TED Community » Lonnie B Hodge

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Community, Culture, Human Rights, Internet Freedom, Blogging, Poetry, Creativity, Laughter & Wellness, Social Media, CSR, Investigative Journalism, SEO/Social Media, Asian Studies, Silk Road, TEDx, PR

An idea worth spreading

In China taxi drivers are addressed as "Sifu" or master...I have collected tales and garnered wisdom from around the world from masters making their living driving cab after careers as Olympic Athletes, Hydroelectric Engineers, Investment Bankers, Soldiers...All of them have helped me to self actualize in one way or another...

Talk to me about

Corporate Social Responsibility, PR and Online Marketing to and from China, Censorship, Education in China, Modern Poetry, Social Media, Journalism,

People don't know that I'm good at

Martial Arts, Close-up Magic, Being able to sleep after copious amounts of coffee

My TED Story

I ran an event in China called Wed Wednesday. One a month on a Wednesday (imagine that) 50-140 Guangzhou locals, both Chinese and Expatriate, would gather to hear a world class speaker on a topic related to Internet technology. I hosted: Rebecca McKinnon, former director of CNN Beijing/Tokyo, Normandy Madden, AdAge China Editor, Scott Tong of APR, and a host of world-class scholars, thinkers and humanitarians. When the core group wanted to move to a franchise model and charge for attendance i began to look toward an adventure that would entertain, inform and bridge cultures without regard for profit. TEDXGuangzhou was the answer and later TEDxCanton. We hosted 16 amazing speakers, used simultaneous, Sign and Whispering translators and filled the GZ Science Center with attendees. Now I am in the process of a TEDx event meant for the Silk Road, planned for June 2011, celebrating where I now live--in the most diverse and historically important melting pot on the planet

Comments

• TEDCred score: +2200.00 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A reply on Conversation: Translating TED.com website into other languages...

  Feb 15 2011: I agree with Martin. A lot of TEDx events have reliable teams that can be tasked with special projects as part and parcel of their event...
  
  And at TEDxCanton and TEDxGuangzhou we had signing translators. Would be worthwhile to include sign translation/English subtitles for the hearing impaired. I am, and it comes as a shock to many, hearing impaired and have difficulty with podcasts...I'd be happy to assist...
• +2

  A comment on Conversation: Which relevant/important events currently unfolding around the world are being ignored by the media? Why are they relevant?

  Feb 15 2011: I think events like the Groupon debacle highlight a need for a paradigm shift in our approach to culturally offensive actions. We need to look to companies that localize properly and how they do that with sensitivity and positive impact.
  Out of 50 articles and 100s of tweets and updates on the impact of the commercial none, that I saw, spoke to the impact on the lives of those who were thought to be slighted. Instead, pundits addressed the economic impact to Groupon should they hope to succeed in the China market.
  No one asked the tougher questions of the groups involved directly or obliquely:
  --How did in-country native Tibetans feel about the lack of study on the part of Groupon when a coupon was offered for Fish Curry when fish is never eaten in that country (SAR/Autonomous Region) when as it is tied to religious burial rites water burial? ...
  --How did poor native Tibetans )some still recovering from a devastating earthquake and later mudslide) feel when they were identified as recipients of money that actually went to dissidents living exile?
  --How was the "Tibetan" charity designated impacted? Did donations drop?
  --What were the ramifications for expats living and working in China and Tibet who are often already thought of as culturally naive?
  --Are there charities that have navigated these waters and changed lives through CSR?
  --Do PC donations (Tibet as a cause and not an emergency aid intervention) affect quality of life? Are ideas more worthy of our attention than dying children & homeless families? It is rhetorical
  
  --How did political perceptions & media involvement help or hinder the people in those regions?
  --How do we address the latter without invoking the wrath of governments or those involved in causes who have huge social capital without collateral damage, without causing widespread censorship of important future interventions?
  
  Zuckerman (for example) has chosen a confrontational path. Is there a middle way? Someone who can speak to this?

• A comment on Conversation: How do we capture the collective wisdom and engage the global TEDx communities?

  Feb 15 2011: We experimented at TEDxcanton with a very simple USB like device. It transfers information from one attendee to another when touched together and it glows to show you have succeeded in your transfer. The information stored and shared in regulated by self managed privacy controls.
  After an event you can plug in the device to the and connect to a website where you can stay connected to fellow attendees. There could be a TEDx specific platform and a greater interface like this one...
  That site could easily be TED as it already has a profile interface.
  You maintain continuity for your event and prick interest in others.
  The device and the interface are incredibly cheap...