An Afternoon With TED

I had the pleasure of spending my Saturday afternoon with a roomful of catalysts and optimists at TEDxPhoenix. For the uninitiated, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, and it’s a forum in which thought leaders take about 18 minutes to share “ideas worth spreading." The talks are thought provoking, funny, challenging, and inspirational. I would recommend a quick visit to the TED website to view a few of the presentations from their annual conferences. Some are truly extraordinary. My personal favorite is a talk by a global health professor named Dr. Hans Rosling.

Today’s speakers at TEDxPhoenix (a locally produced version of TED) included folks such as Jany Deng, program manager of the Arizona Lost Boys Center, Jolyana Bitsuie, Navajo Language Instructor, Phoenix Indian Center (and former Ms. Navajo Nation), and Helene Neville, nurse, fitness coach and trainer. Each had a very different story, but each was compelling and inspirational.

It was a pleasant afternoon. Each talk had something of interest. However, I couldn’t help but wonder whether I could muster an interesting TED-type presentation some day. There is some discussion about a TEDMed conference in Phoenix in the near future. This of course would focus on innovative and creative ideas about health and medicine. Perhaps my day will come . . .

-Doug Hirano, MPH, APCA Executive Director