Theme: Generations: Wonder & Wisdom

We see Generations as a distinct class of people, differentiated by their preferences, personality, character and qualities. Each group is attributed with major events such as wars, tragedies, triumphs or advancements.

Instead of their differences, what if we focused on their similarities? What if Generations were viewed as a linear progression of knowledge, experience and experimentation? Wouldn't that account for individuals like Michael Dell, who revolutionized computers by starting out building and selling upgrade kits from his college dorm? Michael didn't invent computers; he stood on the shoulders of those who came before him and turned computers into an everyday appliance at work and home.

Contrary to common myth, Albert Einstein was not a slow or difficult student. In reality, his father Hermann was an engineer and operated a company that manufactured electrical equipment. Is it possible that Hermann inspired his son to write his first scientific essay at the age of 15 about the magnetic field?

Each of us is the compilation of the wit, wisdom and DNA of our ancestors. We may be collectively influenced by shared experiences, but perhaps even more so by values and attitudes passed down, and sometimes rejected, within a family or societal culture.

During TEDxFrontRange 2015 on June 13th, we will explore this progression, hear from Generations who have successfully passed the baton, learn from the wisdom and share in the wonder of all the Generations around us.

“The last generation's worst fears became the next one's B-grade entertainment.” ~ Barbara Kingsolver

1669 Eagle Drive
Loveland, Colorado, 80537
United States

Austin Fracchia

Austin Fracchia is a speech instructor, aspiring professional speaker, and native Coloradan with a dream of increasing oracy and communication education in schools. He focuses on teaching skills that promote self-advocacy through communication. As a socially awkward teenager, Austin found speech and debate at the age of 15 where he discovered the power speech can have on expressing one’s needs and ideas. Seeing a need for better communication skills among his fellow millennials, he set his sights on helping others with their own communication skills after graduating from the University of Colorado with a Masters in Communication. Austin regularly teaches communication courses at Front Range Community College and works with the Niwot HS Forensics team.

Carol McAdoo Rehme

Writer & Storyteller Loveland, CO She collects the debilitated elderly, their colorful stories, their spunky wisdom. Focusing on these pillars from the past, Carol McAdoo Rehme honors and celebrates the frail aged and the grace and grit they exhibit as their lives narrow. Along the way, Carol founded and directed Vintage Voices Inc., the recipient of several grants from Colorado Council of the Arts (as well as others). Her nonprofit benefitted fifty-two long-term care facilities across Northern Colorado by providing high energy, interactive programs. She also served on the Larimer County Council for the Office on Aging and the City of Loveland Senior Advisory Board. She spent fifteen years as a professional storyteller in a five-state area, performing in venues including dude ranches, universities, churches, corporate settings, festivals, and even cemeteries (which gives a new slant to the phrase “captive audiences”)!

Denny Driscoll

Denny Driscoll performs with pleasant energy and humor delivering Tasteful Acoustic Music. He is an accomplished singer songwriter who has delighted audiences from Maine to Colorado for over 30 years. Denny’s repertoire consists of not only witty and charming original numbers but a plethora of classic deep cuts from the 60’s 70’s and eighties. His voice is sweet and clear like moonlight through the pines…Look for Denny and the Left Hand Market Boys at a local venue near you!

Jacob Schafer

Magician Loveland, CO Think of a standard deck of cards face-up in your mind. Now think of one card and turn it face-down in your mind. Don’t pick the Ace of Spades or the Queen of Hearts, that’s too obvious. Now put your card someplace in the middle of your face-up deck, so your card is the only one face down. I will find it in the deck in my hand. Jacob will use only Bicycle Playing Cards, his hands, and your brains in his performance. He competed with magic in the 2015 Loveland Kiwanis Stars of Tomorrow, earning second place. He is a graduate of the Thompson Valley High School Class of 2015.

Jamie Leben

President, Loveland Creatorspace Loveland, CO Jamie Leben is passionate about makerspaces and the wonderful community of makers, hackers, and tinkerers that build, work, and create in them. Makerspaces are as varied as the communities that build them, but commonly feature shared workspace and cutting edge tools like 3D printers at accessible rates. Education resources and skill sharing within the community are also vital components of a good makerspace.

Josh Schuler

Communications Jedi Fort Collins, CO Josh went to school to become an attorney, but instead became a pastor. Through that journey, he developed a love for people and the potential that exists when a group of people step outside themselves to leverage their collective talents toward something meaningful. During his tenure as a pastor, Josh went back to school to acquire his Master’s in Business Administration. Today, he specializes in helping people ask the substantive questions about their life and work that will lead them to clear direction and meaningful endeavors.

Kenna Castleberry

Writer/Slam Poet Colorado Besides breathing, eating, and sleeping, the fourth mandatory function of Kenna’s body is writing. To her writing is breathing and if she doesn’t breathe, she suffocates. She’s been scribbling since she was five years old, but only last year did her scribbles turn into self-published books. Stephen King, in his book On Writing (which is the only Stephen King book Kenna has read), says that you have to be a good reader to be a good writer. This is why she began reading the classics at age thirteen, starting with good ol’ Dickens. Reading everything from Chaucer to Christie has matured Kenna’s writing and addled her brain.

Kurtis Kelly

Storyteller & Performer Estes Park, CO Kurtis Kelly has been a stage performer for more than two decades and specializes in historic character reenactments. He has portrayed Enos Mills for the National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Conservancy, and the National Council of Geography Educators. Kelly provides the voice of Mills in the acclaimed new documentary, The Living Dream: 100 Years of Rocky Mountain National Park. Performance credits also include appearances as Lord Dunraven, the Irish earl and Colorado land baron; Abner Sprague, 19th century Colorado homesteader and surveyor; and F. O. Stanley, steam-car developer and proprietor of the historic hotel bearing his name. Kelly has appeared on National Public Radio and he serves as an emcee for Estes Park’s annual Scottish-Irish Highland Festival.

Larry Williams

As a former radio broadcaster, Williams’ storied career behind the microphone found him focusing intently on the dichotomy between the A-Side and B-Side records that changed music history. Along the way, he discovered an amazing mechanism for self-improvement. In this talk, two generations will come together under one common bond of music. The result will find you taking your second efforts out for another spin. For twenty-five years, Larry Williams has been the consummate communicator. In the broadcast booth, he has interviewed everyone from the Vice President of the United States to A-List celebrities. As a Master of Ceremonies, he was honored to serve as the personal DJ and Emcee for entertainment legend, Dick Clark, who was his friend, mentor and greatest inspiration. He is the recipient of the American Disc Jockey Association’s prestigious Michael Butler Humanitarian Award. He resides in Reno, Nevada with his wife and two children.

Maggie McReynolds

Life Coach Louisville, CO Maggie McReynolds is an award-winning writer as well as a Certified Life Coach through her company, Lifeworks Coaching. Through her Ready to Ripen group work with women in transition and her 1:1 work with clients from all backgrounds, Maggie seeks to help others identify, create, and live the truest and most joyful expression of themselves. Maggie is also a speaker and leader of workshops and retreats on subjects of intuitive midlife transitions, joyful cre ativity, and life purpose.

Michael LeClere

Business-Community Steward Eugene, OR Michael LeClere is a founding member of Bread-Design-Café, an open professional collective of likeminded individuals pooling their skills to bridge the knowledge gap between existing resources and the communities that need them. Michael LeClere received his formal education through The University of Iowa earning a BA in English and BFA in Art with an emphasis in design. He went on to complete his Masters of Architecture and Masters of Landscape Architecture through The University of Oregon. While pursuing his own education, he watched the American Dream dissolve from his hometown and surrounding communities struggling with changing forces of culture and nature. He was exposed to resources that would benefit the people and places that he was taught to steward; on the other hand he observed his childhood classmates, including himself, pursuing a college education with little economic opportunity to return home to.

Nick Armstrong

Grassroots Marketing Geek Fort Collins, CO Nick is the Geek-in-Chief at WTF Marketing, a grassroots marketing team that has declared war on business as usual. He is unapologetically awesome at making marketing fun for small business owners, tackling difficult-to-grasp concepts and making them much less scary. Nick’s business advice has been lauded by mom and pop shops and Fortune 500 businesses alike. He’s appeared in several books and online projects, and is working on his own book on marketing for 2016. Nick curates awesome events like Ignite Fort Collins, FoCo Comic Con, and TEDxFoCo to give smart local people a platform to share their ideas. He has a flair for connecting bright minds to address difficult-to-solve problems. In his spare time, Nick draws business comics and is working on creating a children’s book series for his son. Nick co-founded the audio drama production group Giant Gnome Productions, regularly presenting at Denver Comic Con, Starfest, and other geeky events.

Nick Roussos

Nick Roussos is an author, speaker, and business owner living in Loveland, Colorado. He promotes disability awareness through speaking, storytelling, and his blog at awesomeinaction.com. His mission is to inspire people, and to demonstrate that a person can be successful and happy, no matter the circumstance with which they are presented. Nick is an enthusiastic man with a colorful history and a passion for life. He loves spending time with family and friends, and enjoys attending concerts, musicals, and plays. As a young boy, Nick had many adventures which are reflected in his stories; he had a lion for a pet, a confrontation with a hippo, and a showdown with a snake. All of these experiences have led him to become the man that he is today. He is truly an adventure seeker, participating in adaptive sports including water skiing, snow skiing, horseback riding, white water rafting, and races with Athletes in Tandem.

Rich Dixon

Rich and his wife Becky currently operate Rich’s Ride: Together On A Journey Of Hope which leverages his love of handcycling to share a message of hope and possibility. As part of this crazy project, Rich has cranked his handcycle all over the U.S. and raised more than $120,000 for social justice causes. RICH’S RIDE currently sponsors FRONT RANGE FREEDOM TOUR, an annual team cycling tour from Cheyenne to Raton Pass that supports a home for kids who’ve been rescued from human trafficking. These rides provide a platform from which he speaks to a broad spectrum of audiences about hope, courage, following dreams, and confronting adversity. Rich and Becky have been married since 2002. They live in Fort Collins, Colorado, with Rich’s service dog, Monte.

Robert Tipton

Over the past 30+ years (wow, that must be a typo…), I’ve been: ◦CEO of my own transformational change professional services firm ◦CEO of my own IT strategies consulting firm ◦CIO of a $1B+ distribution company ◦VP / managing director for the integrated marketing group for a major online agency ◦VP of corporate capabilities and communications for a significant professional services firm ◦SVP of a major technology, strategy and creative company ◦Global vice president of industry technology a major technology consulting firm ◦CTO of a significant IT consulting company

Sam Shada

Sam I Am, Philosopher Poet Sam is just an ordinary guy, laboring to keep a roof over his head and food on the table, loving his wife and daughters dearly, chasing the almighty dollar like most and wondering what it is that he needs do next? So he does what man was meant to do, “Live, love, toil, & ponder.” Nothing more, nothing less.

Simon Tam

Simon Tam is an award-winning musician, best-selling author, entrepreneur, and social justice activist. He is best known as the founder and bassist of The Slants, the world’s first and only all-Asian American dance rock band. His approach to activism through the arts has been highlighted in thousands of media features across 82 countries, including: BBC World News, NPR, TIME Magazine, NBC, and the New York Times. Since 2000, he has been a performer, presenter, and keynote at events and organizations such as TEDx, SXSW, Comic-Con, The Department of Defense, Stanford University, and over 1,200 others across North America, Europe, and Asia.

Tim Kubik

Education Facilitator Berthoud, CO Tim works on a variety of initiatives through Kubik Perspectives, LLC, all designed to empower students to engage with their ever-changing world. He earned a Joint Ph.D. in History and Theory from the Johns Hopkins University, and has designed and taught project-based courses at the elementary, secondary, undergraduate and graduate level. With Asia Society and the Buck Institute for Education, he has trained over 3000 teachers in numerous workshops on global and project-based learning. Tim is also a vocal partner in policy and political initiatives to improve education in his home state of Colorado.

Tommy Maloney

Family-First Visionary Greeley, CO Tommy was around 5 years old when he watched his father leave him and his mom. When Tommy was confronted with his own divorce he did not want the same vision for his son, nor did he want to be an absentee dad. In 2009, Tommy found himself about to be laid off and that is when he knew he had a bigger purpose in life than having a “day job.” While going through the divorce process Tommy was writing down ideas to stay connected with his son, Connor, because he was on the road as a software trainer 100 percent of the time. These ideas became a published book, “25 Tips for Divorced Dads: How to Create Special Memories and Grow Your Bonds With Your Children.”