Saturday, June 12, 2010

TEDx SoMa features the power of the hug

If you have visited the Quesada Gardens in the heart of San Francisco's Bayview neighborhood, you may have gotten a hug from Co-Founding gardener and Board of Directors Chair Annette Young Smith. The hug is one of the things visitors remember most!

An old fashioned hug still counts for a whole lot, even in the emerging world of Interactivity in the Digital Future.

The future was current, and innovative ideas were commonplace at TEDx SoMa's May 21st event at pariSoma Innovation Loft, held in partnership with Institute for the Future.

Jeffrey Betcher, who works on the cusps of digital and pre-digital worlds where traditional community-building continues while the digital cloud thickens, delivered one TEDx talk about a project he directs: Quesada Gardens Initiative.  He shared the story of how his neighbor Annette, who doesn't have an email address, inspired a rag tag band of Bayview residents to change the world where they lived.

SF Weekly reported that the event "brought out some of the most innovative minds, both as speakers and attendees," and posted a slide show of event pictures by Julie Blaustein on its website.

Hug v. Tech was streamed live on Justin TV and other online outlets. The event earned over 100,000 views. Hug v. Tech and other Tedx talks can be viewed on Youtube.

Jeffrey Betcher works on the cusps of digital and pre-digital worlds where traditional community-building continues while the digital cloud thickens.  His TEDx talk includes the story of how his neighbor Annette, who doesn't have an email address, inspired a rag tag band of Bayview residents to change the world where they lived.

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