Around SOMa in 150 days

October 9, 2019 is when we got notice that our TEDxMaplewood license was approved. That was great news. We’d only been working on the application for over three months. But, that also meant we had little time to waste. With just about 150 days to pull this off (a definitive date and venue had to be submitted during the application phase), we had to rally the troops. Except, we didn’t have troops. It was just Ali (Alison), Rachel and me. In fact, it was Ali’s idea that corralled more than the few of us in July of 2019 but by the time, we revised the application the TEDx people kicked back, it was down to the three of us.

They say everything takes a village. And so it seemed, we needed a village. Maybe two.

To be fair, the power of TED conferences meant there was already a playbook, along with virtual communities and hubs, where organizers who had done it before us, some many times over, congregated to dish out advice and commiserate on challenges. Ali and Rachel even drove to a regional event in Pennsylvania early on to rub shoulders with some of these people. It was extremely beneficial to meet kindred spirited TEDx organizers.

Then off to the races we went. Budget. Speakers. Sponsors. Marketing. Volunteers. Production. The list of tasks was endless. And topping it off with our bend to the event was the idea of an Art Hub. An art hub with activities that would engage the community, the students in the school district, and even local artists. We corralled locals, Jeremy Moss and Cat Delett of Good Crowd Events to help champion the art hub initiatives and found a zealous supporter in James Manno, the school district’s Director of Fine arts and his team. Such a joy meeting people who just want the same things. Designing, artists outreach and installation of the community’s art pieces are all elements that will reveal itself on event day and weeks after in various community exhibition spaces.

Within 45 days of our license being approved, Vanessa Pollock and Kelly Lombardi of Pollock Properties Group (PPG), along with Matt Keane of Guaranteed Rate, stepped up to be our major sponsor. Getting the first supporter of the event was a huge win, especially since PPG’s mantra was "Care, Serve, Give", values that were consistent with why we had pursued organizing TEDxMaplewood to begin with. And as many more friends, and friends of friends, in the community, willing volunteered to be part of it, it started to come together. Just like that.

TEDxMaplewood’s theme, Normal, was good fodder for stories and interpretations. We found individuals within the depths of, or with ties to, the community with ideas and was able to curate a line-up that promised diversity in genre. Before long, speaker care volunteers in town committed to help coach and audience care teams were formed.

Fast forward to today. With less than three weeks to the first ever TEDXMaplewood event, it’s easy to forget the many paths we meandered through to get here. The fact is, it did take a village. To be specific, two villages, one community. We knew, going into this, that Maplewood-South Orange had an abundance of events and causes that was supported by many of the small businesses. This was just another thing. And where we may have gotten some polite declines for monetary sponsorships, what surprised us was the consistent spirited and in kind support we encountered from folks in town. Matt Smollon founder of SOMA Film Festival offered to lend us his screen and projector, Mike Schloff from Maplewoodshop connected us with a guy he knew to cut the TEDx letters. A Paper Hat plied us with supplies for the many Art Hub initiatives that hosted by the General Store Cooperative and Oh!Canary. And let’s not forget 509 Studio who opened their doors to us for flash mob dance practice. For that, we are grateful.

On February 29, 2020, just under 150 days after the first ever TEDxMaplewood license approved, 100 people will be at The Burgdorff Center, experiencing an immersive evening of conversational topics. Oh, and noshing on appetizers and desserts from Garden State Kitchen’s culinary makers and sipping either SOMA Brewing Co’s beer, Senor Sangrias or Brytelife, with music by Porl Gordon during intermission. All included in the ticket price.

The 100-ticket sales restriction is, unfortunately, a criteria of the first license granted. But art culled from the art hub initiatives that fanned across the community since we launched will be the backdrop of the event. Everyone will have had a hand and a voice at TEDxMaplewood. And select post-event screenings and talk-backs with speakers as requested by the audiences and schools are being planned and hosted at community spaces such as SOPAC, Words Bookstore and the like. As we always intended. Ample opportunities to participate and partake.

Did we mention it takes a village? I think we said two. This is the tale of the first ever TEDxMaplewood event brought to the community by its community. All in under 150 days.

Other than Pollock Properties Group & Matt Keane, the TEDxMaplewood team is thankful to The Able Baker, Smart Media Works, Words Bookstore, BCB Bank, SOPAC, Dr. Allie Fox of Renew, The Clarus Maplewood, and Sheridan Jiu Jitsu for helping underwrite TEDxMaplewood. Our gratitude extends to the many other countless volunteers and small businesses that donated in kind or lent their time and expertise to supporting this endeavor.