June 13, 2016 6:00:00 AM EDT  |  Events  |  Leadership and Leadership Development  |  News

Markon Attends TEDxTysons

TEDxTysonsIn early June, Ray Carney and Joel Timmins attended TEDxTysons. TEDx was created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading.”

The program is designed to give communities, organizations, and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level.

TEDxTysons’ mission is to become a platform for sharing ideas and creating meaningful connections and conversations among thought leaders in our community.

TEDxTEDxTysons is named after the Tysons area in northern Virginia. Tysons is being transformed into a walkable, sustainable, urban center that will be home to up to 100,000 residents and 200,000 jobs. Tysons is envisioned to become a 24-hour urban center where people live, work, and play; where people are engaged with their surroundings; and, where people want to be.

The event was hosted by Sarah Fraser and speakers included:

  • John Bailey, Second Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia
  • Aaron Black, Director of Informatics, Inova Translational Medicine Institute
  • Andrew Chapman, Publishing Entrepreneur and Author, Social Motion Publishing
  • Michael Edson, Associate Director/Head of Digital at UN Live
  • Alfred Grasso, President and Chief Executive Officer, MITRE
  • Jason Green, Co-Founder, SkillSmart
  • Dr. Cal Newport, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University and Author
  • Christopher Painter, Coordinator for Cyber Issues, U.S. Department of State
  • Diana Sierra, Co-Founder and CEO of Be Girl

Ray and Joel both really enjoyed the talk by Dr. Cal Newport about disconnecting from social media in order to focus. Markon shares TED’s mission of “ideas worth spreading” and continues to seek and share great ideas with our team, customers, and anyone we connect.

About the Author

Ray Carney

Ray Carney

Ray Carney, WELL AP is a Vice President at Markon Solutions and a champion for wellness in the workplace. Ray’s areas of expertise include workplace strategy and modification, design thinking, leadership, sustainable design, data centers, and creating secure environments. His experience includes providing cradle-to-grave project management support for the successful design and build of secure facilities. He also spearheaded the tenant fit-out of Markon's headquarters expansion to ensure that it achieved WELL certification. This was the first WELL certified project in the Commonwealth and was recognized by the City of Falls Church for its achievement. Since joining Markon in 2007, Ray has managed numerous internal program strategies, capture efforts, and client engagements. He also co-developed Markon's in-house Leadership Development Program. Prior to joining Markon, Ray consulted for prestigious consulting firms in the DC metropolitan area and Ohio. Ray's passion for wellness in the workplace has led him to speak at numerous engagements around the country including the National Facilities Management and Technology (NFMT) Conference and Expo. He also published an article on WELL Building Standards in FaciltiesNet. Ray was named one of Engineering News-Record Midatlantic's 2016 Top 20 Under 40 for contributions to the industry. He received his MBA with a concentration in Leadership and Finance from the University of Notre Dame and a bachelor’s degree in Management with a concentration in Business Technology from John Carroll University. Ray is a WELL Accredited Professional, LEED Green Associate, Six-Sigma certified Yellow Belt, certified SCRUMMaster, Sun Certified Java Programmer, and holds the Project Management Professional (PMP)® credential as well as both ITIL v3 Foundations and Quality Management certifications.