We were introduced to Donna HunterSmith at a lunch ‘n learn for the FPRA at Michaels on East a while back. Donna mentioned then that she was going to create a TEDx conference here in Sarasota, and having watched TEDx presentations online, we knew we wanted to be a part of it.
Fast-forward 6 months to this week when we met with the impressive TEDx Sarasota marketing team, headed up by Michelle Nelson of Blu Creative + Strategy, which includes Donna, Judy Winslow of BrightPointe Creative Solutions, Michael Meerman of Creditors Service Corporation, R.Craig Lefebvre of SocialShift, and Allison Moore of Ward Group PR. Craig lead the group in a white-board brainstorming session to help us define for ourselves what TEDx Sarasota is all about, what our message should be, and how to effectively communicate that message to our audience.
We volunteered to design the first ad to appear in Biz941, which is a teaser ad to invite those who are already familiar with TEDx and will want to participate. It will also need to peak the curiosity of those who have never watched or experienced it before but who may want to attend to contribute ideas, engage in dialogue with others, and create change in our community. The brainstorming session gave us fuel for thought and we spent the long weekend knocking around ideas. We finally came up with a way to simplify the concept by using an equation: ideas, divided by you and I = TEDx Sarasota. We placed the equation on a background image of a crowd shot from a conference. This gives you just enough information, but not too much.
What will be created as we continue to develop the over-all concept of TEDx Sarasota will unfold over the next several months leading up to the conference on 12/12/12. If you want to get involved, attend one of the Salons being held every month at a variety of venues, and visit the website at: www.tedxsarasota.com or the Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/TEDxSarasota