The inaugural TEDx Philly event, a celebration of innovative ideas happening right here and right now, took over the Kimmel Center in Center City on Thursday and it began with some surprisingly old-fashioned tactics and messages:

Popular gay activist and researcher Chris Bartlett opened by asking a packed house inside the Perelman Theater for a louder "good morning," in response to his opening greeting. He then asked the crowd to take a cue from the Amish and disconnect from their mobile devices. An important part of the idea of TEDx is community building, says Bartlett, who also encouraged attendees to meet five people during each of the day's frequent half-hour breaks.

TEDx began as a small nonprofit in 1984 devoted to ideas worth spreading and has snowballed in recent years, expanding into cities across the globe and spawning associated events with different focused areas. If Thursday was any indication, TEDx might become a fixture on the Philly conference circuit.

The Storytellers Take Over
Many people will tell you that TEDx is all about storytelling. The richer the story you can tell about your big ideas, the better. That's largely what drew Nic Esposito to the inaugural Philly version.

Esposito is a writer by trade, but in recent years has leaned on his pen and paper less and become more of a participant, thanks in part to his green thumb. He worked with a storm relief team after Hurricane Katrina and then worked on farms throughout the Americas before deciding he wanted to bring agriculture to West Philly.

He moved back to Philadelphia in 2008 and co-founded Philly Rooted, an organization that works to reclaim vacant city land for agricultural use. The group has already built two community gardens, a micro-farm and a growers cooperative that employs inner city youth.

Fittingly, storytelling still comes in handy, especially working with city officials.

"I go into meetings with dirty boots, sitting with people in suits, and they listen to me," he says.

Inspired in large part by the work ethic of his electrician father, Lou (who was in attendance on Thursday), Esposito also founded and operates Philly Corner Stories, which encourages storytelling about all the undersold assets within neighborhoods at salons and performances.

Esposito, whose third novel "Seeds of Dissent" is expected to be available in the spring, believes there is a palpable shift occuring in Greater Philadelphia in which gritty activism has enough traction (and support in City Hall) to put big ideas in motion.

"There's a huge movement in our city, and today is pretty amazing," he says.

Inspired Education Takes Centerstage
One of the most talked about speakers in the early going at TEDx was Chris Lehman, the founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. The only principal who could get away with proclaiming "High school sucks"--exactly how he opened his Thursday morning presentation--Lehman's fresh, technology-based look at teaching and learning earned the Academy designation as an Apple Distinguished School in 2009.

Brett Schaeffer, education advocate and communications coordinator for the Philly-based Education Law Center, a statewide advocacy organization promoting access to quality public schools, was definitely won over. Schaeffer, of South Philly, pondered why students all over the city can't have that kind of Lehman-inspired experience.

"Every high school should be like that," says Schaeffer. "And there are other examples, but often we miss celebrating where learning like that happens."

Eileen Bossone, a Spanish and French teacher right outside the city at Merion Mercy Academy in Merion Station, was instantly inspired by Lehman's words.

"I've already thought of three projects to engage my students," she says.

If you missed Lehman on Thursday and want to check him out, read his blog or attend EduCon 2.3 on Jan. 23 at the Science Leadership Academy.

An Encore for Dallas
Leave it to TEDx to show Greater Philadelphia something named "Dallas" the entire region can get behind. Dallas Vietty is like many musicians you may know: he's passionate, wildly talented and always up for a gig. Vietty is different in that his instrument of choice is the accordion, and to see someone under 50 playing one with mastery is still a bit of a rarity.

"I'm in love with the accordion," says Vietty, a presenter at the Perelman and a performer in between sessions.

But Vietty isn't one who is taking up the accordion as a cause. A classically trained pianist who studied composition and piano performance at California State University at Northridge, he became enamored with the accordion while learning Klezmer tunes during his teens. His Musette Project is a mashup of early 20th century French accordion waltz music and other genres familiar to the accordion, like Romany, Italian, folk, classical and swing.

"Accordion music is musette, and musette is accordion," says Vietty.

While many have opinions about why the accordion still suffers from an image problem, there is palpable growth among young people (from experienced multi-instrumentalists to first-time musicians) who are taking up the instrument. They are putting the accordion in places in which most people might not associate it. Vietty is among the most transformative of those young accordion champions, but is more concerned about playing and arranging good music than becoming something of a modern-day Myron Floren.

"It's really mysterious, but I'd rather spend my time working and playing than worrying about how it's perceived," says Vietty.

Ultimately, that's how most innovators operate, no? If you want to hear more from Vietty, he performed on the forthcoming bluegrass album from Bucks County's award-winning flatpicking guitarist Mark Cosgrove.

JOE PETRUCCI is managing editor of Flying Kite. Send feedback here.