Chel O'Reilly

Blogger, Brainstormer, Concerned citizen, Connector, Environmentalist, Gay, Idea generator, Job-seeker, Musician, Performer

pronounced with an "SH", spelled with a "ch" I love words and stories, so I went to college to study human ecology and architecture, but wound up in New York working in advertising. Also, I have a tendency to organize groups of people. On this not-so-linear path, there was an island in Maine (that was named for being a desert) and an actual desert, too, but it was very crowded. I now live in Kansas City where I edit, write, and help other people organize their thoughts into words. I have conflicting feelings about the Oxford comma.

living an asymptotic life

Nothing bad ever happens to an optimist.... Andrew Burdick told me that. I cling to that belief and it gives me energy.

Connecting people, Contagious ideas, curiousity, editing, enthusiasm, Organizing People, organizing words, Writing

If I don't know the answer, I'll find the person who does. To the table I bring... endless curiosity. Conveniently enough TED is a grand scale version of what I truly love to do, love perhaps more than anything: bringing people together so that they may experience each other in a little petri dish of mixed brain cells. Oh, and as that works out so beautifully, I have the job of bringing together some Very Awesome People for TEDxNY for years. And then @dcinc66 suckered me into working on TEDxNYEd2010. Then came TEDxCrossroads too. I'm very tired. But happy.

college. seriously, it's, like, a best-kept secret.