Thank you to everyone involved with the inaugural TEDxLafayette event.  Another fine chapter for the annuals of Tippecanoe history.

“Don’t limit your political life to the ballot box.”

Last week, I was afforded the opportunity to speak at the inaugural TEDxLafayette event that took place on November 22nd in Civic Theater’s lovely Historic Monon Depot Theater.

I was asked to participate and give a talk that was tentatively titled, The disappearing voter: Does anyone care about democracy or democratic processes?  The title as arranged was in need of orchestration and quickly explored the concepts of the disappearing voter, caring for democracy and its processes, civic participation, voting, subtly of the constituency, mutual knowledge, and Sisyphus.  The title I settled upon after much internal debate was Everything We Do and Don’t Do is Political. Thanks Sartre.

For the event, I also created a small zine to distribute with the TEDxLafayette material.  There was a problem with the copy room where I make copies, and I needed to come back later in the week.  Running short on time Friday, I had to staple the remainder of the zines at Myrdene’s.

Media is a major component when engaging politically, and with modern technology, any individual can make informative, fun political expressions and gestures.  You can download, Everything is Political,  We are our choices as a PDF:

The overall experience was quite enjoyable.  From the organizing individuals, to the other speakers and performers, to the audience, Civic Theater staff, media creators, and sponsors.  Everyone lent an extremely valuable hand, making sure we had a successful TEDx to reference in the future.

The event received some press from the Journal and Courier under the headline, TEDx speakers challenge audience to think local, and featured a few pull quotes from speakers Kris Taylor and Beth Carroll.  I was also featured in the article:

In his talk, titled “Everything We Do or Don’t Do is Political,” Zachary Baiel, a civic-minded resident and director of customer relations at Spensa Technologies, challenged the audience to think beyond the ballot box.

He said elections are not the only way constituents can engage in the political process.

All aspects of community involvement, such as the “Mosey Down Main Street” festivals and local farmers markets, are forums for political engagement, he explained.

The Indy Star reprinted the same article, but included a picture of me speaking in the print version:

WLFI also ran a story about the event titled ‘Spark.Inspire.Change’ the focus at TEDxLafayette, which also included some clips of Kris Taylor, Keith Watson, and myself speaking:

My presentation can be read (visually) online.  Although there isn’t much text to read, it is still an enjoyable walk-through.  Thank you again to all the media producers (Journal and Courier, WBAA, WLFI, Owen Gunn, Zach Meddler, Aaron Bumgarner, Aaron Molden,  Thomas Kesler) and everyone else who helped make this presentation possible.

If you would like for me to give this or a similar performance to you, a local civic group, or other people who are interested in learning more about becoming a political entrepreneur vs. a wait-for-it voter, please let me know.

I was told that the videos of the various performances would be available some time in December.  Once I get sent a link, I will include it on this post.

I want to thank everyone again for the enjoyable, educational, and historic time.  Lafayette needs local individuals to be involved, share ideas, and become their own media.

Once momentum for a particular passion spreads across to a few others in the community, action becomes easier, and opportunities to change the world at the street, neighborhood, or city level can be celebrated rather than abhorred.