Bringing ideas to life

Only a true millennial would start a TEDx event by engaging the audience to take a "selfie within a selfie" — that is exactly what local chiropractor Ryan Bones did Saturday morning.

To begin his presentation titled "Millennovation," Bones took a "selfie" from the stage, asking the audience to take one of themselves as he did so and post the photos on social media with the hashtag "tedxcoeurdalene."

"It's such a generational thing, isn't it — hashtags and selfies?" he said. "I think it's so interesting how generations have personalities like people do. Along with those personalities come stereotypes."

Bones' talk was focused on how millennials are changing the face of business. He said millennials are on track to become "the most educated generation in history" and are already changing the face of business.

Bones pointed to several statistics, such as in 2015, millennials surpassed Generation X as the biggest share of the American workforce at 53.5 million. Bones said by 2018, millennials are on track to surpass the baby boomers generation in spending power with $3.4 trillion. By 2020, millennials will make up 40 percent of the electorate "with the power to decide the future of our nation," Bones said. He gave statistics regarding college enrollment and financial goals, along with many more, but he said there is one thing about the generation, he said, that is changing the face of business more than any other, which he said is their "fundamental desire to make a difference."

More than 100 people gathered at the Human Rights Education Institute on Saturday for the first TEDx event in Coeur d'Alene.

"TEDx Coeur d'Alene provides a chance for people to talk about ideas and share passions with each other," said event organizer Eric Edmonds.

The "x" in TEDx symbolizes it is an independent offshoot of the nonprofit organization TED, which brings the world's leading "thinkers and doers" together to speak for 18 minutes each regarding a diverse mix of topics. It began as a four-day conference in California 30 years ago and has grown to two annual TED conferences, as well as several independently organized events all over the country.

TEDx mixes live speakers with TED Talks videos, and the independent events are subject to guidance and rules of the TED conference. Edmonds said a couple of the rules include no question-and-answer sessions, and 25 percent of the day must be dedicated to the TED Talks videos, which include subjects like how to talk and how to listen.

The theme for Coeur d'Alene's event was "Diamonds in the Rough," which Edmonds said is meant to emphasize that all great ideas and accomplishments require hard work to move from beginning to end. The event was split into four sessions throughout the day, with 12 speakers talking about some of the challenges of moving from beginning to end, as well as the excitement of achieving the end goal. Edmonds himself brought his idea to life when he decided to hold a TEDx event in Coeur d'Alene.

JD Claridge, CEO and founder of xCraft, spoke to the crowd about how to bring ideas to reality. Many ideas have come to Claridge over the years, some he even started to work on, but over time he would grow bored or decide it wasn't a good idea and he would move on to the next. His idea for the high-speed drone was one successful idea because over time he realized the idea was worth putting the work into and he was passionate about it. He said the only difference in whether his ideas became reality or not was himself — whether he sticks with it or not.

"An idea is like a seed," he said. "A seed has a lot of potential but it doesn't have much value in itself. Where the value comes is when you plant that seed, give it water, give it sunlight, you weed it when it starts to grow. It can turn into a big beautiful tree ... but it has to be cultivated."

The final speaker of the first session was Angela Slabaugh, executive director of Hearth Homes in Spokane Valley. Slabaugh told her story, which she titled "Serving With Abandon," of how she came to work closely with homeless women and children. She worked for a "huge" nonprofit that had great benefits and great perks, but said she just wasn't passionate about it. So when she was offered the job to work at the transitional home for women, although it was unpaid and she had to live at the homeless shelter, she packed up her things and headed to her new home. She "wanted to be in the trenches" rather than continuing to teach others how to work with that particular population.

The audience took a break after the first session, and Slabaugh's presentation was a topic of conversation among the crowd.

"In order to serve effectively, Angela was kind of making the point that you have to not do it for what you need, but do it for what they need," said Michelle Fansler of Post Falls.

Fansler and Leslie Duncan, of Rathdrum, also enjoyed the point Slabaugh made when she quoted the old saying, "If you give a man a fish he will eat for a day, if you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime." But, Slabaugh pointed out, did anyone ask if the man needed fish?

"That was awesome; I've never heard that before," Fansler said. "So the whole thing is, what if they don't need fish? You have to go to the homeless community and find out what they need rather than just giving them your leftover stuff — that was a good point."