through the crowd, and rise above the questions.

Remember those brochures and handouts we talked about earlier?  Those you are going to prepare and bring next year?  They really NEED to have some of those great ideas right out there in front, rousing curiosity, ringing bells, pointing out how you search for and recognize problems in your work, and how you find and apply skills and knowledge to create something new, or a better way to do an old project.  Show how you ask yourself and your fellow workers important questions, and how you and they search together for and recognize clues that can lead to a really creative product or service.