An evening of learning at TEDxBozeman

If you were looking to learn something new, then TEDxBozeman didn’t disappoint.

This past Saturday, April 13, TEDxBozeman hosted its eighth annual event at the Bozeman Commons. The evening featured 17 speakers and resulted in a filled parking lot and a crowded space of eager attendees.

The event featured a wide array of experts, with individuals representing interests from the textile industry to artificial intelligence. While “TED” stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, this year’s TEDx placed a heavy focus on the environment.

In line with the day’s environmental focus, first-time TED-talker Alayna Rasile-Digrindakis gave strong testimony to the appeal of milkweed as an alternative to goose down. An MFA student at MSU, Rasile-Digrindakis has spent the last six years working in the textile industry. She cited the industry as second only to gas in terms of environmental harm.

Not only does milkweed provide 25 percent more warmth than traditional down, but it also repels water in addition to “single-handedly supporting the existence of the Monarch butterfly,” notes Rasile-Digrindakis. The audience nodded along in support, unable to hold back smiles in response to the designer’s pure excitement about milkweed. “I feel responsible as a consumer to carefully choose products that align with my values,” she said in closing.

Shifting focus from the environment to the human experience, professor and musician Ryan Matzinger urged audience members to “trust the truth.” In reference to his own music, he added, “that’s how I say what I say, and how I feel what I feel.” It was with a relaxed air about him that Matzinger emphasized the main point of his talk. “It’s time to rewrite our history when it comes to race, and tap into our nature of human empathy,” he said. Matzinger also explained the world he faced as a biracial American. “Race is nothing but a cultural construct,” he stated. “It’s time to get over it [and make use of] the greatest human catalyst known to the universe.”

Or, in other words, music is the key.

Matzinger urged attendees to hum along with him. “If you miss a note, that’s okay,” Matzinger assured. “I’m a jazz guy, I like dissonances.” The expansive room soon filled with a soothing mixture of steady humming and saxophonic melodies. Smiles spread across faces, and heads began to nod along with tapping feet as Matzinger swayed on stage. At Matzinger’s direction, the music came to a comforting close. “Doesn’t that feel good, doesn’t that feel right?” he questioned.

Music exists as one of the definers of humanity. Matzinger continued to explain that “the color of my skin, the texture of my hair, does not define my character. It has nothing to do with it, nothing.”

Between Rasile-Digrindakis and Matzinger, a range of other speakers brought light to issues of tribal relations and social ecology, among others. Run entirely by volunteers, the event proved successful by the audience’s closing reaction. “Raise your hand if you learned something new today,” prompted the MC. Every single hand went up.