About Us - TEDxPleasanton - Sept 16th, 2023

About

About TEDx Pleasanton

Uniting Communities through Ideas: Local Gems Worth Spreading

TEDxPleasanton is a non-profit event created to enable Pleasanton’s unique community of thinkers, visionaries and pioneers to spark and spread powerful and inspiring ideas through local, independently organized TED-level events.

What to expect at TEDxPleasanton

Great things happen when people empower each other through the process of idea-sharing. Here’s what you can look forward to experiencing at a TEDxPleasanton event.

Atmosphere of Creativity

Culture of Inclusion

Growth-minded Community

Local Yet Global Approach

Curiosity and open mindedness were the unifiers at the first TED conference and they are TEDx Pleasanton’s 2023 guideposts. TEDx events are locally organized self-driven gatherings that bring people together to share ideas and bridge divides in communities everywhere. We are the x factor – the multipliers. In a world that is often polarized and divisive, we come together to foster fresh perspectives.

In Pleasanton, we are particularly well situated at the exciting juncture of innovations in technology, entrepreneurship, healthcare, performing and visual arts, education, food, wine, and sustainability all spurred by the area’s forward-thinking mindset. TEDx Pleasanton, an in-person event, seeks to capitalize on our rich and diverse community. We envision connection, insights, personal journeys, and passion. In line with TED’s overarching goal, we strive to “help create a future worth pursuing for all.” We invite you to join us in this mission.

TED & TEDx

CreaTED to spread ideas worldwide.

TED is about sharing ideas – thought provoking ideas. TED began with one person’s vision of the possibilities afforded by the convergence of ideas among three fields: technology, entertainment, and design. Since its inception in the 1980s, TED has grown into a global phenomenon with annual conferences starting in Monterey in 1990. The first TED talks were posted online in 2006 and they still resonate today. TED is owned by a nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation. Money raised is invested back into TED work worldwide.

HosTEDx to spread ideas locally.

TEDx is a localized version of the global TED events, which enables thinkers and visionaries to spread ideas through self-organized events within individual cities.

Our Team

The people powering TEDxPleasanton

Bharat Kanodia

Joan Varrone

Karl Pontau

Mark Duncanson

Alay Yajnik

Mary Kay Lyon

Gaurav (Rav) Mendiratta

Bharat Kanodia has valued over 4000 companies and global assets worth $2.6 trillion. He has appraised unique assets including the Golden Gate Bridge, Atlanta Airport, Uber, Airbnb, the Brooklyn Bridge, Las Vegas casinos, the 'I Love New York' campaign, US national forests, and gold mines, among many others. Bharat lives in the San Francisco Bay area with his family and enjoys sailing, golfing, skiing, and horseback riding.

Joan Varrone is an experienced strategic and operationally focused fractional CFO and her consulting work has ranged from setting up and running the entire administrative function, business planning, strategy, raising both equity and funds and acting as Part Time and Interim CFO. She is a proven CFO with over 20 years of experience in multiple business sectors including roles as a full time CFO as well as senior finance roles at large multinationals.

Karl Pontau is the owner of Squash and Stretch Productions and works with purpose-driven entrepreneurs to 2x their business’s revenue using his signature coaching programs that blend storytelling with Behavioral Science. He beat two brain tumors when he was 15, thanks to the help of his friends, family, community, and medical team. It’s why he’s so driven to build strong, empathetic connections that helps overcome big challenges and achieve greatness.

Mark is the Recreation Supervisor in the City of Pleasanton’s Civic Arts Division and oversees the general operation of two theaters and curates the Firehouse Arts Center’s performing arts presenting series. He is a career arts administrator and youth program developer whose work has garnered a Creating Community Award of Excellence from the California Parks and Recreation Society and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Award from Make a Difference Pleasanton. In addition to being a public speaker, and a speaker for TEDxAmadorValleyHighSchool, Mark is a professional improvisational actor who has recently joined the permanent ensemble of Improv Playhouse of San Francisco.

Alay Yajnik is a law firm growth expert and founder of Law Firm Success Group. He has run a $100 million business and built a $5 million business from the ground up. Alay’s team helps busy lawyers across the country make more money, work fewer hours, and spend more time doing the things they love by running their law firm as a business. Alay is the author of Staffing Up: The Attorney's Guide to Hiring Top Talent, the first book on hiring for lawyers. He is the co-founder of LinkedIn for Lawyers and the host of the Lawyer Business Advantage podcast. Alay attended Foothill High School in Pleasanton and is a graduate of the Leadership Pleasanton program.

Mary Kay Lyon, ASA is an experienced personal property appraiser who works with all types of fine art and antiques from Picasso paintings to peculiar pottery. After studying art history, she landed on appraising as it combines the skills and interests she enjoys: connoisseurship, research into history and provenance, market knowledge and writing. Her work with private collectors who make important gifts to public museums in exchange for a tax deduction based on the appraised fair market value is particularly rewarding. She also enjoys advising clients on how to conserve and protect their treasures.

Rav is the CEO of SocioSquares - a Digital Marketing Agency & Martech company that helps brands in US and India with online marketing, lead generation, and custom software development. He is a results-oriented professional with 15+ years of experience in Product Development and Technology Management. He has spent the last 11 years in building a high performing Growth Marketing team that has been delivering great results for over 100 clients in India and the USA with highly complex products and services across Online Advertising, Content marketing, Biometric Marketing and Employee Advocacy on Social Media.