It’s a calm, crisp Saturday morning. It’s early fall and leaves are starting to transition from the deep greens of summer to the bad orange spray tans of the fall.

Normally, Saturdays are quiet and empty of any major productivity. Today is different though.

You are on your way to hear the wisdom and experiences of many notable speakers. Usually, these are people you would only hear from YouTube or Vimeo replay with millions of views, but today you will only be 10 feet from them at an organized TEDx event.

You might expect this from a large city like Los Angeles or Nashville, but not as much from a small rivertown on the edge of the Yellowhammer state.

This is TEDx Wilson Park, an annual event host to scores of notable figures whose likes have included successful business owners, famed musicians and songwriters, and ordinary people with extraordinary ideas to share.

Innovation and ideas often run hand in hand. No place could be a better example than that of the Shoals area.

Located in the northwest corner of the state of Alabama, the quad-cities region (Florence, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield and Tuscumbia) is home to all of these things. It plays host to a uniquely diverse community of artists, musicians and good food.

Tedx Wilson park has been bringing bright minds together in the shoals since its inaugural event back in fall of 2018.

Wes Wages, a local business owner helped co-lead and set up Tedx Wilson Park, and cites it’s positive impact on the shoals area as a whole.

“Yeah, I think Tedx Wilson Park has benefited our area a lot…It shines a light on ideas and technology, and that’s one thing our area may not have often,” said Wages. “I think it does a good job of portraying a new light of our community.”

Wages is the owner of a successful production company based in Florence. Armosa Studios is a national video marketing company whose clients include well-known brands such as Winnebego, Listerhill and best-selling author Michael Hyatt.

Wages used his experience with media to try to officiate a Tedx event in the shoals multiple times. He was finally successful with the help of local individual Kristen Mashburn, who had also weathered many attempts herself.

“She actually came to me a few years ago and said hey we wanted to start up a Tedx locally,” said Wages. “And I said ‘hey that’s awesome’ I tried to do that but I was unsuccessful so maybe we should do it as a team.”

With Mashburn’s help, Wages was able to go through the process of getting the required license to start up a Tedx event.

“She spearheaded it…and we got our license, which is not as easy as we think it is,” Wages said.

In the past, the event has played host to many popular speakers both local and from across the country in front of a live audience. However, the Coronavirus pandemic forced a more drastic change of plans for this year’s event.

This year’s event was broadcast online to the TEDx website, where tickets were able to be purchased for access. Speakers ranged from local business and community leaders to CEOs of large companies and non-profit organizations.

“This year was tough because we had to do it virtually,” said Wages. “But you know we did it and I think it went very well. I mean we had people fly in from all over the country, and I think our event is very well respected as far as quality for the size of this event…”

Wages was also very optimistic about future plans around the annual TEDx event.

“The future of TEDx Wilson Park…Our speakers are getting better, and we’re learning how to coach them. And I think every year it’s just gotten a lot better as far as quality of content. So yeah looking for many more years to come.”