Archives for June 2015

Dr. Emmy Betz was a scientist’s child. A Denver native, with both parents working at the medical school, her family dinner conversations were about genes, nerve endings and neurophysiology. She was taught not only about the essence of education, but how you can apply it to change the world.

And so she did.

After graduating from Manual High School as prom queen in 1995, Dr. Betz went to Yale for undergrad and then John Hopkins for her medical school and her Masters in Public Health, before returning to Colorado for the sunshine, deep family roots and the forests of Silverthorne.

Now, as an emergency room physician, Dr. Betz’s job puts her in the “now” like only an ER doctor can understand. Her lens is constantly colored by human crises. Some very solvable. Others more chronic. Many crushing to the spirit.

The other half of her time is about preventing those same ER situations from ever occurring. Funded by grants from the NIH and other foundations, she goes beyond behavior-based tactics (don’t smoke in bed, lock up your guns, keep your brakes in good condition), toward understanding how product engineering and design can prevent death.

Stuff like self-extinguishing cigarettes. Bullet-load indicators. Runaway truck ramps. Roadside rumble strips.

Within this realm, Dr. Betz focuses on two areas. The first is motor vehicle safety and how that intersects with senior citizen drivers. She says that older drivers are often unfairly stereotyped and restricted.

“Deciding when people should give up their keys is tricky,” she says. “We want them to keep their mobility and independence as long as possible.”

When not improving the world, Dr. Betz finds peace in the mountains and motherhood. She encourages her fiery, red-headed daughters to seize their own feminine power, but to keep in mind that we all make mistakes. And that “leaning in” should be done together, with support, partners and community.

This medical visionary will talk for a mere six minutes at TedxMileHigh. She will be brief, be brilliant and be gone. Don’t miss it.

TEDxMileHigh Q+A with Ideas Unbridled speaker, Joel Comm:

In your own words, share what you do.

The textbook answer is I’m an entrepreneur and speaker and I focus on doing business online.  I’m also just a kid with a pail and shovel looking for a sandbox to play in.  In the last 20 years I’ve done so many things that it’s hard to classify them.  I’m a professional “me.”

What initially drew you to online advertising and social media?

With social media, I first got sucked into MySpace in 2005.  I’ve been online forever and dialing into bulletin board services since 1980 when I bought my first computer.  I was 16 at that time and totally into technology.  I got onto Twitter and Facebook in 2007.

The topics you cover didn’t really exist 10 years ago.  Talk about how the advent of social media and its evolution have tapped your interest in public speaking and created a job for you.

Social media is really the next logical progression of what began as chat rooms and boards on the Internet. It’s found a way to connect us all across relationships with friends and family.  Meeting new people has just gotten so much easier.  I know more people now in this part of my life than I did before.  It’s exponential.  I look at my friends list on Facebook and I’m directly connected to 2,000 people.  There’s no real strangers in my friend list. That’s a huge list of people to be connected to.  The power and reach that we have now is amazing.

It was 10 years ago that I started my public speaking career.  It didn’t start with social media – it started with Google AdSense.  I wrote a couple of e-books that sold a lot of copies, and that turned into a published book that ended up on the New York Times bestseller list.  My original work pre-dated the use of social media.  It just happens that I was an early adopter of Twitter.  That propelled me into the arena of social media as a guy who knows a thing or two.

What’s the biggest mistake most companies make with their social media strategy and implementation?

A lot of companies treat social media as an opportunity to set up a soap box in the middle of the town square and say “buy my stuff.”  That’s not how we’re wired as human beings to receive a marketing message.  Social media is about building a relationship and bringing community to the conversation. It’s about engagement and less about marketing. People buy things from those they like, know, and trust.

What do you see as the biggest success story in your life?

I raised two incredible kids that are really good people and will make an impact on the world.

Who inspires you?

I draw my inspiration from someone I consider a mentor, the late Zig Ziglar.  Twenty-five years ago I went to a “Born to Win” conference he put on and I heard him say for the first time “You get what you want when you help enough people get what they want”.  He also said, “People don’t care until they know how much you care.”  That’s how I manage my relationships, sometime successfully and sometime not so much.  I always come back to those principals as grounding.

What’s something few people know about you?

I ran a marathon when I was 13 years old.

Esmé Patterson is songwriter, gambler, singer, lover, thinker and explorer. She began as a member of the Denver folk pop septet, Paper Bird, and has written two records as a solo act including “All Princes, I” and her second and most recent release, “Woman to Woman,” a concept album of responses from female characters in a broad range of well-known love songs. Esmé is a magnetic performer in multiple incarnations. She adds members to raise the volume and cadence of her tunes but remains powerful alone. Her recent co-writing with Shakey Graves led to sold out shows nationwide and millions of downloads of their collaborations.

We talked with Esmé to learn a little more about her and the journey she has had as a musician so far:

Tell us a little about how you became a musician and your journey.

Some of my earliest memories are of singing, I’ve been opening my lungs and my heart as long as I can remember. Learning to play guitar at age 16 gave me a tool to begin writing my own songs, and I’ve been singing and writing and playing in various incarnations ever since.

What is the biggest challenge you face in your profession?

Sadly, sexism. Women have to work twice as hard to be respected as artists in this industry and people on all levels still often respond first to one’s gender rather than the content of one’s work.

What was the first song you wrote? What was it about?

I put a Pablo Neruda poem to music.

What is the most important part/piece of a song to you?

It’s all important, the forest for the trees, but my favorite part of songs to play with is the bridge. I often hide “the point” in the bridge.

What is something that few people know about you (or wouldn’t expect)?

I am a real scaredy-cat: heights, snakes, roller coasters, ghosts, crowds, the ocean… to name a few…

Who inspires you, in your industry and outside of it?

I am inspired by people who believe in ART, who believe in the power and importance of expression and reflection. Not all artists fit that bill, and I’ve met stock brokers and gardeners and janitors who do. I am inspired by passionate people who believe in the search for wonder and the many faces of truth.

How does music impact a community like Denver?

Music heals us, music brings us together to experience a feeling as a group, we are no longer parts, we are a whole: that is community. It builds and strengthens community. I think music is vital and can be central to community. How does it impact Denver? Denver is changing so quickly these days, I hope that the city and people of it continue to nurture and cherish the art being created here and the people who pour their lives and hearts into making it.

What does “Ideas Unbridled” mean to you and your work? 

I interpret “ideas unbridled” as having the courage to let one’s imagination run wild, outside of convention and expectation. I strive to reflect that in my work.