Arthur Zards

Artist, Brainstormer, Business leader, Change Agent, Connector, Entrepreneur, Explorer, Idea generator, Marketer, Technologist

Bios. An almost impossible task to share your accomplishments without sounding like a pompous jerk. Here goes the impossible, take it away third person narrator. Arthur is a divergent creative who loves to guide experts to move mountains. He is a big picture idea guy who loves to create. He lives in the world of "it's never been done before.", tends to stay under the radar a little, and has some significant accomplishments. Arthur is an original Internet entrepreneur founding an Internet company before the web browser even existed. He wasn’t learning about digital marketing, branding, innovation, development; he was creating it. He is a self-described TED fanatic and is the founder and curator for TEDxNaperville. Arthur founded Lab Z, an agency that focuses on a new approach to help experts take their ideas to actualization. Ask him about his Idea to Actualization process for Transformation. It has been used to guide experts ideas to over 32 + million youtube views and created authentic engagements within organization culture, brands, events, and customers. He also created a framework for Human experience design that has been shared with top organizations and lectured at Kellogg School of Management. He is extremely excited (some would say too much) in this new area of emotion and meaning in the experiential economy, and welcomes anyone to have a conversation with him about this topic. In his spare time he carves Tiki Moai, jumps off cliffs in his paraglider and grills a mean Argentina style Picanha on his home made steel 850 lb wood fired grill he calls the Lapalapa Goucho. His mantra is to “create an idea, get people excited, do it, repeat.”

Helping people discover a new idea, getting people excited about it, making something of it. Repeat.

Designing a simple Human Experience: Authentic Appreciation Bringing back the power of the "Thank You". A small thing that's easy to do, and can make an immediate change. People for years have abused the “thank you” down to a phrase that almost an annoying requirement, a chore, a phrase that has no meaning but must be said begrudgingly. Well, it’s time to take the thank-you back. And when you do, you will witness immediate transformation. Here are the rules: Simply say the words, “Thank You” You MUST say it with COMPLETE SINCERITY. You MUST say WHY. (and it helps to explain why in some level of detail) That’s it. Nothing else. It’s that easy. Try this immediately with anyone, from your boss, to the receptionist, to the mailman. And pay attention to the person’s physical and mental reaction when you do this, you will really be amazed.

Change Leadership, Creating (Companies, Products, Initiatives), Creative 'Big Ideas' Generator, Customer-led innovation, Event Production, Experience Architect, Experiential Design, Leaderhship, speaking, Travel and Adventure

I have been a big TED follower for years, , In 2009 decided to run a TEDx event, not knowing what to expect. Whoa! So far my TEDx journey has been nothing short of amazing. A bunch of TEDx events later my TEDx experience has led me to meet the most fascinating and unique people, all with incredible stories to share. So thank you TED for giving these people a venue to share their stories with everyone on TED and TEDx.

Making things. (kind of) I made my own outdoor wooden dinning table, with removable boards for storing ice and drinks in the middle, and recently designed and built my own 850lb steel outdoor wood fired grill, because I couldn't find the one I wanted.