The following is reprinted with permission from facebook group: “Conversations With Chen”

Hey There,

Yesterday, around 100 participants celebrated the first ever TEDxByronBay. It was a great day. Full of innovation and one common purpose: To share ideas worth spreading. The format was innovative, the TEDtalk videos were mind-blowing and the live speakers were brilliant. The unique theatre setting and addition of live musicians provided the perfect environment for leaders, thinkers and creators to share their best ideas. It was a big risk to put on a TEDx event but the community of volunteers and supporters ensured it was an outstanding success.

The two memorable moments for me were Mandy Nolan and Bret Thomson. Mandy held the event together and was an absolute professional. Her life observations and depth of experience entertained the crowd for the whole day. And her presentation on teaching comedy to dementia patients was an inspiring moment. While some said I took a big risk in having Mandy MC the event, I knew in my heart and had complete faith she was the perfect person. It wouldn’t be a Byron event without one of Byron’s treasures sharing her gift with the world. What core gift can you share with the world?

I remember a mentor told me once “your biggest liability is also your biggest asset.” I took a huge risk potentially when I asked Bret to present at TEDx. You see, while Bret is one of Australia’s top copywriters, I didn’t want him to speak on persuasion with words. Instead, I asked him to perform one of his signature covers. What I thought was going to be a funny joke turned into an ‘unforgettable’ performance. I told Bret that I have never ever felt so much “love” from an audience and that it was a special moment for him. In fact, he even got his wish of an encore and performed a beautiful song he wrote. Bret clearly demonstrated the power of authenticity…and they loved him for it.

I took risks with some of the speakers. While some were big fans of TED, others didn’t know who TED was. Some speakers wanted to share a vision, others just wanted to share their story and I was in the fortunate position of providing a platform that allowed them the opportunity to distribute their message. Opportunities rise to your willingness to take the risk and this event was full of risks…and rewards. Your biggest liability may also be your biggest asset. It’s time to take inventory of your life right now and create your path to prosperity.

When you succeed, you create a platform for others to follow. The biggest lesson for me yesterday was all about faith. Believing in someone more than they believe in themselves, allows you to rise to another level. While the participants enjoyed the event, what people didn’t know was the majority of the team were “first-timers”. People who had no seminar experience but had a passion to learn and help others. By giving them roles and responsibilities, it gave the team the opportunity to stepup and shine and they did me proud.

Listen, there’s a lot more I could write about TedxByronBay. There were so many great lessons and great stories. We will continue to update the site and are investigating the opportunity to run another event next year. If you want to stay updated, please go to www.tedxbyronbay.com

One last thing to think about…”What do you sell when you can’t sell anything?”…Think about it. If you were offered an opportunity to speak for 18 minutes and you were not allowed to sell. This is the basis of the TED movement that has gathered incredible momentum around the world. TEDx events capture the essence of TED at a local level. It was great to attend an event without any selling. There was no promotions, pitches or bribes to come back into the room. Just aligned people with common values, dreams and a passion to share their best ideas.

The only thing you can sell when you can’t sell is IDEAS. Ideas are thoughts without frameworks, they are seeds without soil and they become voices that spread. In the new economy, ideas have currency. Ideas attract the people and resources to support your vision when you are aligned with the opportunity. The challenge is to communicate the value of what you do in a way your market understands you. There are various angles and messages that attract your members to your community and it’s great that experiential events like TEDxByronBay can connect you with those people.

There’s a great TEDtalk from Benjamin Zander that demonstrates pure passion can transform your message into a masterpiece. For those whole missed out on TEDxByronBay, here is my gift to you and for those who attended the event, here’s some more seeds to plant in your fertile soil.

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/286

Nothing is missing…Faith Heals and Restores Joy

CHEN

P.S If you were one of the 132 people who watched TEDxByronBay on the LIVE web streaming service on UStream, please let us know what it was like. If you missed out and are interested on getting the unedited DVD’s, please let me know. And please, don’t forget to post your comments on the wall. I appreciate your support.