TEDxNASA

Over the past several months I have been hearing about TED events, or Ideas Worth Spreading. Intrigued, I watch several TED Talks online. Lots of good stuff there…makes you think. So, when I heard about TEDxNASA coming to Christopher Newport University, which is not too far from my house, I knew that I had to go.

It did not disappoint! It was a wonderful event with many inspiring speakers. I knew that because the focus was “What Matters Next” and it was being hosted by NASA that my daughter who is a college freshmen would also enjoy it. We both attended. And we were inspired.

We listen to speakers from NASA talk about space exploration and the planets. It was incredible! We listen to people from National Geographic discuss global warming and receding glaciers while watching their time lapse photography which was stunning. There were just so many wonderful things!

One speaker that I found exceptionally intriguing was Ben Rigby. He has started a company for “Micro-Volunteerism” which is very interesting. His idea was to capitalize on those pockets of time that are very small, waiting for a train, waiting at the doctor’s office, etc., and enable people to volunteer that time helping someone else. His website sparked.com has more information.

Another speaker that really spoke to me was Josh Kopple who founded a company called “Scrollmotion” and one whose technology the ipod was built. He developed the circle scrolling feature of the first generation ipods, and he has since written over 10,000 apps for the iphone and/or itouch. He talked about electronic textbooks for students. He said that next year in several California schools all students will be using an ipad instead of traditional textbooks. The possibilities that this change enables are incredible for kids! Textbooks will be interactive. They will contain video tutorials. They will speak to you. The change will truly be revolutionary. It is very exciting for education.

These were just two of the many speakers that we saw. I could go on and on…it was a wonderful day. It was one of those days that makes you feel like you want to make some coffee, sit at the table with some really good folks, and come up with something big…and DO IT. I could hardly sleep because my brain was flying…so much to think about…so many new ideas and connections. It truly is an amazing world in which we live. And the time in which we live? Even better!