Yesterday was the #140conf Detroit which featured a mix of local speakers and speakers brought in from elsewhere. While several of the outside speakers were interesting, I got much more from listening to our local speakers. There are a lot of great people doing awesome things in the region, and learning about what they’re doing helps all of us support each other’s efforts.
I knew many of the local speakers, but I hadn’t heard some of them speak before, which gives more insight into who they are and what they stand for. Most people only speak about topics for which they are passionate. You can learn a lot about a person, not only from their topic, but also their poise, words and delivery.
Detroit has lots of problems. But there are also a lot of people tackling little problems as best they can. Hearing about what people are doing to help in their own way was very inspiring. Getting the word out to connect separate communities into one larger community moving in the same direction is key to Detroit’s future. Here are a few highlights:
- Ryan Doyle has founded the Live to Give Foundation which endeavors to connect donors, recipients and charities in ways that hasn’t happened before. If people are personally connected to their donations by knowing how they’re used and who is impacted, they feel more envolved and are more likely to give in the future.
- Ron Levi, the Lead Czar, is raising awareness of how lead in old homes is dangerous to children and what needs to be done to stop lead poisoning.
- Latoniya Jones is helping children get the math education they need to succeed with her P.O.W.E.R Organization.
Overall I enjoyed the conference. It was a good opportunity to meet new people, reconnect with others and learn more about what’s going on. I didn’t get as much out of the national speakers, some of which brought old material that I’d heard before and a couple were dishing out advice where they had no knowledge or expertise.
Hopefully they’ll post videos of the event soon so everyone can share in the good presentations.
Thank you to everyone who worked hard to bring 140conf to Detroit!
Were you at #140conf #detroit? What did you think?
UPDATE: Follow the speakers from the #140conf #detroit on Twitter here.