We’re sure you’re no stranger to the TED talks. The Technology, Entertainment, and Design conference has been going strong since 1984, and has given us such gems as Al Gore’s climate change talk, Simon Senek’s “Start with Why,” and xxx. Their mission is to spread ideas, and through their TEDx program, now have a global community taking part in over 100 language. One of these local, self-organized events happens in Grand Rapids, and Bill’s a big part of why.

As lead organizer, Bill brought in heavy hitters like Richard Saul-Wurman, the inventor of the field of information architecture and original TED founder, as well as Maggie Anderson, founder of the Empowerment Experiment, where she spent an entire year only patronizing black businesses and shining a light on economic inequality to this last year’s TEDx Grand Rapids.