It’s not enough that we spent all of Saturday with you. Bouncing on trampolines, displaying our hidden talents, soaking up incredible spoken-word poetry, ferociously scribbling notes, ideas and dreams on scraps of paper. Nope, that wasn’t enough — now you’ve got us thinking and dreaming and wanting and doing.

And we suppose that is the point. After all, TEDxHouston 2013, The Other Things, was inspired by John F. Kennedy’s now-famous speech at Rice University.

“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

The entire event was a meditation on the other things — little personal “moonshots” that ignite a fire within each and every one of us. The pursuit and fulfillment of an idea that we are unwilling to part with, that we are willing to see through to fruition, that we will make happen in any way possible. Whether we were listening to presenters discuss their aspirations for the future or reflecting on our own moonshots, it was an empowering, courageous experience.

Now we are researching humanely raised, sustainable food in our area, championing living grocery stores in urban food deserts, seeking out poetry in our day-to-day lives. What we were once complacent with is suddenly — unequivocally — not enough.

In what was perhaps the most visceral talk of the daylong event, comedian Taylor Gahm touched on something that truly shook us to the core.

“It’s so much easier to be peddlers of change rather than internalizing change for ourselves.”

That’s just it. It’s a lot easier to bark about and preach change than it is to effectuate it. Change isn’t something that can be willed into power simply by thinking about it, by blogging about it, by throwing it out into the universe and crossing your fingers that something will come of it.

Gahm went on to say, “If you want to change the world, you have to light yourself on fire first.”

And guess what? WE’RE BURNING UP. We’re gonna change this little world of ours, one improbable moonshot at a time.

TEDxHouston — To the Moon and Back

Regular

If you’re anything like us — and we have a feeling you are — the holiday season means one thing: GIVING.

Sure, we love everything about the holidays, but there’s nothing quite like donating gifts to those in need. That’s why we’d like to invite you to A Christmas Care-all: Past, Presents and Future — a community event bringing together friends, new and old, to celebrate the holidays and do something positive for the future of Houston. Oh, and it’ll be chock-full of the holiday stuff we love — spirits, snacks, entertainment and, of course, PRESENTS.

A Christmas Care-all
Past, Presents and Future

Spring Street Studios
1824 Spring Street, Studio 105
Houston, TX 77007

Your ticket into the event will be a gift for our partner, The Children’s Assessment Center. This Houston nonprofit provides professional, compassionate and coordinated care to the treatment of sexually abused children and their families. The children they serve could DEFINITELY benefit from these donations, so let’s band together and help ‘em, EVERY ONE.

And we’re not alone — we’ve got an entire crew of friends to help put this party on.

Creative Collaborators
20K Group
Always Creative
Culture Pilot
DesignBigger
Marketing Refresh
Platform Houston
Primer Grey
TopSpot Internet Marketing
Coterie Spark

Spirits
8th Wonder Brewery
Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co.
Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bar + Spirit Lounge
D+T Drive Inn
Deep Eddy Vodka
Down House
Karbach Brewing Co.
St. Arnold Brewing Company
The Interrobang Wine Merchants

Entertainment Curated By:
The Convoy Group

Fun + Goodies
Black Swan Screen Printing
Smilebooth
Sugar and Rice Magazine

So go ahead — get it on your calendars, y’all. It’s gonna be BIG and we’re gonna make a BIG DIFFERENCE.

A Christmas Care-all: Past, Presents and Future

How businesses can give during the holiday season