Blog

Since its incep­tion in 2013, it’s been go, go, go for TEDxSalem. And our team dili­gent­ly work­ing behind the scenes to pull all the pieces togeth­er, has nev­er received an offi­cial introduction…until now. We are proud to intro­duce the peo­ple behind the cur­tain, the vol­un­teers who ded­i­cate their hours and exper­tise to make TEDxSalem an inspir­ing, com­mu­ni­ty-engag­ing event for all, year after year.

Brian Hart

Role: Co-cura­tor

Favorite TED talk: Can­dy Chang: Before I die I want to …

Bri­an is one half of the cura­to­r­i­al team for TEDxSalem.

“I’ve always been a fan of TED, even before I knew what it was,” said Bri­an. “Then Car­lee and I did our first inter­ac­tive art project togeth­er from start to fin­ish, a Before I Die wall that was based on a TED talk and the entire expe­ri­ence changed my life. It trig­gered some­thing inside of me, I thought, there is some­thing to this TED thing. We should look into doing one here in Salem, just then our friend Mark Pow­ers was host­ing what is now TEDxMt­Hood, we asked to join their vol­un­teer com­mit­tee, but was grant­ed a license before we even starter there… the rest is his­to­ry.”

His favorite part lead­ing up to the main event are the 1001 small details that make the TEDxSalem expe­ri­ence spe­cial for our atten­dees. Dur­ing the event, it’s all about watch­ing our speak­ers and per­form­ers do their thing, reflect­ing on how much their talk has grown, as well as watch­ing our atten­dees and see­ing their eyes light up as they soak it all in.

Day job: Video Pro­duc­er for Allied Video Pro­duc­tions

Laughs at: Life

Known for: Prob­a­bly bit­ing off more than most can chew.

Inspired by: Every­thing all around me, art, nature, music, friends, fam­i­ly and myself.

Hob­bies: This one thing called TEDx. Also on the board of the Salem Pro­gres­sive Film Series, Pres­i­dent of the Mox­ie Ini­tia­tive, radio pro­duc­er for Cool Sheets, social stuff for RiverCi­ty Rock Star Acad­e­my, all forms of art and your aver­age all around friend­ly Salem com­mu­ni­ty activist.  

Fatal weak­ness: Ice cream!

Favorite Movie(s): Impos­si­ble to answer some of my favorite direc­tors are Hitch­cock, Scors­ese, Kubrick, Taran­ti­no, Smith, Rodriguez, Cop­po­la, and a bunch of oth­ers.

Favorite Author: Tim Fer­riss changes the way I look at myself and the world the most often.

If you had a super­pow­er, what would it be? All of Super­man’s pow­ers that’s all, that’s just one right?

What do you want to be when you grow up? I nev­er want to grow up! I only want to do what I am already doing, stay curi­ous, appre­ci­ate the won­der­ful life I have and all of my friends and fam­i­ly that are a part of it.

What col­or would you be in the cray­on box and why? BLUE!! You’ll soon find out why!

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Carlee Wright

Role: Co-cura­tor

Favorite TED talk: Ron Fin­ley: A gueril­la gar­den­er in South Cen­tral LA

Car­lee is one half of the cura­to­r­i­al team for TEDxSalem. Her favorite part lead­ing up to TEDxSalem’s main event is watch­ing the pieces come togeth­er.

“As the team works with the speak­ers and the speak­ers become more con­fi­dent with their talks, as the theme devel­ops and the event pro­duc­tion comes togeth­er, it’s a puz­zle of abstract pieces care­ful­ly being craft­ed, con­nect­ed cre­at­ing this unique, lay­ered expe­ri­ence that changes every year,” she said.

Dur­ing the event, it’s all about the ener­gy. “Watch­ing peo­ple’s reac­tion to the var­i­ous talks and enter­tain­ment and then see­ing them engage with activ­i­ties and peo­ple dur­ing the breaks, it cre­ates this con­ta­gious, radi­at­ing ener­gy that fills me with hap­pi­ness. I love see­ing how peo­ple — strangers — con­nect over these com­mon inter­ests, goals, and inspi­ra­tions,” she said.

Day Job: Writer, design­er, artist

Laughs at: My daugh­ter’s wit

Known for: Crown Roy­al fash­ion and what’s hap­pen­ing in Salem.

Inspired by: Every­thing — seri­ous­ly, that is not a gen­er­al­iza­tion. I can find inspi­ra­tion in all 🙂

Hob­bies: Can work­ing be a hob­by? Is TEDxSalem my hob­by?

Favorite food and why? Late­ly, home­made blend­ed cof­fee. I can’t get enough of that stuff. Cof­fee is food, right?

Favorite Music: Frank Turn­er

If you had a super­pow­er, what would it be? I used to think I want­ed to stop time, but I would­n’t actu­al­ly want to age and have the world around me not age. So.… I just want to know all the things. I want the abil­i­ty to read some­thing quick­ly and to under­stand and remem­ber it.

I secret­ly wish I was: A super­hero (see above ;))

What col­or would you be in the cray­on box and why? Blue…always blue…It’s rich, deep and expres­sive and the base for so many oth­er beau­ti­ful colours.

What do you want to be when you grow up? ALL THE THINGS!!! (although maybe I’m nev­er grow­ing up and I will just be all the things any­way)

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Carmen Armendariz

Role: Speak­er Liai­son, Pre­sen­ta­tion Coor­di­na­tor

Favorite TED talk: IWAN BAAN: Inge­nious homes in unex­pect­ed places

Car­men has been involved with TEDxSalem for five years, first as the Pow­er­Point Pre­sen­ta­tion Coor­di­na­tor and more recent­ly tak­ing on a larg­er role as a speak­er liai­son, too. A Fis­cal Ana­lyst for OHA/Health Sys­tems Divi­sion by day, Carmen’s appre­ci­a­tion for com­mu­ni­ty togeth­er inspired her to get involved with TEDxSalem. Her favorite part lead­ing up to the event is how every­one works togeth­er.

“It gets crazy busy but it feels more like hang­ing out with fam­i­ly instead of work­ing. I enjoy that,” she said. And dur­ing the main event, it’s all about see­ing every­one’s hard work, from the speak­ers to the vol­un­teers, come to fruition.

Laughs at: The stu­pid things that come out of peo­ple’s mouths. It’s hilar­i­ous some­times! LOL

Known for: My cat and dog aller­gies.

Inspired by: The moon, the sun, the sky and nature inspire me. No mat­ter what they endure.

Hob­bies: I like to recy­cle bro­ken jew­el­ry and watch­es. I take them apart and cre­ate new jew­el­ry pieces.

Favorite emo­ji: 😲

Fatal weak­ness: My chil­dren. If any­thing were to hap­pen to them I would die.

Favorite food and why: Thai food. The spices. The aro­ma. The taste. Yum­my!

Favorite TV: The Walk­ing Dead. What? It could hap­pen!

Favorite Movie(s): Action: The Raid; Romance: Sense and Sen­si­bil­i­ty; SyFy: Blade Run­ner; Dra­ma: Gran Tori­no; For­eign: Old Boy

Favorite Music: Mex­i­cana Regional/Ranchera, Sal­sa and Clas­sic Rock

I secret­ly wish I was: liv­ing in Italy run­ning my own lit­tle ris­torante 🌸💜🌸

What do you want to be when you grow up? World trav­el­er.

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Carole Astley

Role: Speak­er Liai­son

Favorite TED Talk: Joe Smith: How to use a paper tow­el

When Car­ole was approached five years ago to be part of the TEDxSalem core team, she jumped at the chance and has­n’t looked back since. “I’ve been a fan of TED talks for years and this was a great way to be involved with my com­mu­ni­ty by help­ing put on the local event,” she said. Her favorite part lead­ing up the main event is “get­ting to hang out super cre­ative and smart peo­ple — our speak­ers and plan­ning team!” Dur­ing the event, it’s all about help­ing the speak­ers stay calm before they go on stage.

Day Job: Direc­tor, Indus­try Ser­vices of Trav­el Oregon/Oregon Tourism Com­mis­sion

Favorite ’90s jam: This was hard, so many great ones to choose from, I’ll say Bare Naked Ladies ‘One Week’ 

Laughs at: My 7 year old — he’s hilar­i­ous

Known for: Know­ing some­one every­where I go

Favorite Emo­ji: Right now I am using the jazz hands smi­ley face a lot

Favorite Food: Scal­lops. Because they taste so good and you rarely see them on menus!

Favorite TV: Gilmore Girls

If you had a super­pow­er, what would it be? To not have to sleep so I could get ALL the things done I want to!

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Christopher David

Role: Speak­er Liai­son and Sto­ry­teller

New to the TEDxSalem team, Chris jumped in and took on two jobs as a speak­er liai­son and a sto­ry­teller. While he has want­ed to get involved for some time, com­plet­ing his grad­u­ate degree took up any free time to spare.

“This year I final­ly have time to par­tic­i­pate and so I asked if I could be con­sid­ered wor­thy to get involved. Good news,” he said. His favorite part so far as been spend­ing time with the team mem­bers, speaker’s hob­nob­bing and talk­ing shop. If he had a super­pow­er, it would be the abil­i­ty to com­plete yard-work with the wave of his hand.

Day job: Behav­ior Analyst/Family Ther­a­pist

Favorite ’90s jam: My favorite 90’s jam would have to be the Pearl Jam.

Laughs at: Pun­ning and Dad humor.

Known for: I have a deep com­mit­ment to com­mu­ni­ty and car­ing for peo­ple.

Fatal weak­ness: Red­heads

Favorite food and why: Hot sand­wich­es (espe­cial­ly if they have Lamb).

Favorite TV: Arrest­ed Devel­op­ment

Favorite Authors: Kurt Von­negut or Dou­glas Adams

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Heather Coakley

Role: Registration/Ticketing 

Favorite TED Talk: Ken Robin­son: Do Schools Kill Cre­ativ­i­ty

She’s a self-pro­claimed nerd about logis­tics so it’s no won­der why Heather is the queen of reg­is­tra­tion and tick­et­ing for TEDxSalem. “I can’t help but get excit­ed about ways to make check-in and reg­is­tra­tion a bet­ter expe­ri­ence each year,” she said. Heather’s been watch­ing videos on TED.com since 2010 and had the plea­sure of work­ing with peo­ple who active­ly involve TED talks into their work and teach­ings, so when the oppor­tu­ni­ty to help with TEDxSalem was pre­sent­ed, she could­n’t turn it down. (Thank good­ness for us, too!) Her favorite part of the event, oth­er than nerd­ing out over stream­lin­ing reg­is­tra­tion, is learn­ing about the the pas­sion of oth­ers. “I always feel so incred­i­bly inspired.”

Day Job: Prop­er­ty Man­ag­er

Laughs at: Cat Memes

Inspired by: Peo­ple who want to leave things bet­ter than they found them.

Hob­bies: I play roller der­by and I vol­un­teer for the Wom­en’s Flat Track Der­by Asso­ci­a­tion to help put on the annu­al inter­na­tion­al play­offs and cham­pi­onship.

Favorite emo­ji: Anchor

Fatal weak­ness: I’m actu­al­ly incred­i­bly lazy… but I find that it helps me to find faster/easier ways of doing things.

Favorite food: Apple Cider Donuts… they always remind me of my favorite sea­son

Favorite movies: Lady and the Tramp & Lit­tle Miss Sun­shine

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Jay Shenai

Role: Speak­er Liai­son and Sto­ry­teller

Favorite TED talk: Kelsey Juliana: Youth as Solu­tion­ar­ies

Jay came to TEDxSalem as a sto­ry­teller, but has tak­en on an active role as a speak­er liai­son over time. His favorite things lead­ing up to the main event is work­ing with and get­ting to know our grow­ing speak­er fam­i­ly. Day of, it’s all about the inspi­ra­tion. When not work­ing as a con­struc­tion man­ag­er (his day job), you can find him train­ing for what he wants to be when he grows up: Vin Diesel.

Day Job: Con­struc­tion Man­ag­er

Favorite ‘90s jam: On advice of coun­sel, I respect­ful­ly decline to answer in accor­dance with the 5th amend­ment pro­tec­tions against self-incrim­i­na­tion

Laughs at: On advice of coun­sel, I respect­ful­ly decline to answer in accor­dance with the 5th amend­ment pro­tec­tions against self-incrim­i­na­tion

Known for: Play­ing musi­cal instru­ments

Inspired by: Our TED speak­ers

Hob­bies: TEDxSalem, row­ing, writ­ing

Favorite emo­ji: All of ’em, bless those lit­tle bas­tards

Favorite TV: Vizio Smart­Cast M‑Series Ultra HD 75″ — $2,499 best bang for the buck

Favorite Movie(s): Sec­ond half of Wyatt Earp, First half of Lord of the Rings Return of the King

Favorite Music: Guns ‘N’ Ros­es

Favorite Author: Joseph Con­rad

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Jillian Thayer

Role: Speak­er Liai­son

Favorite TED talk: Sarah Kay: If I should have a daugh­ter … “I saw this talk short­ly after I attend­ed my first spo­ken word event. It’s not a tra­di­tion­al TED Talk, but I real­ly con­nect­ed with it.”

Although she’s a more recent addi­tion to the TEDxSalem team, Jil­lian is no stranger to TED. “I was involved with TEDxShang­hai and I just fell in love with it,” she said. Her favorite parts of a TED event are watch­ing the ideas and talks take shape and see­ing peo­ple inspired by new ideas.

Day job: Man­age­ment Con­sul­tant with Mainz Brady Group.

Laughs at: Sil­ly sil­ly humor

Known for: Always will­ing to take a leap, try new things, and stretch my lim­its

Inspired by: See­ing peo­ple over­come their fears and do things that tru­ly take courage

Hob­bies: ALL THE ROLLER DERBY!

Favorite emo­ji: 😳

Fatal weak­ness: Cheese

What do you want to be when you grow up? A pro­fes­sor

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Karen Holman

Role: Speak­er Liai­son

Favorite TED talk: Tsher­ing Tob­gay: This coun­try isn’t just car­bon neu­tral — it’s car­bon neg­a­tive

Karen Hol­man is the sec­ond speak­er turn team mem­ber to join the TEDxSalem fam­i­ly. A long­time sup­port­er, Karen vol­un­teered to run a recess activ­i­ty at TEDxSalem III, spoke at TEDxSalem IV and has become a speak­er liai­son for TEDxSalem V.

She got involved because TEDxSalem is a rare com­bi­na­tion of things she can’t live with­out: cre­ativ­i­ty, enthu­si­as­tic intel­lec­tu­al­ism, art, and emo­tion.

“It push­es bound­aries in both an exter­nal sense—with talks that are thought-pro­vok­ing, have soci­etal ram­i­fi­ca­tions, and encour­age discussion—as well as spark­ing inter­nal con­tem­pla­tion. Many of the talks chal­lenge us to grap­ple with our own inner strug­gles, if we are open to it. I have often described TEDxSalem as THE #1 pre­mier annu­al event in Salem in terms of its pro­fes­sion­al­ism and the event-plan­ning prowess that clear­ly goes into it each year,” she said.

Day job: Chem­istry Pro­fes­sor at Willamette Uni­ver­si­ty

Known for: …some say it’s for start­ing KMUZ.  Oth­ers don’t know about KMUZ but they know I’m a chem­istry pro­fes­sor. Oth­ers don’t know about either one of those, but they know I play gui­tar and sing in punk bands.  And every­one else just knows me for being Grif­fin the Corgi’s mom. But besides all that stuff, I am known for being opti­mistic and tena­cious.

Inspired by: Peo­ple who cre­ate some­thing far-reach­ing or beau­ti­ful out of very lit­tle resources. When they have so much pas­sion for it that they have to do it, no mat­ter what, even if it’s near­ly impos­si­ble. I love see­ing oth­ers that have ded­i­ca­tion to make the world a hap­pi­er and more com­pas­sion­ate place for all of us.  It makes me want to try hard­er to do the same.

Hob­bies: Two bands, three radio shows on KMUZ, walk­ing in nature, kayak­ing and trav­el­ing

Favorite Movie(s): I have seen the orig­i­nal Star Wars close to 75 times and the Empire Strikes Back is a close sec­ond to that.

Favorite Music: I love any music that has deep feel­ings asso­ci­at­ed with it and that is cre­at­ed authen­ti­cal­ly by the artist.  Those feel­ings can be extreme­ly ener­getic and pas­sion­ate, tran­quil and ethe­re­al, or any­where in between. As a result, I love a lot of dif­fer­ent kinds of music and what I choose to lis­ten to at any giv­en moment depends on my mood and what I’m doing.  I think the only kind of music that I don’t enjoy are songs that are grat­ing or that feel con­trived.

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Kathryn Cellerini Moore, aka KMoo

Role: TEDxSalem Artist-in-Res­i­dence Coor­di­na­tor

After hold­ing the posi­tion as TEDxSalem Artist-in-Res­i­dence for 2017, Kathryn has tak­en charge in the coor­di­na­tion role men­tor­ing the 2018 AIR. It’s quite fit­ting for the cre­ative who takes on the titles: Artist | Oppor­tu­ni­ty Mak­er | Co-Con­spir­a­tor of Awe­some­sauce for her “day job.” Her favorite part lead­ing up to the event is meet­ing the new TEDx fam­i­ly mem­bers. Of course, dur­ing the event, she appre­ci­ates see­ing a great design set the tone of the stage and room. Admit­ted­ly, she’s biased.

Favorite ’90s jam: Rasp­ber­ry 🤣

Laughs at: Real­ly dry humor!

Inspired by: Badass peo­ple inspire me.

Hob­bies: What do you do in your “free” time? No such thing as free time!

Favorite emo­ji: Cats, of course!

Fatal weak­ness: My hus­band. Yep!

Favorite food and why: Tru­ly depends on my mood each day. I love great food!

Favorite TV: Dr. Who, Sher­lock, The Grand Tour.

Favorite Movie: Howl’s Mov­ing Cas­tle

Favorite Author: Basi­cal­ly authors who write books for kids.

I secret­ly wish I was: able to run real­ly fast. Real­ly real­ly fast. Like across the state of Ore­gon in an hour fast.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I don’t plan to grow up. Ever.

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Keith Seckel

Role: Host

Favorite TED talk: Joe Smith: How to use a paper tow­el

Kei­th Seck­el has been involved with TEDxSalem since our inau­gur­al event.

“First: I had an idea worth spread­ing. Then: I want­ed to stay con­nect­ed to see­ing oth­ers share/spread their ideas!” he said.

His favorite part of TEDxSalem lead­ing up to the main event is get­ting to know the speak­ers and a big-pic­ture feel for the over­all vibe. Dur­ing the main event, it’s about see­ing it all come togeth­er — see­ing so many light bulbs show up over peo­ple’s heads, and then see­ing them con­nect with oth­ers.

Day Job: Home Hos­pice RN

Laughs at: Kit­tens run­ning side­ways.

Known for: Com­pas­sion and con­nec­tion.

Hob­bies: Endurance run­ning.

Favorite emo­ji: 🍁

Favorite food: Piz­za. It has it all!

Favorite author: Stephen King

What do you want to be when you grow up? Hap­py. (Hat tip to John lennon)

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Michael Hernandez

Role: Cre­ative Director/Designer

Favorite TED talk: Steal Like An Artist: Austin Kleon at TEDxKC

Michael’s been a TED Talk fan for many moons. Although a first timer to TEDxSalem, he brings a wealth of infor­ma­tion on design and brand­ing. Lead­ing up to the main event, his favorite part is help­ing to design pre­mi­um cohe­sive brand­ing and a inspir­ing expe­ri­ence. But when it comes to day of the event, it’s all about the talks. “You want to see all the speak­ers shine,” he said.

Day job: Design Con­sul­tan­cy Owner/Creative Direc­tor + Art Gallery Owner/Director/Curator

Favorite ’90s jam: Ride “Vapour Trail”

Hob­bies: Surf­ing and beach­comb­ing.

Favorite food and why? Buf­fa­lo Wings and Shoe­string French Fries. Heat & Salt.

Favorite Movie: Stand by Me

Favorite Music: Loud.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A big kid.

What col­or would you be in the cray­on box and why? Black. It’s clear­ly the best col­or out there. Best wardrobes are most­ly black.

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Mindie Metka

Role: Speak­er liai­son and in-kind dona­tions coor­di­na­tor (pre­vi­ous Vol­un­teer Coor­di­na­tor)

Favorite TED talk: Brain mag­ic: Kei­th Bar­ry

Mindie’s involve­ment with TEDxSalem began on day one, first as Vol­un­teer Coor­di­na­tor, then adding In-Kind Dona­tions Coor­di­na­tor to her plate. She’s an exam­ple of “just ask,” as she was asked to help out and hasn’t been able to turn away since. Today, she con­tin­ues coor­di­nat­ing in-kind dona­tions and also serves as a speak­er liai­son. A women’s health nurse prac­ti­tion­er by day, Mindie’s favorite pre-event part is all the wran­gling that gets done. Day of the event, it’s the recess ses­sions.

Favorite ’90s jam: Jump Around

Laughs at: Any­thing sil­ly, love to laugh!

Favorite emo­ji: 🤣

Favorite Music: Any­thing but coun­try

I secret­ly wish I was: able to trav­el into space

What col­or would you be in the cray­on box and why? Cerulean, reminds me of the ocean

What do you want to be when you grow up? Still search­ing for that

Favorite food and why? All foods! My trip to New York City is all based on the food places we are going!

If you had a super­pow­er, what would it be? Have super speed like the flash

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Sean Swearingen

Role: Speak­er Liai­son

Favorite TED talk: Dan Pink: The puz­zle of moti­va­tion

Sean played the role of host for the inau­gur­al TEDxSalem in 2013. “I made the move from roller der­by announc­er to TEDx on-stage host,” he said. Soon after tran­si­tion to the role of speak­er liai­son. His favorite part lead­ing up to the main event are the core team inter­ac­tions. Day of, it’s the chem­istry. “No mat­ter how involved you are lead­ing up to the event it’s always a sur­prise find­ing out how all that chem­istry is going to work out dur­ing the event,” he said.

Day Job: Super­vi­sor

Inspired by: The pur­suit of excel­lence.

Hob­bies: What do you do in your “free” time? I’m a video game fan.

Fatal weak­ness: Deli­cious nachos can make me weak in the knees.

Favorite Movie(s): Do or do not, there is only Star Wars.

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Stefanie Knowlton

Role: Sto­ry­teller

Friends con­vinced Ste­fanie to join the TEDxSalem team as a sto­ry­teller three years ago. With her jour­nal­ist back­ground, it was the per­fect way for her to give back, espe­cial­ly since one of her favorite aspects of the event is get­ting to know the speak­ers and shar­ing their sto­ries. Dur­ing the event she loves the ener­gy of the crowd. “Every­one is engaged and ready to expe­ri­ence some­thing new,” she said.

Day Job: Run the library at Har­ritt Ele­men­tary

Favorite ‘90s jam: “Undone: the sweater song”

Laughs at: Mon­ty Python

Known for/inspired by/hobby: Danc­ing (I am an award-win­ning bel­ly­dancer.)

Favorite Emo­ji: 💃

Favorite food/Fatal weak­ness: Choco­late. It needs no expla­na­tion.

If you had a super­pow­er, what would it be? I would love to fly.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A pub­lished author some­day

What col­or would you be in the cray­on box and why? Fuch­sia, because that’s my favorite col­or right now.

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Saerom England

Role: Uhm­mm, depends on the day?

Saerom has been involved with TEDxSalem since it’s incep­tion in 2013. Her favorite part lead­ing up to the event is see­ing the speak­ers’ talk shape up into the best talk they can give. Dur­ing the main event, it’s feel­ing the ah-ha moments and brain stim­u­la­tion in the room all around her. She got involved because the val­ue TEDxSalem brings to our com­mu­ni­ty and the world.

Day job: Deputy press sec­re­tary for Gov­er­nor Kate Brown

Favorite ’90s jam: Des­tiny’s Child, TLC, Mari­ah Carey … I’m a ’90s kid.

Laughs at: Fart nois­es. Does­n’t get old.

What col­or would you be in the cray­on box and why? Mossy green, because it’s calm­ing with per­son­al­i­ty.

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Get your tickets for TEDxSalem V

TEDxSalem V is an all-day event fea­tur­ing talks, per­for­mances, refresh­ments, lunch and a swag bag that takes place Sat­ur­day, Jan. 6, 2018, at the Salem Con­ven­tion Cen­ter. Ear­ly bird tick­ets are on sale now. Fol­low us on Face­book for the most up-to-date news from our com­mu­ni­ty, and check our web­site reg­u­lar­ly for new infor­ma­tion. You can also reach us at info@tedxsalem.com.