TEDxSalem

Ideas worth spreading

Host

Meet Jacob Espinoza:
TEDxSalem VII Host

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When it comes to orga­niz­ing a TEDx event, find­ing the right host is just as impor­tant as select­ing the speak­ers. 

A guide for the audi­ence as well as an ambas­sador for the event, the host is respon­si­ble for intro­duc­ing each of the speak­ers and giv­ing the audi­ence the per­fect tease of what is about to come, but at the same time, nev­er telling the audi­ence how to feel. They are also in charge of time-keep­ing, trou­bleshoot­ing, announce­ments, con­nec­tions and audi­ence engage­ment.

It’s a big job, and when con­sid­er­ing who to ask for January’s TEDxSalem event, co-cura­tors Bri­an Hart and Car­lee Wright had a cer­tain some­one in mind.

Meet Jacob Espinoza. 

Jacob has a pres­ence: sin­cere, warm and wel­com­ing. A lead­er­ship devel­op­ment con­sul­tant, Jacob facil­i­tates train­ing and coach­ing con­ver­sa­tions, plus hosts a pod­cast. His grand focus is help­ing man­agers become lead­ers who moti­vate and inspire. Oth­er than his time spent get­ting his Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in advertising/journalism at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ore­gon, he has called Salem home for 36 years.

Woman and man sitting on couch as part of a group discussion

Sit down for a cup of cof­fee with the Salem native, and you will find your­self rapt in con­ver­sa­tion with an engaged, insight­ful, atten­tive lis­ten­er. He’s com­pas­sion­ate and moti­vat­ed, which is why it should come as no sur­prise that he has a goal of becom­ing the city’s most sup­port­ive per­son. (He’s cur­rent­ly host­ing the Insta­gram account Salem­Takeover and is the Sep­tem­ber spon­sor at Basil & Board, where you can try the Ore­gon Home­boy piz­za named after a song Jacob wrote. BONUS — 10% of the pur­chase from that piz­za goes to help Fam­i­ly Build­ing Blocks.)

Here’s what we found out about host-to-be Jacob in our last chat:

What was your first TED expe­ri­ence?
My first live TED expe­ri­ence was the first TEDx­Port­land. I loved see­ing all of the pas­sion and new ideas com­ing out of Ore­gon.

Do you have a favorite TED Talk? How has it impact­ed your life or per­spec­tive?
Simon Sinek’s Start With Why was extreme­ly impact­ful on me as a leader. It changed how I approach get­ting buy-in from those I work with. I also think it rep­re­sents the pow­er of TEDx events. They pro­vide a plat­form that gives ideas a chance to catch fire.

What does this year’s theme “Vision” mean to you?
This world needs opti­mism. To me, this year’s theme is all about look­ing into the future and remind­ing our­selves that the nec­es­sary labor will be worth it. 

What is one of your favorite child­hood mem­o­ries?
Watch­ing my dad raise two kids on his own. I did­n’t appre­ci­ate what a chal­lenge that was until I got old­er. It’s amaz­ing look­ing back at all of the sac­ri­fices he made. I’m very for­tu­nate to have some­one like him set an exam­ple for me as I’m now also the father of two boys. 

What song best describes your life?
Aesop Rock’s ”Lot­ta Years” sums up this stage of my life pret­ty well. 

What is the scari­est thing you have ever done for fun?
Noth­ing I’d admit to.

Tell us more about your com­mu­ni­ty activ­i­ties.
I enjoy coach­ing youth sports, lis­ten­ing to local artists, host a pod­cast focused on help­ing boss­es become bet­ter lead­ers and give out a lot of free high fives.

Watch for Jacob on stage as host of TEDxSalem VII on Jan­u­ary 4, 2020, and when you see him in the hall­way, have your high-five ready!

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TEDxSalem VII

Orga­nized by The Mox­ie Ini­tia­tive, TEDxSalem VII is an all-day event fea­tur­ing talks, per­for­mances, refresh­ments, lunch and a swag bag. It takes place 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sat­ur­day, Jan. 4, 2020, at the Salem Con­ven­tion Cen­ter. Tick­ets will go on sale in Sep­tem­ber. 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. 

Say hello to host Mark Powers

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Mark Pow­ers is a per­cus­sion­ist, an artist, an author, edu­ca­tor and men­tor. Plus, he’s no stranger to the TEDx stage. In fact, he has two talks under his belt and played the role of host for TEDxMt­Hood (for­mer­ly Con­cor­diaU­Port­land) three times.

“I’ve long been a fan of TED and TEDx talks, so being invit­ed to step on stage at sev­er­al of them has led to some of my all-time favorite (and, at times, most ter­ri­fy­ing) expe­ri­ences,” Mark said.

The for­mer Salem res­i­dent (he lived here from 2006 to 2012) who has called Port­land home for the past two years, lives by the adage of lots of eggs in lots of bas­kets.

“I’m try­ing to replace busy with blessed in my vocab­u­lary,” Mark said.

Gen­uine and sin­cere, music has been the cat­a­lyst spark­ing many of his adven­tures as he has trav­eled and taught through­out the world.

As a drum­mer, you can see him per­form with the Port­land band Mbras­catu, or with Haley John­son and Aman­da Richards. He’s shared the stage with Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen, Devon Evans of Bob Mar­ley and the Wail­ers, Rolling Stones sax­o­phon­ist Tim Ries and Bad Company’s Lynn Sorensen.

He free­lances when­ev­er pos­si­ble and is hap­py for the oppor­tu­ni­ty to par­tic­i­pate in record­ing projects, too.

“Two albums I am stoked about are M Ward — I played drums on half — and She & Him. I’m play­ing drums on one track of the Christ­mas album,” Mark said.

He’s been pub­lished in mag­a­zines, com­posed solo/ensemble per­cus­sion pieces and writ­ten numer­ous books on drum­ming. His first children’s board book, I Want to Be a Drum­mer!, was released in Sept. 2016, and his sec­ond book, I Want to Be a Read­er!, will be out in the spring.

He’s an entre­pre­neur, always think­ing about cre­ative ways of mak­ing mon­ey; How he could use his musi­cal knowl­edge to his advan­tage.

“I didn’t think of myself in that way for a long time,” Mark said

Plus, he’s a past Guin­ness World Record hold­er (Longest Drum Roll by a Group: 2003–2005) for play­ing a con­tin­u­ous 12-hour drum­roll.

Get your tick­ets for TEDxSalem IV

Tick­ets are on sale now for Salem’s annu­al TEDx event Sat­ur­day, Jan­u­ary 7, 2017. Tick­ets are $50, $40 for a stu­dent. The all-day event includes talks, per­for­mances, refresh­ments, lunch and a swag bag. 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.us.