About TEDx Berkshires
TEDx Berkshires is a local, independently organized event that seeks to bring the exciting TED-like experience to the Berkshires by presenting top thinkers who are also amazing speakers. Our goal is to bring powerful ideas to an audience that is every bit as interesting as the speakers. TEDx Berkshires was established and organized by Ethan and Jamie Berg and the first event was held in 2010.
Beginning in 2023, the Berkshire Innovation Center will become the organizer for TEDx Berkshires.
About TEDx
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx (ted.com/tedx) is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxBerkshires, where x=an independently organized TED event. At our TEDx Berkshires event, TEDTalks ive speakers will combine to spark deep discussions and connections. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.
About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California over 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with a simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Oxford, UK. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide.
TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to organize local, independent TED-like events around the world; and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.
Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at facebook.com/TED
TEDx Berkshires Team
Ethan Berg, Director Emeritus
Ethan is the Founder and original Organizer and Curator of TEDx Berkshires. He founded The Lenox Athenaeum which is where the first TEDxBerkshires was held in Winter 2010. Ethan's background is in management consulting and investing. He is a past contributor to MOI Global's Manual of Ideas, the value investing journal and enjoys long distance cycling whenever possible with his wife and two boys.
B. Stephen Boyd, Co-Organizer, Executive Producer, Curator
Stephen is the CEO of Boyd Biomedical and the Co-founder and Board Chair of the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC). He is frequent speaker on innovation and entrepreneurship and an advisor to start-ups, commercial businesses, and municipalities seeking to create economic vibrancy and sustainable, diverse growth. As a Commissioned Advisor to the Commonwealth of MA for Governors Deval Patrick and Charlie Baker he recently served on the State’s Economic Development Planning Council and the Department of Higher Education’s Steering Committee for Racial Equity. He is a mentor, volunteer youth sports coach and enjoys anything outdoors with his wife and kids.
Giovanna Fessenden, Co-Organizer, Executive Producer, Curator
Giovanna is a patent attorney with a background in software. Giovanna’s IP legal practice is with Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds of Boston, MA. She specializes in protecting software innovations and has particular expertise in blockchain, NFT’s, e-sports, gaming, and wearable technologies. Giovanna has been assisting Ethan Berg with TEDxBerkshires for nearly 10 years. She is also a former TEDxBerkshires speaker on the Blockchain Revolution.
Ben Sosne, Executive Producer, Sponsorships and Budget Manager
Ben is the Executive Director of the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC). A Berkshire County native, he previously served as Principal Court Attorney for New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division in Brooklyn . He holds a law degree from Pace University Law School, and is a member of the Massachusetts and New York bars. He resides in Williamstown with his wife Amy and their 3 children.
Kate Light, Event Manager
Kate is the Assistant Director of the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC). She is an integral part of what keeps the BIC running smoothly, and is responsible for all youth programming which includes their flagship B[E]TA program. Before joining the BIC, Kate spent nearly a decade as a Program Engineer for General Dynamics Mission Systems in Pittsfield, MA. Kate enjoys hiking, reading, and laughing with friends and family. She lives in Pittsfield with her husband and 2 children.
PJ Moynihan, Producer, Marketing and Communications
PJ is the Executive Producer of BIC Studios at the Berkshire Innovation Center. In 2002 he founded Digital Eyes Film, a full-services production company specializing in social impact media, documentary features, and media consulting. Over nearly 20 years, Moynihan and his team at Digital Eyes have developed a global footprint through a non-traditional, grassroots approach to social action filmmaking and distribution. He is currently in production with a social action documentary which explores a public health approach to the overdose epidemic in the US.
Allison Mikaniewicz, Marketing and Communications Lead, Website Manager
Allison is the Marketing Coordinator at the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC). Prior to joining the BIC in 2020, she spent more than 20 years managing the trade show program for B2B scientific publishing company. In addition, Allison is a Girl Scout leader and the Town Clerk where she lives in Washington, MA with her husband and 2 children. She loves to bake, read, crochet, and camp. Her favorite place in the world is Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine.
Judy White, Marketing and Communications
Judy is the Director of Marketing for Hamilton, Brook, Smith & Reynolds where she is responsible for managing the firm’s strategic marketing plan, including communications, branding, events, public relations and business development efforts for the entire firm and individual attorneys. Judy is seasoned marketing and public relations professional with a keen sense for implementing programs, driven by bottom-line results and backed by a strong entrepreneurial spirit.
Tim Butterworth, Event Planning
Tim is the Operations Manager at the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC). He has a background in Biomedical Engineering and diverse experience in digital fabrication and a 3D printing enthusiast. In addition to facilities maintenance at the BIC, he works with member companies to identirfy oppotunities for implementing advanced manufacturing technologies, and with local educators and community organizations to provide training in additive manufacturing and the rapid iteration design process. Tim is a proponent of collaboration and cross-sector connections: he strives to take lessons learned in one industry and help apply them to companies in another. He lives in Great Barrington with his girlfriend and their cat, Lego.