Theme: The Agora

The theme for TEDxCarsonCity 2017 will be "The Agora". The Agora was the heart of ancient Athens – where ordinary citizens bought and sold goods, politics were discussed and ideas were passed among great minds like Aristotle and Plato.

Brewery Arts Center
449 W King St.
CARSON CITY, Nevada, 89703
United States

Drinking With Clowns

Musicians

A Clown ~ "A person who does not take her or himself too seriously" Drinking With Clowns is an unique blend of Latin sound and funky rhythms that will send you grooving into the ecstasy of dance! From the thumping sounds of afro-american drums in the streets of South America to the smooth, funky and soulful beats of the North American urban landscape,taking you on a musical journey every time they step into the stage. Mixing funky latin rhythms such as cumbia, samba, salsa with reggae, rock, and other musical genres, DWC infuse their audiences with electrifying energy with every performance! The project is led by Baldo Bobadilla (singer/songwriter/producer from Paraguay) and Kristias Trujillo (Drummer/Composer from Mexico), who over the years have been joined by many talented musicians from the South America and the United States and have made amazing contributions to the project. Other current members are Alejandro Jimenez (Colombia - Percussion), Martin Arroyo (Mexico - Bass/Keys).

Alex Kaskie

Dancer

Alex's life has been involved in dance since he was young child, as his mother was a professional dancer and has owned her own studio since Alex was a young boy. Although, he didn't start dancing until he was 19, now 10 years later he is known around the dance community for his Hip hop style. His career and style starts with a musical theatre foundation. Over the years he has performed as lead rolls, principle dancer rolls and even choreographing for a few productions. Alex started experimenting with more styles to broaden his skills by starting to breakdancing and getting into hip-hop. In no time, Alex was exploring and picking up every style of dance that he could get his hands on. He got interested in creating his own choreography and his own style to add to the art. He has choreographed numerous jazz routines, award winning hip hop group competition numbers, and hip hop solo's. In this performance he explores even further by dancing with masks and live instruments.

Art Castañares

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Manzana Energy, Inc.

Art Castañares is deal-maker, putting his 25 years of experience in politics, finance, marketing, and emerging technologies together to deliver innovative projects, including on-site solar energy generation, new biomass to fuels technology, and mass deployment of synthetic turf. His career has included more than 13 years working in government, running dozens of political campaigns, and, now, growing a diverse clean energy company in California, Nevada, and Texas. Art maintains that the secret to closing deals is over-coming the “No”. His newest venture, turning biomass waste into clean fuels, exemplifies Art’s out-of-the-box approach to creating business opportunities. He credits his ignorance in new fields for having led to some of his greatest successes.

Briana Neben

Student/Advocate

Briana Neben is a Carson High graduate and received her Associate of Arts from Western Nevada College in 2013. In the following year, she was one of a few hundred students selected from thousands of applicants to participate in the Disneyland College Program. Upon her return from California, she decided to change her major to social work and pursue her passion of creating change. After completing volunteer training for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) in Carson City, she seized an opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors and was elected as Board President at age 22 and held that position for two years. She continues to carry out her passion for this organization by currently serving as the Board Secretary.

Claire McCully

English professor/writer

Claire McCully was born and raised in a small California town near Yosemite National Park. She is the youngest of six children, has worked as a seasonal firefighter, and was also employed as a library worker. She earned a Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing from CSU Fresno and is currently a writer, English professor, and a parent of six children. Claire recently participated in Reno’s first Literary Death Match. In addition to writing and teaching, she enjoys being in the outdoors, hiking through the Sierra, mountain biking, and snowboarding. She is thankful to call Tahoe her home.

Corrado De Gasperis

CEO Comstock Mining

Mr. De Gasperis brings over 30 years of transformational business management experience, aggressively leading the turnaround of three industrial businesses, one global, one continental and most recently, one regional. Prior to his own personal transformation, Mr. De Gasperis was a certified public accountant with KPMG LLP. He served many major companies like General Electric and Union Carbide Corporation. KPMG announced his admittance into the partnership, as a Partner, effective July 1, 1998, when he left to help turnaround a global, industrial giant and save it from bankruptcy. He is currently the Executive Chairman and CEO of Comstock Mining Inc., a diversified, community based, network of activities that include mining, construction, real estate, hospitality, and technology based activities, working together and coordinated as one system, with a common goal.

Deana Hoover

Artist

Deana Hoover is an artist who has spent a lifetime influenced by social and conservation movements. She is inspired by classical artists, such as Caravaggio, as well as by the more modern works of Claude Monet, Harley Brown, and Frida Kahlo. Along with these inspirations, Deana’s own love of nature and animals helps to mold her focus and style. Her education over the years has been eclectic. While she studied formally at Western Nevada Community College, she also studied art under a private instructor, received a Master Art Certificate from ICU, taken classes and workshops by the hundreds, and still she continues to study with any program that can refine her skills or inspire her work. She works primarily in the mediums of oil paint, graphite, and ceramic sculpture. Her art combines the subjects of nature in the style of realism with subtle techniques of the abstract.

Ethan Gray

Musician

Grace Hayes

Performing Artist

Grace Hayes is an independent Nevadan performing artist, actress, singer/songwriter, pianist/ ukuleleist , spoken word poet & comedian. She specializes in the satirical, exudes eccentricity, and oozes all things obscure. As a young emerging talent, Grace has been featured in several commercials (both local & national), theatrical plays, and concert shows at different venues since 2009.

Jamie Bianchini

Founder, LuDela Smart Candle

Jamie Bianchini is an intercultural adventure travel expert and avid social entrepreneur best known for the creation and completion of the world’s first intercultural expedition around the world by tandem bicycle called Peace Pedalers. Jamie rode the front seat of a tandem bicycle while leaving the rear seat of the bike empty to invite total strangers to join the journey in a gesture of peace, acceptance and tolerance. The Peace Pedalers expedition traversed 81 countries with over 1,000 people accepting the Worldwide Invitation to Ride on the 8-year expedition. Along the way, Jamie was hosted and treated like family by total strangers who assisted him during the most challenging parts of the expedition including bouts with sickness, bike thefts, loneliness and more. Those acts of kindness by total strangers inspired Jamie to look for ways to give back to the communities along the road of his journey and has became the foundation of a new life philosophy he still lives by today.

John Vanek

Leadership and Anti-Human Trafficking Consultant

John Vanek is a leadership, collaboration, and anti-human trafficking consultant and speaker working with law enforcement agencies, non-governmental and community-based organizations, academic institutions and private sector companies. John is a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Advisory Committee on the Sex Trafficking of Children and Youth in the United States, and is the author of The Essential Abolitionist: What you need to know about human trafficking & modern slavery. John holds a Master of Arts in Leadership, and is an Adjunct Professor in the Graduate School of International Policy & Management at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

Joseph Tatum

Musician

Joseph Tatum is a multi-genre cellist and composer residing in Reno, Nevada where he performs with a number of diverse ensembles. His primary objective has been to explore and innovate the cello's unique capabilities as a non-classical performance instrument. In June 2016 this goal manifested itself when Joseph teamed up with Ethan Gray to form Darabello, a duo featuring original composition for looped cello and percussion. More recently, Joseph was commissioned by Artown to collaborate with dancer Alex Kaskie for the inaugural Artown Under the Radar performance. In addition to these projects, Joseph performs as a section member of the Reno Philharmonic and Desert Rose Ensemble. He works with the Reno Philharmonic Youth Orchestra program as well as leading a studio for private cello lessons. Joseph holds a Master of Music degree in cello performance from University of Nevada, Reno and a Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music.

Otto Kelly

Executive Director of Crisis Pregnancy Center and Lead Pastor for Word of Life Ministries

As a young man, Otto played football for the University of Nevada, where he studied Human Ecology. He then embarked on a professional football career playing for the USFL’s Philadelphia Stars, and the NFL’S Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs before a 1985 injury ended his professional football career. Otto returned to Reno where he spent 11 years as Washoe County’s Department of Juvenile Services’ first Gang Specialist/Community Outreach Counselor; a role which earned him numerous awards such as, The NAACP Youth Advocacy Award, Nevada Policy Research Institute Distinguished Community Service Award, and the Truckee Meadows Community Staff award to name a few. In 1999, Otto responded to God’s call and left his job to serve as a full time pastor focusing on biblical manhood, family preservation, youth advocacy, and community involvement.

Tamara Holmes

Educator

Tamara Holmes is a lifetime performing artist; dancing, tumbling and acting in community plays and events. A Carson City resident for 27 years, she has raised two fabulous children with the help of this village, managed a well-loved dance and acrobatics studio for 15 years, and currently works as a teacher-guide in a local charter school. She has a steadfast belief in the healing power of positive human connection, cooperation and creativity.

Tim Carson

CEO, Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies

Tim Carson has spent most of his life living, working and playing in rural Alberta. Through the many twists and turns his career has taken, Tim has developed a deep passion for rural communities and the need for renewed success in the 21st century. For more than a decade now Tim has channeled his rural enthusiasm towards Agricultural Societies, recognizing that volunteers and their passion are the heart and soul of communities. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of a Provincial not for profit and has had the opportunity to meet tremendous people from across Alberta, Canada and the United States who are directly connected to the fair industry and rural. These connections and experiences have provided a unique perspective on the challenges facing rural communities. Tim and his wife Kim live on 80 acres outside a small community just north of Edmonton and along with their 2 sons are continuing to live, work and play in rural Alberta.