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Sacramento, with its legacy as a bulwark of bureaucracy and service industries, with its lack of corporate headquarters and modest entrepreneurial pool, wouldn’t seem an obvious place for TEDx to thrive. “There’s no denying that Sacramento is a government town, and that government and bureaucracies aren’t exactly known for being on the cutting edge of new ideas,� Weber says. “But the reality is, the community has responded to make Sacramento one of the most successful TEDx events anywhere.� Success comes the TED way. Unlike speaker series, where big names are rolled out with marketing barrages, it’s next to impossible to learn who will be speaking at TEDx Sacramento. Weber is a big ideas and marketing guy. But his strategy with TEDx isn’t coy. It’s consistent with the mission. It’s TED. One of Sacramento’s favorite speakers proves the point. Nobody had heard of Chris Ategeka before his TEDx talk slot—not Weber nor anyone associated with TEDx. Ategeka auditioned with an emailed
pitch. His idea sounded interesting. In person, his story was astonishing. Orphaned at age 7 in Uganda, he became an engineering student at UC Berkeley, achieving doctoratelevel success. And he figured out how to turn ruined old bicycles into wheelchairs for disabled Ugandan villagers—people who had previously been carried on the backs of loved ones. His 2012 talk is grainy and barely eight minutes long. Viewership clicks have settled below 6,000. But no person in the room that day can forget Chris Ategeka. “It was our first standing ovation,� Weber says. “People were crying. We learn in advance with TEDx to be surprised, but nothing prepared us for the power of what he said.� Ategeka focused on how one average person can solve world problems. He did it with old bicycles. That’s the serendipitous magic of TEDx Sacramento. R.E. Graswich can be reached at reg@graswich.com n
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