I considered myself lucky to have been invited to this TEDx St. Louis event on Thursday, September 19.. I was happily surprised to have been invited to the inaugural TEDx in St. Louis about two years ago. That first TEDx event in St. Louis seems in retrospect to have coincided with the success and visibility of the St. Louis tech "start-ups", now seemingly firmly entrenched. Here's what I wrote about the inaugural St. Louis TEDx.
I had never been to the MX Theatre downtown and had no idea what to expect.
The place is absolutely gorgeous, it's about a 200 seat spectacular theatre (called the "best in St. Louis"), with the most comfortable overstuffed leather theatre seats I've ever sat in (really!). There's a bar, a restaurant and a swivel "table" on each seat so that you can eat and drink while watching the movie. There's parking in the building on the same floor as the theatre. It's very convenient and secure.
The TEDx event was like any TED event, packed with thoughtful, articulate, motivating speakers who take you to places you've never thought about before. The speakers are so strong and have such powerful backgrounds that you can't help but pay attention. To not pay attention would be a wonderful opportunity lost. These are compelling presentations! Most are inspirational.
Next came two PhDs, one Matt Lieberman, Ph.D. and Professor pf Psychology and Biobehavioral Sciences and author of a soon to be released book, "Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect". He took on a sophisticated topic and made it incredibly simple and understandable. He calls a human beings' (actually a mammal's) social conduct a "super power"! He went on to make the case. Matt Ellis, Ph.D.: Professor of Medicine and Director of the Breast Cancer Program at Siteman Cancer Center was also riveting. He talked about the incredible sophistication and complexity of genome analysis and successful breast cancer treatment at Washington University. His take away? "If you can understand something, you can fix it"! Simple and Inspirational!
Andrew Couch, Founder and Executive Officer, Candy Lab. Andy moved to St. Louis as a result of the TRex infrastructure and start-up support programs. Candy Lab is a team created to develop an augmented reality hyper location based cross promotional system. It was a short, fascinating presentation. If one would have seen the three minute video he showed of augmented reality in action, even two years ago, you'd be convinced it's all science fiction. It's likely the mobile marketing next level.
TEDx is designed to change an attendee in one half business day. TED is produced to allow the attendees time to get to know each other with enthusiastic networking and to share their thoughts and feelings about what they're hearing. I came away after having been introduced to several others who could easily become friends, colleagues or clients. It's just inspirational!
St. Louis Entrepreneurs/Developers and supporters of pumping new life into Downtown St. Louis included, Amos Harris of Spinnaker Developers, Steve Smith of The Lawrence Group, Zack Boyers of USBank Development and Keith Alper, CEO of Creative Producers Group and Board member of Downtown St. Louis. I can't overlook Tom Eschen, VP of Institutional Advancement for Maryville University.