Brian Faherty, founder of Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co., has been struggling with technology, feeling "inauthentic as I became more a part of the digital ecosystem."

So when TEDx Portland organizers approached the Portland builder about speaking at the 2013 event, he knew he wanted to take the opportunity to talk about the dangers of isolating oneself with technology and the beauty of finding a balance.

TEDx Portland live stream

To watch the TEDx Portland talks live online, go to

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Speakers and performers are divided into four sessions:

One, 9 to 10:30 a.m.:

Masataka Odaka, Asia Greene, Kate Bingaman-Burt, Jonathan Krisel, Ben Huh, Mike Thelin.

Two, 10:50 a.m. to noon:

Brian Faherty, Di-Ann Eisnor, Brian Grant, Dr. Laurie Marker.

Three, 1:30 to 3 p.m.:

Kimberly Howard, Naomi Pomeroy, The Royal Blues.

Four, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.:

Guido Rahr, Tom Brokaw, Denver.

"I want to do more deep things," Faherty said Friday before a practice run of the talk he'll give to a live and online audience today. "People are so busy editing their lives and recording their lives they stop living their lives. I want to read a book to my daughter and play catch with my son."

The topic fits soundly with the point of TED -- acronym for technology, entertainment, design -- which started in 1984 to give figures in technology, entertainment and design a forum to philosophize about their expertise.

Today's TEDx Portland event is, as the "x" indicates, an independently produced TED event organized by more than 40 Portland volunteers over the course of a year. The lineup of 12 speakers and four performers are mostly local, with Portland innovators, experts and artists. Acclaimed journalist Tom Brokaw will be giving the final talk of the day.

For its third year, Portland's TED had more tickets available than ever, but all 640 sold out in two hours. Sponsors and volunteers get the other approximately 300 seats available in the Portland Art Museum. However, the talks will stream live today on TEDxPortland.com; previous years, live streams had more than 20,000 views.

Speakers will stand above a stage wrap, designed by Portland graphic artist Jake Hollomon, featuring iconic Portland imagery -- the historic White Stag sign, a bottle of microbrew, the Voodoo Doughnut doll.

A team of about 15 TEDx Portland volunteers work with speakers over months, and sometimes right up to the last minute, to hone their talks. For someone like Brokaw, they really just take notes on what he'll address, organizers say.

Kate Bingaman-Burt, an illustrator, author and educator, put the final touches on her talk early Friday morning. Maybe ironically, it focuses on rule-based structure to help achieve creativity, whether an artist is trying to finish a project or someone hasn't touched their camera in ages.

"I just hope I won't go viral because I puked on stage," she said Friday before her practice run.

Portland graphic artist Jake Hollomon created this design of iconic Portland images as a stage wrap for the TEDx Portland talks. He also had it laser printed on a slab of maple for the TEDx Portland charity art show to benefit Children's Healing Art Project.

Mike Thelin, co-founder of the Feast Portland food and drink festival, says the concept of TED talks is inherently Portland, which makes the local event one of the best in the country. Appropriately, he plans to wear Converse sneakers during his talk.

Thelin will talk about why food is important -- a question the culinary vanguard says isn't asked enough, though food is ingrained in every aspect of living, from sustenance to economy to tradition and history.

At first he thought he'd do a non-food topic. "But I went back to food," he says. "I always get back to food."

-- Sara Hottman