Theme: Defining the Last Best Place

The theme for TEDxWhitefish is “Defining the Last Best Place,” which is a call to action for Montanan’s to define their roles and responsibilities within themselves, within their community, within this state, and within this country. What is it that we can do within those definitions to create a better life and opportunities for future generations? The speakers will be based around this theme, as the “Definers,” whom have envisioned, believed, and achieved. They define themselves through their organizations, products, beliefs, and aid in this culminating call to create a better life for all.
The American drive to pioneer is alive and well in Montana. Without new land to conquer we turn inward to the creative canvas of freedom afforded to us by our forefathers. We credit them for foresight in the successful and often risky decisions they made that form the roots of our town. Yet the miracle and wonder of Whitefish rests in the small individual efforts of singular people. Yet the best illustration of our community dynamic is found in the altruistic events that not only fund these successes but draw our people together to contribute deeply to our fabric.
As in John F. Kennedy’s challenge to our parents generation, ” the torch has been past to a new generation of Americans…”. We now stand, challenged with opportunity, to…” ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.” In Whitefish, Montana the spirit of the New Frontier is alive and very well. It is up to us, as illustrated through the community lens of Technology, Entertainment, and Design, to Define the Next Last Best Place.

600 East 2nd Street
Whitefish, Montana, 59937
United States

John Hudson

John Hudson is an award-winning architect with over fifteen years of professional experience. His passion is to design places for individuals to be trained to transform their community. He is the founder of 100 Fold Studio, a non-profit architecture firm located in Lakeside, Montana. The firm provides pro bono design services for developing contexts around the globe. International projects include a high school for orphans in Zambia, a university campus in Cambodia and educational projects in both Israel and Palestine. 100 Fold is one of the only architecture firms in the world that provides full professional training for architects in the context of pro bono service. This summer, 100 Fold hosted a leadership program for 14 students representing nine university architecture programs. The program culminated in a design-build project for a Native American community in Polson, MT. Hudson has a Master’s degree from the University of Virginia and is a registered architect in Montana.

Keith Brown

Keith joined NFS in 2010 and has served as the Chief Information Officer, Chief Innovation and Business Development Officer, and since 2013 the company’s CEO. Prior to joining NFS, Keith was the CEO of Merlin Information Services. Merlin provided access to public records and other extremely large databases, over the internet to investigative professionals. Before joining Merlin, Keith spent five years at Starbucks Coffee Company as VP of Information Technology where he was responsible for teams supporting worldwide systems for the financial, supply chain, retail, and human resources divisions. Keith has been extremely fortunate to have been in leadership roles with two top ten internet companies, major retailers, and overseen major business and technology change in several different industry verticals.