I can't recall how long it's been since I joined this Google Group,
although I can recall watching Erin Atherton present about Dirtbagz at
Refresh Phoenix Demo Night (Inza Coffee circa 2008 maybe?) so it must
not have been too much later that I joined. Anyway as a somewhat long
time "Refresher" and "Refocuser", I just wanted to say hi to all those
who stick around and actually read these emails - I know it's tough to
keep something like this going and it's nice to see that it can stil
act as a conduit for sharing interesting things going on in the Valley
of the Sun.

Hopefully this note is no exception - for those of you who follow TED
and TEDTalks, I organize TEDxPhoenix and we're rolling up on our third
annual event. This year is a big leap for us as it's the first time a
TEDx in the Valley has featured speakers who have graced the TED stage
(Dave Weaver, Johanna Blakley) and TEDGlobal stage (Lucianne
Walcowicz, Anne Quito), as well as made it to the front pages of
TED.com (Lucianne, Johanna, and Jane Poynter). We also have several
local speakers in the mix as well, so we haven't forgotten our roots.

As far as speakers with photography roots, this year we're excited to
have Rick Guidotti all the way from NYC to speak about his life as a
fashion photographer turned activist and advocate -- it's an
incredible story and one that I won't spoil for those who might
attend. Speaking of attending, you can find our speaker lineup and
link to tickets on the TEDxPhoenix website:

http://www.tedxphoenix.com/

If the ticket price gives you the heebie jeebies, then consider that
for $39.99 you get access to dinner via Wildflower Bakery and access
to the same speakers that others paid $6000 to get access to. BTW feel
free to email me directly at tomas at tedxphoenix dot com for a small
discount, it's not much but it might help if the ticket price is out
of reach of your budget.

Last but not least, if you have any ideas on how we can turn
TEDxPhoenix into something that has a larger impact on the local tech,
education, design and photog communities, then I'm all ears!  :)

Sincerely,
~Tomas

Post Scriptum: There are a ton of TEDx events that have popped up all
over the valley including TEDxScottsdale, TEDxTempe, TEDxChandler,
TEDxBarrettHonorsCollege, TEDxASUWest and TEDxPHXDC (DC = Design
Community, Downtown Community) and they're all independently
organized. I.e., I/we don't have any influence as to how they're run,
we simply support them as they're TEDx'ers and I highly recommend you
check them out sometime.