You know those awesome, addictive TED talks that can easily absorb hours of your time if you’re not paying attention? As it turns out, Chicago puts on an annual, local TEDx conference, and a couple of weeks ago, I spent a Saturday among the brilliant people.

As expected, the day was inspiring and brain-tiring, and I left feeling sure that none of those people waste time watching The Bachelor or reading the Craiglist Missed Connections or playing a pointless “find the hidden object” game on their iPad (guilty, guilty, and guilty). But I basked in their magnificent glow for several hours, and these are the two talks that stuck with me most:

Glenn Kelman

Glenn is a software guy who became a “real world stuff” guy, and his talk focused on how that transformation changed him. His company, Redfin, was a real-estate-software company, and it reached a tipping point: it could continue as a solely software- and data-driven business, or it could get into the people business and hire real estate agents. Glenn opted for the latter.

As someone who had spent much of his professional life immersed in a screen and in code, getting into the messy business of human interaction posed a challenge for Glenn. In his talk, he explained how that challenge has made his work much more fulfilling, and he sees the intersection of the digital and the tangible as one that other companies should seek.

Of course, it was easy for me to agree, since I think working in online education is a phenomenal way to combine the affordances of technology with the excellent things teachers (the “real people”) already do. But, as always, it’s nice to have a confirmation from someone else having the same experience.

Victor Saad

Victor is the guy behind the Leapyear Project, which he created as he was contemplating further education. He was looking for a way to move from his job in social work to working in the charitable arms of businesses, and most people recommended he get an MBA. But the more he looked, the more he realized an MBA wouldn’t serve his need, so he took a leap, literally, and used last leap year to complete a self-designed MBA.

Since you’re reading this blog, it’s possible that Victor’s story took your brain to the same place it took mine: MOOCs, certificate-based learning, individualized coursework, etc. Victor was making the same argument that many behind the MOOC movement have made: traditional classroom learning might not fit for every student. Students could potentially get a rich education by taking a selection of courses from a variety of institutions, creating their own path to learning.

Victor contends that his success in inventing his “degree” could be experienced by others, and out of his leap year, he’s created the Experience Institute, where you can “create a valuable, credible education at a fraction of the cost.” As it’s local, it’s certainly something to keep an eye on.

The Magic Berry

All of this was plenty to make my brain happy, but TEDx also endeavored to make my tastebuds happy—or, at least, befuddled. Chef Homaro Cantu was on hand for our afternoon brain break, and he had us do an experiment with his miracle berry. This berry inhibits the sour/bitter receptors in your tastebuds, which means that once we’d put some on our tongues, we could put a lemon in our mouths and taste lemonade.

The upshot of this is that you can use this berry as a substitute for sugar, since you’re tricking your tongue into only tasting sweet, and save lots of calories. In his new cookbook, Chef Cantu offers a recipe for donuts that, because of its use of the magic berry, saves 400 calories.

And for future reference? The swag bag at TEDx beats all other conference swag bags.