Scott Walker

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You are here: Home / Miscellaneous / The Voices of TEDxPasadenaWomen

The Voices of TEDxPasadenaWomen

When asked if I would design and produce an interactive experience for the first TEDxPasadenaWomen Conference, I hesitated for all of about .0037 seconds before responding “Yes!” followed by, “Wait. What exactly would you like me to do?”

I think I was told something like, “the theme of the conference is ‘Momentum,’ and we’ll have access to some audio recording equipment.” That was about as defined as the experience was when I jumped on board.

“Cool, I’m in.”

TEDx Pasadena Women Conference

Heather Brunold, the conference’s Manager of Social Spaces, was in charge of our particular contribution to the conference, and she led a small team tasked with coming up with something interesting, relevant, and inspiring. The group consisted of volunteers from the Institute for Girls’ Development (Vicki Chiang, Psy.D. Clinical Psychologist, Lauren Guarino, and Hannah Kessel)  and Kamille Soler.

Momentum Team

Momentum Team: Vicki, Lauren, Hannah, & Heather

In a few short weeks, we crafted a multimedia installation that encouraged attendees to lend their words and voices to a curated collection of observations and advice about women and the worlds they influence.

TEDx Pasadena Women Conference

What we delivered to TEDx was an experience called the Momentum Project: A Formula for Female Forces (Mass x Velocity = Momentum), and it invited attendees to answer the following questions:

1) “Mass” – What gives you stability and confidence?

2) “Velocity” – What inspires you?

3) “Momentum” – What advice do you have for the next generation of women to help propel them forward?

Attendees could respond in two ways:

* Wisdom Pins – attendees could write down their responses and pin them on one of the mannequins outside the whisper recording booths.

* Momentum Memos – attendees could step into one of the recording booths so we could capture their response as a short audio.

TEDx Pasadena Women Conference Whisper Booth

I’m not sure what I expected, but I was truly inspired by how the experience turned out at the May 30th, 2015 conference. We collected dozens of audios, and all three mannequins were covered by the end of the day:

 

Mass: What Gives You Stability?

Mass: What Gives You Stability?

Mass: What Gives You Stability?

Mass: What Gives You Stability?

Mass: What Gives You Stability?

Mass: What Gives You Stability?

 

 

 

Velocity: What Inspires You?

Velocity: What Inspires You?

Velocity: What Inspires You?

Velocity: What Inspires You?

Velocity: What Inspires You?

Velocity: What Inspires You?

 

 

 

Momentum: What Advice Do You Have For Women?

Momentum: What Advice Do You Have For Women?

Momentum: What Advice Do You Have For Women?

Momentum: What Advice Do You Have For Women?

Momentum: What Advice Do You Have For Women?

 

I’ve given TEDxPasadenaWomen and The Institute for Girls Development some ideas about how they can use the audios (string together random “formulas” of audio wisdom, create transcripts for posting on their website, create “word” videos, etc.). Looking forward to seeing how they use all the amazing insights collected that day and share the momentum of that day.

Typing Monkey Logo

Can’t end this post without a few personal shout outs.

First up  is Jeanne Chung, a female force of reckoning in her own right and a designer extraordinaire who oversaw the design of the conference space.

Second is the Institute for Girls’ Development, an amazing group doing amazing and important work.

Institute for Girls' Development Logo

Institute for Girls’ Development

Finally, thanks to Heather Brunold for inviting me to join her on this incredible adventure. You are a queen among queens!
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Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: interactive, media, Pasadena, TEDx, women

Comments

  1. Jeanne says

    06/03/2015 at 12:52 pm

    Scott-Thanks for the fabulous post and thanks for taking part! You and your team pulled off a great interactive space. I am especially excited about what comes of the audio and how it can be used to empower the women of the future in so many ways! Cheers on a job well done , Jeanne

  2. Amber says

    06/04/2015 at 10:44 am

    Thank you so much Scott for saying “Yes!” You and the whole team made this little idea into something superlative and lasting. Such huge gratitude fro making this experience so meaningful for so many.

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