Why should you attend TEDxSalem?

I can tell you, from the sto­ry­teller’s per­spec­tive, why you should attend TEDxSalem 2014.

Because orga­niz­ers Bri­an Hart and Car­lee Wright have worked tire­less­ly to bring you the best speak­ers with the best ideas. Because you’ll get to hear from cre­ative, bril­liant, fas­ci­nat­ing peo­ple who have cre­ative, bril­liant, fas­ci­nat­ing ideas about Salem and its future.

I can also tell you why you should attend from the per­spec­tive of some­one who attend­ed and vol­un­teered last year. Because TED con­fer­ences are spe­cial and valu­able, and it’s a rare treat to have one right here in Salem.

Still not con­vinced? Then allow me to bring you some feed­back from TEDxSalem 2013, and allow last year’s TED­sters to tell you why you should come this year.

One TEDxSalem atten­dant about last year’s speak­er, Win­ter Vinec­ki, ath­lete, olympian, adven­tur­er:

How many times have I start­ed a sen­tence with, “If I could do it (life) all over again…” Win­ter just inspired me to think, “It’s nev­er too late… you can do any­thing.” With young peo­ple like her out there, the future of the world is in good hands!

More atten­dants, speak­ing about our won­der­ful speak­er line­up:

I think they were all fan­tas­tic. What I learned most was that we have some locals that are doing GREAT things, and there’s plen­ty to get involved in!

They were all inspir­ing in dif­fer­ent ways, from advo­ca­cy to cre­ativ­i­ty to cul­ti­va­tion of pas­sion … Now that I’ve had a few hours for every­thing to sink in, if any­thing, the talks col­lec­tive­ly changed my state of mind from a goal of liv­ing in the moment to liv­ing in the ques­tion of what’s pos­si­ble.

What a fab­u­lous day; great speak­ers, great activ­i­ties, super food and ILLUMINATING. Can’t wait until next year.

Thank you TEDxSalem for a great and inspir­ing event!!!!

Great speak­ers! Great event!

One of last year’s vol­un­teers:

Had an amaz­ing time vol­un­teer­ing at TEDxSalem. So glad I could be part of the team!

One par­tic­i­pan­t’s thoughts the day-of, already inspired:

Already hatched a project as a result of today and enlist­ed par­tic­i­pa­tion from some­one who isn’t here!

A thank-you for one of last year’s speak­ers, Kel­ly Williams Brown, who won­dered why Mil­len­ni­als are the worst:

Kel­ly Williams Brown, thank you for a talk full of rig­or, wrapped in humor, and sprin­kled with irony!

Did I con­vince you? Remem­ber you can still buy tick­ets for TEDxSalem 2014. Get ’em fast, because last year sold out quick­ly. Did you already buy your tick­et? Why are you excit­ed for this year’s event?