The TEDx Asheville event on Sunday night was, by most accounts, a smash hit. Now that the dust has settled and a little time has passed, its time to move beyond the drooling love-fest and get to a more reasoned assessment. It’s still a first-blush reaction, but I’m trying to move beyond the congratulatory group-think.
There’s no doubt that the grassroots group that came together back in early spring to launch a local version of the popular California-based TED talks had the passion and the vision. That was clear as a bell. The passion came through in the sheer number of volunteers, their tireless hours and the hooting enthusiasm they showed throughout. The group was working from a successful template – no doubt about that – but the local vision that resulted in the crackling combination of speakers, musicians and technical expertise to pull it all off in a relatively short amount of time is remarkable. Many a Broadway show would die for a thimble-full of the technical prowess and energy on display at the Orange Peel on Sunday night. That high-tech high style overshadowed the night’s substance.
For all that goodness, there were a few glitches. The event was free and the venue filled quickly. Organizers said 300 to 400 people were turned away, but I have a hard time believing that number and doubt that it can be verified. Perhaps more like 100 to 200 left without a seat. It seems to me that organizers had to know they would have overflow capacity and should have been a little better prepared on that count.
In terms of the meat of the show, the quality of the presenters varied widely and none were 100 percent perfect. One read from a book for much of the start of his talk – that’s not engaging to me. One was clearly nervous and had a live person on stage pretending to be dead (or dying), which was odd, despite the fact that the topic at hand was, in fact, death. Another was so energetic that he eclipsed his own message. None of the ideas presented – in my humble opinion – were heart-stopping in the sense of the best TED talks I’ve seen online. Also, this first crop of speakers could be considered “usual suspects” in the sense that several are well-known in and around Asheville and have been talking about their big ideas for years. So there’s a preaching-to-the-choir sense of it all.
Still, TED is about “ideas worth sharing,” so it probably doesn’t matter that I’ve been exposed to much of the content on display Sunday night. The question is whether or not the world has been exposed, and for the most part, the information remains well worth contemplating. Especially so from the audience perspective. I’ve never seen an audience so intent, and as an old theater hand, I think I have a good sense of a crowd’s energy. The group that came out Sunday came thirsty and left brimming.
Now that the glare of the Power Point presentations has faded and I’ve had time to soak up the presenters’ information, I come away impressed at the intellectual capital and wishing it had just a little more laser-like focus. That will come, though. Meantime, we’ve shown once again that our little town can play in the biggest of leagues.
9 Comments
Aw c’mon, those of us that might have offered a suggestion or two aren’t being hyper critical. I’m tickled pink we even have a Tedx in Asheville.
Plus those of us that might sound curmudgeonly are gonna be first in line to volunteer for the 2010 Tedx. In fact, I’m mostly jealous I don’t have bragging rights to helping organize the first one 😉
I especially like all the stuff happening post-Tedx. Questionairres, post-event meetings, and all the great recaps and tweets online. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Asheville Tedx was one of the better organized and produced independent Tedx conferences that’s ever been done. It was amazing.
DM
I was lucky enough to get on Sunday, and absolutely loved it. I came with my teenage, "mom, I already saw it at school" son, and he was impressed. I came with my hypercritical event-producing husband, and he was impressed. I think "the usual suspects" were exactly the right array for the inaugural TEDx Asheville, and I look forward to the next event with great anticipation.
Choice of venue will be a challenge for the organizers. The Orange Peel is so quintessentially Ashevillian; how will that be matched? I’d suggest only a moderate concern for getting more folks in the door. Instead, focus on easing remote access for those who aren’t in the room and speed up post-event video so that the enthusiasm can be shared more quickly.
I was most awestruck by the engaging combination of regional style and professional delivery. Those of you criticizing props are overlooking the artful work going on with the video, lights and sound. Surely you can see past a notebook, especially if you’re really listening. If you find yourself getting uptight, follow the recurrent direction of the night: take a deep breath and relax!
I commend those who pulled this fantastic evening together, and thank those who presented. It was wonderful. So much so, that if the volunteer pool has any more room in it, I’d be glad to pitch in!
I wasn’t in the least thrown off by how the presenters delivered their information- rather, I was thrilled that they were willing to devote their time, energy and passion to the free distribution of ideas. I don’t think we need a ‘riveting performance’ free of scripts or aids in order to appreciate the content, and the awesome community-building context in which it was presented! Kudos, TEDxAVL!
Tofu Eating Dramaqueens!
Trey, Babe, Tebbe and Don, thank you all for your feedback. It’s good stuff. I agree with you all – overall it was a great event that will only continue to improve.
The entire presentation was orchestrated in enthusiastic military precision. I am so proud of Jennifer and her volunteers for putting on such an awesome event.
I too was not impressed with speakers reading from books. Maybe I’ve come to expect more from the regular Ted Conference speakers. I know public speaking is not on the top of many people’s list of favorite things to do, but I think it needs to be a requirement for something with the pedigree of a Tedx event. Notes or an outline on a podium is fine, but carrying around a book while you talk makes many in the audience focus more on the speaker and less on the message. I thought the UNCA professor with her notes off to the side and she walked by and glanced at them now and again was fine.
On the other end of the spectrum the guy’s "enthusiasm eclipsing his own message" was dead-on. It reminded me of a commercial that was so funny or unusual that you forget what product they were trying to sell in the first place.
But to be fair, I honestly didn’t know who ANY of the speakers were going in, so perhaps I should just be fortunate we had them here in the first place. It would be like if jazz sax legend Ornette Coleman came to town and just played Autumn Leaves note for note for three hours. I wouldn’t care – it’s f*ckng Ornette Coleman for chrissakes! Know what I mean?
None of these things are deal breakers for me. I will be first in line to volunteer and attend the next Ted Conference. To be honest the event as a whole more than exceeded my expectations. I was not expecting anything so grand.
Thanks again to Jennifer and crew. I’m feel really lucky to live in Asheville with such passionate and wonderful people.
Thanks Jason- tough but fair. I appreciate your "ususal suspects" comment most of all. But you have to keep in mind many of those in attendance were from other areas and these were new ideas, or at best newly packaged. Some of the presenters were not accustomed to the larger audience and in some cases not familiar with more than a sangha size. But I think Jennifer and Brett and many of the others (I came late to the group) went with tried and true for the premier. Next year we will accept nominees and there will be a vetting process that will address these concerns.
I was also very impressed by the team and community spirit it took to organize a FREE event like this. I think it’s pretty cool that TED gives the x-independent event brand recognition and in some way serves as an audition platform for the real deal, but I’ve seen most of the videos online and was more interested in local content being the new guy in town and not knowing anyone on stage.
Anyway, I enjoy reading your blog Jason, definitely one of my favs out here… keep it up!
As someone who got to watch the organizers behind the scenes, I am way past impressed at the people behind TEDxAsheville. It seems they truly embody not only the TED ideals, but also the unique spirit and passion that IS Asheville.
They used collaborative tools to the max, shared ideas, debated them, called and discarded unworkable ideas (though they even thought those through before dumping), encouraged one another, diligently attempted to anticipate, and basically, just totally poured their heart and souls into the project.
Your critique, Jason, is precisely the kind of dialog catalyst we need in social media and in these times—someone willing to both see the people behind the project, acknowledge the expected crowdhugging, and push the the rose-frost off the glasses to get an honest look.
And to the "organizers": thank you for giving me an unusual insider’s look at you and your processes. Yep, I wanted to be a part of your event but I completely let you down. You all did the incredible thing of letting me be in-the-loop without doing the guilt-trip thing. I am simply in awe of you.
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