Created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading,” the TEDx program

is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to

stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. TEDx events are fully

planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis.

In chemistry, collision theory teaches

that one must bring two atoms within

proximity of each other for a chance to

form a bond and share electrons. Proximity

is the prerequisite.

We gathered on January 31 to induce

proximity and to celebrate the conviction

that knowledge should analogously be

shared. We do so as part of a global

movement that has been gathering

leaders, thinkers, and doers in over two

thousand cities since 2009. Our January

31 gathering was the 9,020th TEDx

conference to date.

The conference theme Pioneers, O

Pioneers! embodies the broad spectrum of

individual journeys and personal ambition

that shape our shared experience. And

the theme preamble recognizes the innate

drive to learn, to overcome challenges, and

to advance human ideals.

Our speakers rose to the occasion, and

they shared their most compelling ideas.

We also unveiled two projects that expand

the “ideas worth spreading” mission by

leveraging Baltimore resources to tackle

“problems worth solving,” Projects CASL

and Calliope.

We remain grateful for the kind invitation

of Dr. Wilson, President of Morgan State

University, to return to his campus. And

we are thankful for the support provided

by Monica Lupton of the Murphy Fine

Arts Center, by Omar Muhammad of the

Entrepreneurial Development & Assistance

Center (EDAC), and their respective staffs.

The TEDxBaltimore team of volunteers

worked tirelessly to strive for a more

perfect community. The support of our

sponsors and the attendance of the

community elevated us toward that ideal.

And we proudly affirm that TEDxBaltimore

is unequivocal proof that given all the

resources endemic to Baltimore, we don’t

need to go far to go far!

On behalf of the TEDxBaltimore team,

Sarge Salman, PhD

PIONEERS, O PIONEERS!

We celebrate those who harbor vulnerability. We seek out those who carry the creative

flame. We yearn for those who call deep on their courage to march, impatient, and

full of action. Pioneers! And we honor the cause that there is more to live, to do, to

experience, and to discover than what is known today.

FROM THE CURATOR

The TEDxBaltimore 2014 conference, once again held at the Murphy Fine Arts

Center, reaffirmed our commitment to Morgan State University.

We exploited the opportunity to craft a program comprising over 20 unique

voices spanning disciplines and geography, from fatherhood to manufacturing,

and from Austria to Detroit. And we augmented the experience by unveiling two

ambitious projects to tackle “problems worth solving.”

Conference talks: http://goo.gl/rHTnfP

Event pictures: http://goo.gl/BzicHh

THE CONFERENCE

AT A GLANCE

1 Stage 4 Sessions 20 Speakers & Performers Ideas & Connections∞

ATTENDANCE

3908001190

Complimentary passes

Paying Customers

Badges Issued

254 (31%) General Admission

349 (44%)Student

197 (25%)Early Bird

Vegan Box Lunches Meat Box Lunches Artisan Pizzas from Touloulou

350 450 26

Goat Cheese Cheesecake & Herbed Chèvre Charlottetown Farm

Original, Hot Chile, Chesapeake style & Maple Pepper Beef Jerky Woodberry Kitchen

Roasted Winter Root Vegetables & Fruit Rolled in Spice Mix Triple R Farms

Traditional Jams canned using French Method in Copper Pans Max’s Degrees

German Baked Goods from Babett’s Bakery Atwater’s

We exploited the break between Sessions One and Two to serve locally sourced food, highlighting five food pioneers. The work of these purveyors reflects traditional methods of our food heritage pre-dating fast food. We served conference attendees foods to be eaten in winter locally sourced then preserved, not simply fresh-from-the-garden produce.

Items served:

LOCAL FOOD

LUNCH

VIDEOGRAPHY

5

2

Cameras

Terabytes

2 UNMANNED

3 w/ OPERATORS

RAW VIDEO FOOTAGE

By Open Range Video LLC

SPEAKERS

Decisions & Outcomes Our Potential Neighbors & NeighborhoodsOur Shared Experience

RickGeritz ✉ rickgeritz@tedxmail.com

THUS ✉ thus@tedxmail.com

HabenGirma ✉ habengirma@tedxmail.com

TysonSanford-Griffin ✉ tysonsanfordgriffin@tedxmail.com

JenniferGuarino ✉ jenguarino@tedxmail.com

LisaCooper ✉ lisacooper@tedxmail.com

MargaritaAnderson ✉ maggieanderson@tedxmail.com

JenniferShahade ✉ jenshahade@tedxmail.com

MedeaBenjamin ✉ medeabenjamin@tedxmail.com

MollyMcGrathTierney ✉ mollytierney@tedxmail.com

ChrisKraft ✉ chriskraft@tedxmail.com

NickCienski ✉ nickcienski@tedxmail.com

CherylCarmona ✉ cherylcarmona@tedxmail.com

SESSION ONE SESSION TWO SESSION THREE SESSION FOUR

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Experimental MusicPublic Service Lawyers as Pioneering Advocates

Guest Hosted by Derek Braun, a geneticist on the faculty of Gallaudet University

Session Three was ended with a surprise demonstration of a fused glass-metal technology: an underwater LED-lit red X. The light fixture was designed by Aric Wanveer and Tim McFadden of Zero Gravity Creations. TED is supportive of innovative product demonstrations and we anticipate incorporating them in subsequent conferences

Going from Point A to Point B

The Return of Skilled Labor Manufacturing to Detroit

Tackling Ethnic Health Disparities

Economic Lifespan of a Dollar

Understanding Chess Mastery

The Bitter Reality and Failure of Drone Warfare

Rethinking Foster Care

Giving Voice to Sexuality

Sometimes It’s Not Enough to be a Pioneer

Baltimore’s Urban Soil

Pug ✉ pug@tedxmail.com

JosephJones ✉ josephjones@tedxmail.com

NikiErnst ✉ nikiernst@tedxmail.com

ElijahMiles ✉ elijahmiles@tedxmail.com

CatharineRobertson ✉ cathro@tedxmail.com

TokyoCigar ✉ tokyocigar@tedxmail.com

An Interview with Pug from the Documentary “12 O’Clock Boys”

Fatherhood as an Anti-Poverty Strategy

The Global TEDx Community

Our Neighborhoods

The Secret Identity of an Adopted Child

PerformanceTo encourage connections between speakers and attendees, we initiated Project TEDxMail. The conference program included a Name@tedxmail.com email address that forwarded all correspondence to the speaker’s private email

@TEDXMAIL.COM

ATTENDEES

2013

2014Tickets Sold

Tickets Sold

Badges Issued

Badges Issued

Confirmed Attendance

Confirmed Attendance

298

800+168% +63% +44%

730

1190

650

938

Academic Institutions Represented In Audience

TEDx Organizers in Attendance

AccelerateBaltimore 2014 Winners

Venture For America Fellows

University of Baltimore Entrepreneurship Fellows

Open Society Institute – Baltimore 2013 Fellows

American University Community College of Baltimore County Drexel University Elon University Gallaudet University George Mason University George Washington University Georgetown University Goucher College Guilford College Howard Community College Johns Hopkins University Loyola University Maryland Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg Maryland University of Integrative Health

Maryland Institute College of Art Morgan State University New York University St. Johns College St. Timothy’s School Stevenson University Towson University University of Baltimore University of Delaware University of Maryland University of Maryland Baltimore County Ursinus College Vassar Villanova University Virginia Commonwealth University

TEDxAdamsMorgan TEDxAdo TEDxAmericanUniversity TEDxBergenCommunityCollege TEDxChesterRiver TEDxGallaudet TEDxGeorgeMasonU TEDxGeorgetown TEDxJohnsHopkinsUniversity TEDxKhartoum TEDxLancaster

TEDxMidAtlantic TEDxPhiladelphia TEDxPhoenixville TEDxPSU TEDxRockCreekPark TEDxSalzburg TEDxUMBC TEDxUMD TEDxVillanovaU TEDxYouth@RMHS

31

21

Entrepreneurs67

312

We also hosted ten Volunteer Maryland Coordinators and fifteen Notre Dame Mission Volunteers-AmeriCorps.

Ms. Sahar D. Sattarzadeh led a delegation of eighteen members of her SO 105: Social Problems & Issues course from Montgomery College - Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus. Most of the students are first-generation college students, comprising a diverse spectrum of socioeconomic classes, racial/ethnic/national identities, education levels, ages, and household structures.

The TEDxBaltimore livestream website received 1,207 visits throughout the day. Top viewing countries were:

1. United States of America 2. Canada 3. Brazil 4. Lithuania 5. Gernmany 6. United Kingdom 7. Italy 8. Mexico 9. Columbia 10. Lebanon

REMOTE VIEWERS

9:00am

11:30am

2:15pm

4:00pm

Problems Worth Solving

The global TEDx mission is “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Yet there are challenges in this world that will not succumb to a great idea. Solutions must be developed and deployed to defeat them. We call these opportunities “Problems Worth Solving.”

Leveraging the Baltimore talent pool and ample local resources, members of the community collaborated to develop two ambitious solutions to problems worth solving. They were unveiled at TEDxBaltimore.

PROJECT CASL PROJECT CALLIOPE

Each TEDx conference, organized through a license agreement from TED, has come to symbolize a vision that embraces people and ideas to craft a compelling local narrative about our shared future. And TED magnifies the effort through the Open Translation Project (OTP) where one thousand volunteers translate talks into 104 languages.

On January 31 we launched Project CASL, envisioned in the same spirit as the OTP program, to augment the conference experience in a very special way. For the first time, deaf attendees will sit in the audience and stream the sign language interpretation on an iPad we provide, as remote deaf viewers enjoy the talks on the projectcasl.com website. The CASL technology platform is merely a web browser that broadcasts the signs of interpreters.

The unveiling of Project CASL was marred by the failure of the audience iPad system. The technically feasible platform was deployed without on-site testing. However, a redundant system design allowed the simultaneous interpretation for home viewers to proceed unimpeded. And a planned backup plan allowed stage interpretation for our deaf guests.

This ambitious partial failure brought to light the strengths and liabilities of every system component, human and electronic. We are capitalizing on this knowledge to develop the second coming of Project CASL, which will offer remote sign language interpretation for citywide venues while creating hundreds of new interpreting job opportunities.

In 2015 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will lift restrictions on the commercial use of drones. Our drone incubator, known as Project Calliope, will stand at the forefront developing the next generation of civilian drone technology and companies. With all the resources available in Baltimore, we are confident Baltimore can become an epicenter for drone technology development.

Drone technologies in development include remote sensing and navigation applications for agricultural and other civilian uses.

Feedback

“The openness of the event is really great - everyone seemed engaged.”

“I thought that the whole event was superbly organized. They lost the letter J badges when I arrived and one volunteer personally found me to give me my badge later on. The food was great, the staff helpful, and everyone there was enthusiastic to network and talk.”

“I enjoyed the speakers offered, and I thought the breaks were ample, which allowed lots of time for networking. The programs and other materials provided were excellent, and TEDx staff were very helpful about providing directions and other logistical assistance.”

“I had detailed information about where the venue was, how to get there, where to park, and speakers ahead of time. That worked well. The convenience of the parking was awesome.”

“It seemed to be well organized. The sessions flowed without incident and the volunteers were very helpful. The starbucks coffee was a nice touch as well. Oh, and as a vegetarian, I loved that there was a vegan lunch option. Also, mingling with the speakers during breaks was wonderful.”

“It made you feel like it was a large organization with a hometown appeal.”

“I liked having speakers familiar with and local to Baltimore. It creates a sense of community pride which we can all appreciate.”

“The whole event felt well planned, the speakers were great, and it was awesome getting to meet so many people.”

“The excellent speakers were so inspiring and generated such energy in the audience that the day just flew by.”

“Flow was good, talks were great...I left feeling uplifted, renewed and inspired to incite change.”

SURVEY RESULTS SPONSORS

Would you attend another TEDx?

YES NO96% 4%

BRILLIANT GOOD AVERAGE POOR

This Event (overall) 30% 58% 9% 3%Speakers & Theme 35% 55% 7% 3%

Onstage Host 24% 35% 28% 13%Food 14% 31% 36% 19%

Venue 42% 42% 14% 2%

LENGTH JUST RIGHT TOO LONG TOO SHORT

This Event (overall) 49% 51% 0%Talks and Sessions 84% 16% 0%

Breaks 85% 13% 2%

We remain grateful for the support of our financial and in-kind sponsors. Their contributions exemplify the community support that motivates us.

The Journey Ahead

Visual DesignA 2-year commitment for graphic design students. First year: serving as Junior Designer in support of the Senior Designer with tasks relating to branding, graphics, and multimedia. Second year: promotion to Senior Designer, responsible for the entire TEDxBaltimore visual experience (branding, advertising, printed program, animations, etc.).

Japheth Crawford served as the inaugural Senior Designer, he is being succeeded by Crystal Dimeler.

Stage ManagementThe Master Puppeteer, aka stage manager, carries the soft power and deft stringmanship required to serve as gatekeeper to the stage, keeper of the schedule, shepherd and therapist for speakers, whispering appropriate encouragements. All stage activities fall under the purview of the Master Puppeteer.

Rebecca Wolf, Production Coordinator & Resident Lighting Designer at Towson University will serve in this capacity, and we look forward to recruiting students to the effort.

Production AssistantA planned internship for Morgan State sophomore Devonte King to document TEDxBaltimore using miniature GoPro cameras.

The Proximity Foundation, based at Emerging Technology Centers (ETC) in Highlandtown, is an organization to be tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The foundation will serve as home for all TEDxBaltimore activities. And the development and deployment of Problems Worth Solving projects will anchor a vibrant innovation hub in the City.

Stop by for a visit!

Emerging Technology Centers (ETC)101 N Haven St, Suite 301Baltimore, MD 21224

And don’t forget to join the discussion online:

@TEDxBaltimorewww.facebook.com/groups/TEDxBaltimore

DESIGN BY JAPHETH CRAWFORD & CRYSTAL DIMELER