The first day for the fall 2016 ARC-250 Survey of Architecture class at Forsyth Tech was Friday August 19, 2016. This was also my first day in the job as an adjunct instructor at Forsyth Tech. I am really excited to have the opportunity to continue to be a part of the FTCC Architecture program; a program that I graduated from in 2015. The first assignment I gave my students is to build a personal website and tell the class a little about themselves. I want to have something to show as an example for them, so here’s a little something about me.

 

My first attempt at college was at FTCC in 1990 when I enrolled in the Automotive Body Repair program. I don’t remember much about that time. I assume all of my raging hormones caused my brain to avoid the chore of storing those memories away for me to access later. My brain had better things to concentrate on in those days; hot and fast cars, motorcycles, and women. That’s not to say that I had access to anything more than magazines on these subjects, but I did spend a lot of mental energy concentrating on them. I was a “C” student then; and I was clueless about so many things. I had a rough spring in 1991, and after repeatedly getting strep throat, my doctor suggested that I quit either school or work. I quit school. I waivered back and forth on the wisdom of that decision for years, but now I’m sure I made the right choice.

 

During my career in the electronic security industry it began to dawn on me that I needed more education, although I had no clue as to what, or how I would make that happen. I started signing up for skills classes at GTCC and FTCC to learn Excel and AutoCAD, management skills and other things I felt I needed to know about. Next came enrolling in the Fire Protection program at FTCC and taking one or two classes per semester as I continued in my career. In 2009 the career had a major course correction when I defied my employer by using all of my 5 weeks of vacation to take a very intensive 5 week Basic EMT class. I earned EMT certification, but I lost my job in the process. It took me a few years to bounce back from that, but in 2012 my view of what I needed to do when I grow up finally began to come into focus.

 

I had an opportunity to work alongside DeEtta Famiano, a designer and recent graduate of the FTCC Architecture Program. We received a commission to build a scale model of the arch that you will soon see erected on Highway 52 near WSSU.

DeEtta and I were competing for the contract for the model, but lucky for me we decided to collaborate. I watched as DeEtta and her crew of designers, most of them her former classmates at FTCC, used AutoCad and Revit to generate computer models that could send commands to a laser cutter to create all of the intricate pieces that I would have had to create by hand. I immediately realized the value of the knowledge I could learn in the architecture program. I signed up for the next semester as quickly as possible.

 

Spring of 2013 was my first semester in the Architecture program at FTCC, and I have loved every minute of my time there. I am continuing my college career at Salem College where I am pursuing a BA degree in Design with a focus in Architecture. If you are one of my students and have read this far, I hope you will see that I am aware of the struggles you will face in your college career. It’s not always easy, but if you have chosen the right path for you it is totally worth the struggle. If you have not chosen correctly this time I hope you will continue to look for the path that you will be passionate about.

I suppose it’s the artist and designer in me that looks for the flaws. What could we have done better? Does that look like what we envisioned? Our team of students from Salem College and Forsyth Tech Architecture built a great stage set for TEDxWakeForestU 2016, but I found myself still critiquing our work during the show.

I have to admit, during the show I did see things that could have been better, but I didn’t let that get in the way of the pride I felt in being part of such a great team. As I spoke to people during the intermissions of the day I discovered that our original design intentions were translated effectively through the implementation of the design. Some people asked me how we got those images to float on stage, and commented on the depth of the imagery. I know the kind of people that show up at a TEDx conference are typically friendly and courteous, but I also believe that all of the positive comments were genuine.

For me the best part of the opportunity to put together a team of talented design students for this project is experiencing the creative process. By the time we have the set built I have lost interest and am looking for the next project. I love being a part of a design team, and witnessing the magic that happens when we work together and ideate together; to create something that would not exist without the collaborative thought process.

I want to take a moment to say thank you to all my fellow TEDx designers.

Molly Blanchard – Your artistic talent shows through in your work. You have a great eye for color and design, and a steady hand. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be a part of this team.

Amy Norman – You are a natural leader and someone I know I can count on in a pinch. Thank you for taking over creating the fabric panels and selecting all of the images for the set.

Denton Hinshaw – Your can-do attitude when we were building the set made it so much easier for all of us. Thank you for all your efforts in sourcing materials, and being a major contributor to the project.

Kameron Dozier – You and I disagreed at one point during the day when we were putting the set together. I appreciate the way you stood your ground and made a valid argument for your point of view (you know what I’m talking about). You were right, and the set turned out great using what we had to work with. Thank you for your patience and persistence in printing all those images.

Jake Denton – You put in a lot of hours, and a lot of heart. I know I can count on you to come through when we need someone to step up. Thank you for using your construction expertise to help make the set come together so easy.

To all my teammates – I hope you had fun on this project. I enjoyed developing the concept with all of you, and I like the fact that we all had a role in developing the final concept. It’s difficult for me to remember all of the events during the process, but it’s easy for me to remember how great it is to work with all of you. I hope you had fun, learned something, and will take what you learned from this experience and do more even greater things in the future. I don’t know how many of you heard Andy Chan, Vice President for Personal and Career Development for WFU, mention Wake Forest “breaking the bubble” that surrounds their campus, but he made it a point to refer to the newspaper article about our team when he spoke of breaking that bubble. Your efforts to be a part of this event go much farther than you may realize.

Each year there is a new TEDx executive committee, and typically the leaders were a part of last year’s team. I hope that the next TEDxWakeForestU team sees the value in partnering with other schools to put on a great show and put up a great set. Maybe one of you will lead next year’s design team.

Several schools collaborating on TEDx event at Wake Forest University was the headline in today’s Winston-Salem Journal. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the article. I was expecting a tiny paragraph in the Local Happenings or possibly the Milestones portion of the paper. It feels really good to have a platform like the W-SJ to voice my opinion.

That opinion being that this TEDxWFU is a community collaboration, and that it takes work to build Social Capital. I learned about Social Capital from the relationships I developed as a part of StoryLine. It turns out Social Capital is a concept that is not embraced by everyone. But I feel like it is a concept that is embraced by people when they realize how fragile their life is and they need connection. I learned that of all the work we did at StoryLine in an attempt to build Social Capital, the ones realizing the most rewards were those of us doing the work of StoryLine. I hope to inspire others to care about building Social Capital, and to not wait until they are down to care, or expect someone else to solve their problems. I feel like the article states those messages in a way that people can connect with.

I am very proud of the work our design team has done so far. We have all of the parts and pieces built and ready to go to the set build next Friday. So far everything appears to be looking the way we intended. It’s time to start getting excited. When the lighting crew at WFU throws the lights on the set, the truth will be told. Fingers crossed.

 

 TEDxWakeForestU 2016 will be an opportunity for our community see the results of college students with different skill sets trusting each other to do their part to create something powerful and beautiful. I am leading a team of design students from Salem College and Forsyth Tech to build the set for the event. 

 

Wake Forest University, Salem College, and Forsyth Tech students collaborate to bring TEDx to Winston-Salem.

 

TEDxWakeForest U 2016, Wake Forest University’s fifth annual TEDx conference, is set to take place on campus in Wait Chapel on Saturday, February 20, 2016. The TEDxWakeForestU conference started in 2012 by student activist and campus leader, Lucy Lan, in order to promote technology entrepreneurship on the Wake Forest campus. The event is planned and executed each year by a team of independent WFU students that coordinate speakers from various fields, disciplines, and parts of the globe.

This year’s theme is Haven: Fearlessness Reimagined will deal with security in the broadest sense. The conference’s eight impressive speakers will present on topics ranging from food security, to the eradication of human trafficking in America and abroad, to the future of IT and network security. This year’s talks will paint a picture of a secure and comfortable future in a world that is becoming more and more unpredictable every day.

The set design for this year’s TEDxWakeForestU event will be designed and built by a team of students from the Salem College design program and the Forsyth Tech Architecture program. The team was developed by Alan Shelton. Shelton is a graduate of the Forsyth Tech Architecture program and is currently studying as a design student at Salem College. Shelton has been a consultant on past TEDxWakeForestU set designs, and lent his talents to the TEDx Greensboro stage as well.

Shelton says, “The 2016 event has a theme and topics that cover a large swath of issues having great impacts on our world. Designing a set that compliments the theme of the event and is well thought out and well executed is perfectly aligned with the work students do in the design programs at Salem and Forsyth Tech.”

Set Design/Build Team:

Alan Shelton – Recent graduate of FTCC Architecture Technology Program, and Junior at Salem College, majoring in design with a concentration in Architecture, minoring in Entrepreneurship. Alan is CoFounder and President of the non-profit corporation Winston-Salem MIXXER, that is opening a community workshop studio in 2016. Alan has lead design/build teams for numerous TED^x events.

Molly Blanchard – Molly is a Junior at Salem College with a Studio Art Major and double minor in Art History and Graphic Design. She has been a stage manager at Salem since her freshman year. Molly has experience in stage set building.

Amy Smith –  Amy has a diverse portfolio including attending UNCSA, NCSU Archaeological Field School in Palau, and she is currently working to complete the AAS Program in Architecture Technology at Forsyth Tech, as well as a BSBA in Entrepreneurship from Western Carolina University. Amy and her husband hope to develop a plan to repurpose abandoned infrastructure to accommodate efficient indoor horticulture and aquaponics in “food-desert” conditions.

Kameron Dozier – Kameron will graduate from the Architecture Technology program at Forsyth Tech in summer of 2016. Kameron uses his artistic and math skills to design interesting architectural elements. He intends to use his skills to own a home restoration business.

Denton Hinshaw – Denton, a Forsyth Tech Architecture Technology student, has been designing and building since childhood, when he designed and built miniature landscapes. Denton has standing offers for work as a draftsman in the construction industry, and plans to own his own construction company in the future.

Jake Denton – Jake is in his first semester in the Architecture Technology program at Forsyth Tech. Jake has worked as a carpenter for Habitat of Humanity of Forsyth County after completing the Carpentry program at Forsyth Tech in 2013. Jake is a community focused builder, and hopes to travel abroad using his skills to help others.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

 

About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) delivered by today’s leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED’s annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and made available, free, on TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

TED’s open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from thousands of volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; the annual million-dollar TED Prize, which funds exceptional individuals with a “wish,” or idea, to create change in the world; TEDx, which provides licenses to thousands of individuals and groups who host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED or Instagram at https://instagram.com/ted.

We had a great turnout for the MIXXER mixer on Sunday. Nearly 100 people total stopped by to share ideas about what MIXXER should be. We heard so many great ideas, and the excitement in people’s voices was undeniable. We are off to a great start. We are currently processing the data we collected to determine the area with the most interest so we can cultivate those channels, and continue to seek input to further develop a comprehensive program for MIXXER.

What we have learned so far:

• Top 3 categories of interest from survey – Woodworking, Metal Working, Glass based & Textile based (tie).
• Over 50% of those surveyed want to utilize services and space at MIXXER.
• Over 25% of those surveyed want to volunteer at MIXXER.
• 20% of those surveyed want to be a mentor at MIXXER.

 

We will continue to collect input from the community, but we now have a place to start developing programming, and we have identified people that are interested in doing the work to push this project to the next level. I’ll keep you posted on developments. It’s going to be exciting – Stay tuned.

July 23, 2014

 

Today I toured some interesting facilities in Raleigh and Durham. Liberty Arts, The Scrap Exchange, SplatSpace, SuperGraphic, and Raleigh Makerspace. All of these places subscribe to the mantra that together we can accomplish more. These places all utilize the leverage of shared resources to empower people to follow their heart and create things. Liberty Arts is chock full of beautiful metal sculptures and extremely talented people creating them. Next-door The Scrap Exchange is providing a channel for unused materials to be inventoried so that they can be used rather than fill up our landfills, as well as providing educational and outreach opportunities to their community. SplatSpace, SuperGraphic, and Raleigh Makerspace provide high-tech and specialized equipment that would be out of reach for the average person to empower them to exercise their talent for creating.

 

The one thing that I felt at all of these places is the importance of community building. In questioning the people that manage these places I found consistently that they have found that building strong relationships is the key to their success. All of these operations have their challenges, but it seems that teamwork can overcome many obstacles.

 

This sense of community building is what I am counting on as the driving force behind MIXXER. If you are new here, MIXXER is a makerspace project that will be opening in Winston-Salem in the future. Currently MIXXER is a large number of people having conversations and making plans to open a space where people can share resources to build the things that are important to them. This Sunday – July 27, 2014 these people of Winston-Salem will come together to let their voices be heard to direct us to the type of facilities that the community will support.

 

There will be entrepreneurs that build electric cars and their components, talented architectural lighting designers, artists and craftsmen, and many other talented people that believe in the power of sharing resources and relying on community to help them use their talents to build a better more fulfilled life for themselves. If any of this sounds interesting to you – contact me:  alan@wsmixxer.org or come to our party at The Olio 918 Bridge St. Winston-Salem, NC on July 27, 2014 from 4 to 7pm. I hope to hear from you soon.