Knowing Where You Don’t Belong And Notes From TEDx – Chiang Mai

Just over two years ago I had never been to a TED or TEDx event, even though I already had friends speaking at them and watched the videos with a notebook in hand. In the spring of 2011 I had attended a viewing party of the global TED event and met a number of people that I knew I wanted in my thought-circles.

Now the interesting thing with TEDx events is they are generally small, independently organized, and not official TED events. In terms of my state, they were fewer than 100 audience participants. When the opportunity came to apply to be in the audience, I dutifully filled out my application form and waited for my notification.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

My friends and peers across the country (and seeping internationally) were equally as perplexed as I was. At the time I had a column with the largest media company in the State, wrote bi-weekly for the newspaper, was finally flourishing in my freelancing career, had a blog on a little site called Forbes on top of my own site that attracted tens of thousands of visitors monthly, was being invited to public speaking gigs and events across the country…and I couldn’t get a reply back on a simple “Can I come sit in your audience and listen to smart people say brilliant things, which I will then share?”

As you have probably already imagined, my application to be invited to sit in a chair in the audience was declined.

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer you an invitation to attend this year. Interest to attend exceeded our seating capacity…Invitations were granted at the discretion of the TEDx team based on a broad set of criteria, ensuring a diverse audience and a rich exchange of ideas.

Talk about a punch to the wind in your sails.

Coming out of a pretty serious dip in my business/professional/personal life, I was suddenly re-questioning everything about my choices. If I couldn’t get an invitation to sit in the audience of a group of the thought-leaders of my own state, how could I ever think that anyone else would value me? Was I fooling myself into thinking that I was a halfway-decent writer? Should I give it all up and run to security and stability…the backup plan?

They say everything happens for a reason.

Usually after the reason has become obvious and you are much happier that you didn’t get that thing you wanted in the first place.

The more I thought about the fact that I wasn’t worthy of an invitation to join this elite group of thinkers in my home state, the more I accepted another thought that had been chewing at the back of my mind for some time.

I just don’t belong here.

Before you start thinking bad things of the people back home, let me stop those thoughts right now. The thought-leaders of my state are pretty brilliant, and I was hurt and slighted that I was not good enough to be a part of them. My friends and family are the kind of people you see in those Hollywood movies that have been in each others lives forever and are one big jumbled mess of love and laughter. My home is a home I am happy to come from.

Yet there was something about my home that just didn’t click for me. As I met people around the world writing and living the tales I yearned to be a part of, I realized that those tales were not going to manifest FOR ME at home. Surrounded by the brilliant thoughts of people I truly admired, I still couldn’t manage to “fit in with the crowd.”

I knew that I didn’t belong here anymore. Maybe I never did.

I researched new places to move with a renewed fervor. San Francisco, New York City, Boulder, Austin, Portland 2.0…all around the country where I had pockets of people that got my weird and quirky quips and thought they belonged somewhere in the world.

Then, not more than three weeks later, a dude that I had interviewed for a piece on Forbes about location independence posted an opportunity to work with the online content company and membership community he was beginning to gain momentum on.

By the way, the job was in Bali. Oh, and I got it.

Hanging at TEDxCM before the event with Miranda & Tim

This past weekend, my prior shunning to TEDx events was vindicated as I was not only invited to be part of the audience at TEDx Chiang Mai, but was part of the VIP section in the front row. Dutifully I sat, as I had years before watching the videos, with my pen in hand and notebook on table. Sure, other folks in the area thought I was a local university student (bless your little hearts for thinking I could be a university student) but I didn’t want to miss a thing.

I suppose I should reply back to those TEDx folks, two years later, to thank them. Without the final wagging finger of disapproval in my comfortable happy home, I might not be sitting in a cafe in Chiang Mai Thailand, writing about the reason that everything happened.

Opportunities like this don’t just come every day. I happen to know that for a fact.

Since I got this opportunity, I figured it only appropriate to share the fruits of my voracious note-taking. Videos will be up eventually as well.

Introduction

• Look in the eyes of the people you meet – each person has a lovely story behind their face
• At the end of the day you might feel like your brain will explode — but you won’t even care!

Dr. Thomas Tilley – Hacked Joysticks

• To “Hack” is to mod or change something in an extraordinary way

Sali Sasaki – Things That Matter

• We are told that the Mona Lisa is a masterpiece. You have to wonder if people go to see it to take in the beauty or if we go because we are told “If you go to Paris, you must go to the Louvre.”
• Beauty is not something constant
• Beauty is not a physical thing we can touch – it is intangible – it is in the air – it is mysterious really
• The was you experience beauty is he way that you shape how you view the world
• If beauty drive what you look for in life, the result is much more positive
• Beauty now is a commodity – it is what we purchase rather than what we experience
• Imperfection makes you appreciate what you already have

Wiriyah Ruechaipanit – Creativity Based Learning (Translated from Thai)

• Education is turning into something that just puts people into categories
• Don’t let a GPA decide your life
• We destroy our geniuses everyday
• Creativity is originated from differences

Surat Tanprawate – What We Gain From Pain

• The easiest way to battle the chemicals that cause pain has been to change the chemicals – with a pill. But this does not solve the root of the problem
• Three Step Pain Approach
  1. Understand that pain is a protective reflex – so lifestyle change is key (does not have to be a total change)
  2. Pain killers are not your closest friend – use them consciously
  3. You must take a multi-disciplinary approach

Dr. Thammarat Koottatep – Next-Gen Toilet Systems

• There are 3 things that a majority of humans can’t do
  1. Take a shower
  2. Get clean water
  3. Flush yesterday’s dinner
• 6.8 million people have access to cell phones – only 4.5 million have access to clean water toilet systems (in Thailand)
• 21 children died during this presentation due to poor sanitation
• Let’s get our shit together and save the world 1 toilet at a time

Gordon Falconer – Smarter Cities

• Technology helps us do more with less. If everyone works from home, because they can telecommute, we won’t have to repair roads as often
• Starting point from reality to vision is a tricky journey
• Cities are made up a silo, not run together – residential, educational, health, sports, business, nature, commerce, etc.
• Work out why we do something, what we want to do, and how we are going to do it

Ruttikorn Vuttikorn – Games and Design For Society

• Play Activist and Game Designer
• What is democracy? If everyone want the same thing, why are we fighting?
• I believe children have the power to change society for the better

Yada Pruksachatkun – On Life & Lines

• To dance is to speak
• How many times have you been told you don’t know something because you are too young?
• “We should go dance – it’s better than doing nothing – it’s better than waiting to die” (from young patient in the Lightsteps dance initiative)

Nilofer Merchant – Got A Meeting, Take A Walk (TED Video)

• We are sitting 9.4 hours a day – we only sleep 7.7
• Sitting has become the smoking of our generation
• I used to think you can take care of health or you can take care of obligations, but you couldn’t do both
• Fresh air breeds fresh thinking

Dr. Sirikul Laukaikul – Sufficiency Branding (from Thai translation)

• The one who creates a brand is the customer – I just offer advice to help them find out who they are
• Your marketing can bring karma back on your organization
• Everyone has a name, not everyone has a reputation
• Branding is the process to create value that will lead to reputation
• Sufficiency Economy Philosophy
  1. Sufficiency – SWOT, Brand DNA
  2. Reasonable – Strategic Management
  3. Self-Immune – Risk Management
  • Under the wrap of knowledge (learning organization) and integrity (good governance) – through moderation we attain self-contentment
• In short, karma is an accumulation of cause & effect
• Causality Vicious Cycles:
  • Greed > Dissatisfaction > Greed
  • Anger > Vengeance > Anger
  • Ignorance > Foolish Behavior > Ignorance
• Should Be:
  • Sharing > Satisfaction > Sharing
  • Kindness > Forgiveness > Kindness
  • Understanding > Benevolence > Understanding
• It’s not good to become a business that is great but has no love

Apvich Hernachandra – Love And Passion (Student Speaker)

• Without love, I would not have courage
• Everyone has a story about love to tell

Duangrit Bunnag – Common Ground

• If you have the right design – to build it is very simple

Boaz Zippor – Poetry, Accounting, Maintenance

• I am a poet, a musician, an artist, a writer – basically all jobs that pay me no money
• Poetry is the added value that brings taste to our lives
• In a place like Thailand, street food isn’t about the food — it’s about everything that is around it
• Maybe if you didn’t wind during the day, you wouldn’t need to unwind at night

Lisa Bertrait – Choices (Student Speaker)

• It was a good choice because I decided to take care of someone I love
• When you’re hurt, you do weird stuff
• The people we should depend on are the people who accept us for who we are

Joseph Foo – It Is More Blessed To Give

• We are taught to help others to help society
• Kindness is a gift everyone can afford to give
• Giving is joy
• Sometimes a little time, a little money, it is enough

Amarit (Aim) Charoenphen – Coworking Spaces

• Coworking is a verb, not a way of working, not a place to work
• Coworking spaces bring collaboration and cooperation back to the cities and societies

Ben Wright – Altruism & Smarter Societies (Student Speaker)

• Why would you help someone?
• Altruism boils down to empathy
• Altruistic evolution is our future

Krating Poonpol – Disrupt University

• This is the golden era of entrepreneurship
• I want to take a step to be like the high school teacher who changed my life
• Startups are like a video game – You get extra lives, you sometimes just have to go all the way back to the beginning
• Everyone has permission to change the world
• Game over Do you want to retry or do you want to give up?

Final Thought from TEDxChiangMai (From Krating Poonpol): DreamHard. Fight Hard. Never Give Up.