Theme: Awake and Aware

As we prepare to celebrate our eighth TEDx TraverseCity, we believe that this year provides an excellent opportunity for our audience to be inspired and challenged. We are at a pivotal time when our culture and society are being tested, as never before, in multiple ways.

So we are questioning how, as a community, we can challenge ourselves to become more conscious and more awake to possibilities of change. Ideas spring from being aware—sufficiently aware for us to take notice and, we hope, to create an impact. Crossing the threshold of awareness, an idea can spread and be shared throughout our communities.

The simplest definition of awake is to cease sleeping—so have we been sleeping? Has our society become too complacent and comfortable?

We believe it is essential that each TEDx TraverseCity event makes a strong impact and even alters participants’ consciousness. This year’s event is no different; however, right now there seems to be a collective energy in our community to be engaged and to tune into issues that matter. We first need to identify any blinders we may have on, and then to engage in positive change events.

We look forward to a full day of examining what it is to be “awake and aware” in today’s world. We invite you to submit proposals for talks that resonate with our theme.

“Those who are awake live in a constant state of amazement.” —JACK KORNFIELD

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” —CARL GUSTAV JUNG

“Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.” —HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Dennos Museum Center, NMC
1701 E Front Street
Traverse City, Michigan, 49686
United States

Betsy Crouch

Coach + Consultant + Improviser

BETSY CROUCH, Co-Founder of ImprovHQ, is an experienced coach, consultant, and improviser. She has been inspiring peak performance through sales management, coaching and consulting for her entire career. Betsy is a Life and Business Coach and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from the University of Michigan. She has conducted approximately 5,000 one on one coaching sessions. Betsy's purpose is to help people identify what makes them come alive and thrive.

Jay Papasan

Author + Editor + Realtor

Jay’s curiosity about why some people get extraordinary outcomes and others do not helped fuel his work with Gary Keller to write The ONE Thing, which has sold over 1.3 million copies worldwide, has garnered more than 400 appearances on national bestseller lists (including #1 on The Wall Street Journal’s hardcover business list), and has been translated into 30 different languages. Whether working with his wife Wendy to raise funds for Heroes for Children, inspiring others to take action toward their goals, or aiming to be the best husband and father he can be, Jay strives to remain awake and aware – with clarity and focus on his values and goals. Jay Papasan is a bestselling author and Vice President and Executive Editor at Keller Williams Realty, Inc., the world’s largest real estate company. He is also co-owner, alongside his wife Wendy, of Papasan Properties Group. They live in Austin, Texas with their two kids, Gus and Veronica, and their dog, Taco.

John Israel

Founder, The Mr. Thank You Project

John "Izzy" Israel is a professional speaker, author, and founder of the Mr. Thank You Project - a global movement to elevate the level of gratitude on the planet. Izzy spent a year of his life writing 5-thank you cards every day for 365 consecutive days. This project transformed his life, his marriage, his community, and his business and landed him interviews that were featured on Fox News, ABC News, Popsugar, Good Morning America, and MarthaStewart.com.

Jon Vroman

Social Entrepreneur + Podcast Host

Jon Vroman is on a mission to show you how to Live Life In The Front Row™ through the transformative art of moment making. He is a social entrepreneur, committed husband, father of two, and an ultramarathon runner. Jon is the founder of the Front Row Foundation, a charity established in 2005 that creates unforgettable moments for individuals who are braving life-threatening illnesses. The organization empowers individuals to “live life in the front row™” by providing recipients a front row experience at the live event of their dreams. As a speaker, Jon brings a refreshingly effective and modern motivational edge that genuinely connects with his audience as he ignites their enthusiasm, and challenges their status-quo. Host of the popular Front Row Factor Podcast, Jon’s interviews help you strengthen your mindset, relationships, and environment so you can excel in every area of life. Jon is a fierce community builder who hosts such live events as the Front Row Foundation Celebration.

Joseph Sanok

Healthcare Private Practice Consultant

Joe Sanok teaches healthcare private practice owners how to slow down and find the real purpose of their businesses by bringing big ideas to life. Through podcasting and consulting Joe explores how to increase influence and impact on the world through being curious. As a business leader, Joe continues to seek ways to make the world more interesting.

Julianna Raye

Founder + Head Trainer, Unified Mindfulness

As founder, president, and head trainer of Unified Mindfulness, Julianna Raye is devoted to deepening people’s understanding of research-supported mindfulness and empowering anyone to guide others in its practice. She has been training individuals and groups in the Unified Mindfulness system for nearly two decades. With more than 100 weeks of immersive silent retreat training in both the mindfulness and Zen traditions, Julianna has completed over 12,000 hours of formal practice. She has participated in research, including a UCLA study comparing long-term meditator’s brains with those of non-meditators. She designed and led the training for a workplace study which was carried out under mindfulness researcher David Creswell, PhD. Raye was originally drawn to mindfulness to manage debilitating anxiety and depression. She learned that material success means nothing without a happy mind. This inspired her to dedicate her life to the disciplined practice of rewiring her brain for happiness.

Kristy McDonald

Professor + Meditation Instructor

Kristy McDonald has been a business and communication professor for over 16 years, whose passion is helping people reach their full potential in innovation, communication and happiness. She is currently a full-time professor at Northwestern Michigan College. She started Zenvelope, a mindful consulting company in 2017. Her areas of expertise are conscious communication, creative and mindful customer service, positive psychology, and mindfulness and meditation. Kristy is a certified yoga and meditation instructor along with her many educational degrees in business and communication. She has been practicing meditation and yoga for over ten years and traveled to Thailand on sabbatical for three months in 2015 to learn new mindfulness and meditation techniques. While there she focused on the science behind training the mind with these techniques. She believes infusing mindfulness into education, business and relationships is the key to an awake and fulfilling life.

Michael Klaper

Clinician + Teacher + Speaker on Diet and Health

Dr. Michael Klaper is a gifted clinician, internationally recognized teacher, and sought-after speaker on diet and health. He has practiced medicine for more than 40 years and is a leading educator in applied plant-based nutrition and integrative medicine. He is also the author of a successful book on cholesterol-free nutrition and an upcoming title (to be announced in 2018), as well as numerous DVDs and Videos on Demand, a series of “Healthy YOU Webinars,” and dozens of articles. A source of inspiration advocating plant-based diets and the end of animal cruelty worldwide, Dr. Klaper contributed to the making of two PBS television programs Food for Thought and the award-winning Diet for a New America movie based on the book of the same name. Dr. Michael Klaper teaches that “Health Comes From Healthy Living” and is dedicated to the healing and flourishing of all living beings and our planet.

Mohamed Hammoud

Learning and Development Specialist + Consultant

It starts with a spark. A spark that ignites a desire to learn and a passion to lead. This is the mantra Mohamed Hammoud wakes up to every day. As a change catalyst, Mohamed's mission is to serve others in their self-discovery. Developing their emotional quotient and achieving their goals. He is driven to inspire others and enable them to follow their own passion to do what they love, while evolving into a better version of themselves. By leading from the heart, Mohamed cultivates engaging learning and growth opportunities to empower others to actualize their potential and self-fulfillment.

Paul Canaan

Performer + Producer + Educator

Paul is a performer, a producer, and an educator. He recently partnered with director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell to launch a choreography licensing company, The Original Production, that offers high schools and regional theaters original Broadway choreography for their productions through streaming video technology. He’s performed in 6 Broadway shows including Kinky Boots, and Legally Blonde, also served as a judge on the MTV reality show “Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods.” Paul founded the non-profit arts organization Take It From The Top to give young artists the opportunity to explore theater with mentoring Broadway professionals. He served as artistic director for the Broadway Dreams Foundation, and sits as a judge for the National High School Musical Theatre Awards: The JIMMY Awards. Paul’s passionate about making performing arts education accessible for students everywhere to inspire confidence and create a pathway for young artists to achieve their highest potential.

Peter Sneed

Physician

I am an Oculoplastic and Reconstructive Surgeon at the Grand Traverse Ophthalmology Clinic where I have practiced since 1994. I grew up on the shores of Lake Superior in Wisconsin. After attending Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD, I received an M.D. from the University of South Dakota, completed an Ophthalmology residency at Henry Ford Hospital and a Fellowship in Oculoplastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. I have a passion for improving the health of our communities and believe that every individual plays a critical role in achieving the Quadruple Aim of Improved Patient Experience, Improved Outcomes, Decreased Cost and Increasing the joy of practicing medicine. I serve as the President of the Northern Physicians Organization CIN and have been on the NPO Board of Directors for many years. My world view is that EVERY individual is special, wonderfully and beautifully made by our Creator, and is of great value to our world.

Sue Houghton

Producer + Director + Writer

Sue Houghton is a factually-focused producer, director and writer, and has spent over 20 years with wild creatures and in wild spaces -- both underwater and topside. Based in Washington, DC, she’s been a Showrunner and Executive Producer for Northern Pictures in Australia for 5 years. Her films are primarily focused on nature, wildlife and the conservation of our planet, and each new project is created using fresh technology and innovation. She began her career as a Disney artist, and layered experience gained through commercials, dramas and factual documentaries. She believes in mentoring passionate and talented people to give them the tools with which they might realize their own visions, and has nurtured multiple individuals at National Geographic and other companies. Sue has worked in Asia, South America, Africa, Australia, the South Pacific, the Arctic and many other places. With a background in both geology and art, she believes in blending science with visual dynamics.

Zoe Galvez

Instructor of Improvisation

ZOE GALVEZ, Co-Founder of ImprovHQ, is one of the most beloved instructors of improvisation in the Bay Area and beyond. She has introduced thousands of clients to the magic of improv. With over a dozen years of coaching and performance experience, she is a long time member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA) as well as a Main Stage company member of the nationally-acclaimed BATS Improv in San Francisco where she performs regularly. She is a pioneer in bringing improvisational theater to the world of business.