On the 11th of November 2011, the 2nd annual TEDxAmericanRiviera in Santa Barbara, California was held at the world-famous Music Academy of the West in Montecito.
For the nearly 300 of you that attended our 2nd annual event, thank you for igniting The Spark Within. We at Make It Work, introNetworks and 74 Degrees would also like to thank the crew, sponsors, and many volunteers who worked endlessly to make this event happen.
Your TEDx Hosts;
Eric Greenspan, Make It Work
Mark Sylvester, introNetworks
Kymberlee Weil, introNetworks
Please enjoy the following videos of the speakers and musical performances at our 2011 event.
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Watch Your Head – Tales from the OCD Frontier
Stefan G. Bucher shares how he has built a creative environment that lets the unruly thoughts in his head take shape in the real world. (Mental refreshments will be served.) | Learn More
Passion with a Purpose
Playing the violin has always been an all-consuming passion for Robert Gupta, and when he was 19, he won a position in the LA Philharmonic. But it took playing for the most unlikely audiences, outside the concert hall, to help him realize why he became a musician in the first place, and the redemptive power through which music can bring the most underserved and forgotten amongst us back into the folds of humanity. | Learn More
Crafting the Future of Food
A classically trained chef shares his new vision for the culinary arts and, in turn, how it is possible to simultaneously enjoy food and health at their highest level. Matthew Kenney explains the highly innovative methods he employs to conceptualize and prepare plant-based cuisine that is redefining the notion of gourmet. | Learn More
How to Live Happily Ever After
What’s the secret to finding and keeping everlasting love? Research on romance abounds. Jenna McCarthy isn’t sure she believes a word of it. | Learn More
Finding the Magnificent in the Mundane
Finding beauty in unlikely places is a skill that can be developed in the blink of an eye. In this session, Chris Orwig, a celebrated photographer, writer and teacher, will share his insight into how we can discover the extraordinary in our ordinary everyday lives. It is a matter of learning or relearning how to see. And whether you are an artist, architect, accountant or anything in between, these ideas will ignite a contagious, curious and creative spark that will change who you are and how you see the world. | Learn More
The Spark at Work: Your Authenticity Calling
Many of us are striving to create a career that combines success with an inner sense of fulfillment and balance. In a world where pressure and complexity are only increasing, this goal seems ever more evasive. In this speech, Conscious Business Institute founder Peter Matthies discusses the hidden forces that determine how we pursue success – and why we need to change our approach to success to create the fulfillment and happiness we seek. | Learn More
Breathing Together -
Leadership Lessons from Musical Ensembles
What do orchestras or string quartets have to do with leadership and collaboration? “Music and leadership are my two passions,” says Eugene Lee, “and I love learning from the connections between the two. By looking at some musical ensembles through a leadership lens, piercing the veil of some common misperceptions of what’s going on, and glean insight about the conditions and enablers for collaborative performance – on stage, in the office, or even in the distributed virtual office.” Learn More
The Unexpected Physical Consequences Of Technology
In this talk Dr. Eric Goodman discusses altered human movement patterns that have led to increasing levels of physical degeneration and chronic injury. The effect of modern technology can be seen and felt daily. Recognizing the significant role proper movement plays in in our overall health is the most important step in beginning to remedy the epidemic of chronic pain. This talk will leave listeners inspired as Eric shows us what the return to our fundamental movement pattern looks and feels like and shares extraordinary stories of what can happen when you teach your body to move as it is designed. | Learn More
Dream Big, Dare to Fail
Barry Berkus is an architect who is paid to dream. In this presentation, Berkus will discuss how one continues to generate and regenerate creative spirit and build a tool box of dreams. He will expand upon the concept of going to the edge, and excelling within your field and diverse interests. He will explore how diversion and risk stimulate the creative senses, and add a variety of arrows to your quivers. Compete with yourself, don’t waste time competing with others. How can you improve your personal best? | Learn More
The Mulch Pile
Tom Snow says, “So, where do I get off thinking I have any business trying to create beauty? What presumptuous impulse leads me to sit down at the piano everyday banging out tune after tune in search of a beautiful melody. Who do I think I am?” Such are the thoughts that generally inhabit the artistic mind. Doubt, fear, free floating anxiety, dissatisfaction, low self regard, et cetera. Tom puts all those things into what he calls the “Mulch Pile.” Somehow beautiful and delicious and life affirming things pop up out that mess. Pretty much the same way a rose comes out of the dirt. It’s primal. And it’s the ultimate act of faith. | Learn More
The Joy of Looking . . .
Stopping for Wonder on the Road Less Traveled
John Seigel Boettner has yet to grow up. Being around kids for as long as he can remember, John’s calling has allowed him to bind work to play. In his TEDx classroom, John will share stories on how he learned is learning — learning what prayer is, learning how to pay attention, learning how to kneel and be idle, learning how to frolic in fields . . . how he is learning to (st)roll. John will share stories on making lesson plans for a wild and precious life. There will be a test. True/False. Multiple Choice. Essay. Your pillow will be your blue book. You may use both sides. | Learn More
Go Big, or Go Home
Joseph Hei will share his experiences on creating meaning and happiness by going Big. In looking for our creative spark, we need to go Big. Big means tackling ideas that cause people to pause in a moment of “Whoa!” Their eyes get wide, they can’t help but smile, and they’ve changed the way they think about what’s possible. Big is audacious, it’s hard, and ultimately it’s fulfilling. For you, what’s normal? What pushes past normal towards becoming Big? | Learn More
Entrepreneurship and Agribusiness,
The X-Box of Ag
With the AG economy at $1.3 Trillion and 300 million American lives at stake, as our natural resources dwindle and climates change, the ability to produce food is becoming more difficult. With 100 million more Americans to feed in the next 50 years, for some that seems impossible, for others it’s opportunity. Who better than our returning warriors to take on the challenge. Karen and Colin Archipley will reveal opportunities right at our fingertips… | Learn More
A Five Star Practice for Creating Beautiful Relationships
Love in all its forms is beautiful. We especially want beautiful relationships with lovers, and most of us want to find and be superior partners. How can we tell if someone is a likely candidate, or become likely candidates ourselves? Dr. Keith Witt will explain how five questions–a Five Star Practice–can guide us towards joyful intimacy. | Learn More
Curative Powers of Wet, Raw Beauty
Dr. Diane Gromala explores the wild side of mindful by creating provocative otherworlds. These virtual reality worlds enable people to access their own curative power in ways that have been measured as an effective non-pharmacological analgesics. Gromala’s work signals one way to address the so-called “silent epidemic” of chronic pain that affects 1 in 5 people — without resorting to the millennia-long use of opioids. | Learn More
The Evolution of a Spark
In this six-minute film, meet 10 passionate young people from Santa Barbara who show us how they live big and go after their dreams. They inspire their peers, and even our adult generation, to take pause, wonder, remain curious and playful, and feel that contagious spark that comes from unbridled youth.
Enjoy the dynamic energy and passion of these two Santa Barbara teenagers, David Schaeman and Jacob Greenspan, as they delight and astound us with their acoustic guitars. | Learn More
