TEDx In the spirit of “ideas worth spreading,” TED has created TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxMileHigh, where x = independently organized TED event. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group.  The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including Mile High TEDx, are self-organized.

Started as a four-day conference in California 26 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. At TED, the world’s leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Benoit Mandelbrot, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Two major TED events are held each year: The TED Conference takes place every spring in Long Beach, California (along with a parallel conference, TEDActive, in Palm Springs), and TEDGlobal is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Here is the Tedx Mile High Homepage where you can learn more and purchase tickets: http://www.tedxmilehigh.com/

Follow TEDx Mile High on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/TEDxMileHigh or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TEDxMileHigh

Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at facebook.com/TED.

TEDx Mile High bring you some Denver’s best & brightest speakers along with some incredible national speakers.

Here are a few of the local heroes you can look forward to:

• Bernard Amadei (Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder and Founding President of Engineers Without Borders – USA and co-founder of Engineers Without Borders-International) http://ceae.colorado.edu/mc-edc/?ii=People%20:%20Bernard%20Amadei
• Alex Bogusky – Emcee (Co-Founder of Crispin Porter & Bogusky) Founder of the Fearless Revolution http://fearlessrevolution.com/
• Ashara Ekundayo (Founder of BluBlak Media Consulting and Café Nuba) http://cafenuba.com/
• James B. Hayes (Former Publisher, Fortune; Former CEO, Junior Achievement) http://www.ja.org/
• John Hickenlooper (Governor, State of Colorado) http://www.colorado.gov/GOVERNOR
• Allen Lim (Director of Sports Science, Team RadioShack) http://www.teamradioshack.us/
• L. Hunter Lovins (President and founder of the Natural Capitalism Solutions (NCS) and Co-Founder of Rocky Mountain Institute) www.natcapsolutions.org

Here are a few of the national speakers:

• Robyn O’Brien (Author of The Unhealthy Truth) www.allergykidsfoundation.org & www.robynobrien.com
• Jeff Olson (1998 Winter Olympics, 1992 Winter Olympics, co-founder of Well Nourished Worldwide) www.wellnourishedworldwide.com
• Sally A. Ranney (CEO of StillWater Preservation LLC (SWP)) www.areday.net amatterofdegreemedia.com www.imattermarch.org
• General Victor E. Renuart Jr. (Former Commander of NORAD and US Northern Command) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_E._Renuart,_Jr.
• Casey Sheahan (CEO & President of Patagonia, Inc.) http://www.patagonia.com/us/home
• Obura Tongoi (CEO, Africa Redefined & Co-Founder, Audeamus Capital Partners LLP) https://africaredefined.com/index.php

We have included a short video below to familiarize you a little more with the TED experience. This is a can’t miss event for everyone in the Mile High City! If you attend please share your thoughts in the comments section of this post, on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/SPIREDenver or on Facebook http://on.fb.me/e29aHt

Here is the official event information and schedule:

Friday, April 1
6 – 10 pm

Saturday, April 2
12 – 9 pm

Admission: $10 / day;  $15 both days
Kids under 12 Free.

NEW! Add reserved VIP seating for the Denver Top 10 Fashion Show with Mondo Finale: $15

Runway / Stage Event Schedule:

Friday
6pm – doors open
7pm – Be Your Own You
8pm – Charlie Price
9pm – Denver Style Awards with Babblin’ Brooks and Nina Flowers
10pm – doors close

Saturday
12n – doors open
1pm – Buxom and Anna Festa

2pm – Natalee Moldenhour and Marie Margot Couture Bridal
3pm – House of Arden
4pm – Gimme Gimme Pillow Toast Japanese Street Fashion
5pm – NUR
6pm – Audience Awards: Best-Dressed audience members compete for prizes on the Runway!
7pm – Denver Top 10 Fashion Show with Mondo Guerra finale
9pm – doors close

Get your tickets here: http://denverstyleexpotix.eventbrite.com/

The concert features 12 award-winning Colorado bands and DJs on 3 stages, and door prizes and giveaways. If you attend the event take some fun pictures and post them on our new Facebook Page .  Tickets are $10 at the door. Here is the schedule of bands playing the Whole Planet Party!

Milk Bar

7:30- 8:30 We Are Only Human

8:45 – 9:45 Small Boi

10:00 – 11:00 Mikey Fresh

11:15 – Close DJ Rockstar Aaron

Jazz Bar Stage

7:15- 8:15 Greg Harris

8:30 – 9:30 Archetype

9:30 – 10:30 Tage Plantell & The Dusty Radio

10:45 – 11:45 The Kissing Party

12:00 – Close The Love Royale

Bar Standard Stage

7:30- 8:15 C. Vincent Plummer

8:30 – 9:30 The Blasters

9:45- 11:30 Bop Skizzum

11:45 – Close Bobby C. Sound T.V.

When you choose to become a member of CultureHaus you become part of a unique and exclusive resource that that opens doors to Denver’s emerging cultural and arts scene. CultureHaus delivers on this promise because it’s backed by the Denver Art Museum. And CultureHaus extends DAM’s mission by supporting and networking with youthful arts patrons, emerging artists, and local arts organizations.

CultureHaus membership includes a rewarding experience and these exciting benefits for you PLUS a guest. (Please note: A Denver Art Museum annual membership is required to join CH, and you can join both at the same time.)

• Party at our annual CH Banner Event

• Discover collecting with CH Collects 6 times per year

• Educate your mind at CH InHaus 4 times per year

• Visit exclusive art-related events with CH Out & About 2 times per year

• Celebrate your membership at our annual recognition event with CH Bash

The next event is Mixology 101 March 21, 2011

When: Monday, March 21, 2011

Where: Stir Cooking School – 3215 Zuni St., Denver, CO 80211 | Google Map

Time: 6:30pm – 8:30pm

Cost: $15/member, $20/member guest

Tickets: Tickets Available Via Blacktie Colorado

MIXOLOGY 101

Please join CultureHaus for a fun evening at the New Stir Cooking School in the Highlands for Mixology 101. Mike Henderson, mixoligist extraordinaire, and professional bartender instructor will teach this class. We will learn an overview of cocktail styles and cocktail building basics, which will culminate in all of us taking our own, turn at creating (and sampling) tasty adult beverages!

Due to space constraints we will need to limit registration to 30 participants…so don’t delay!

This is an abbreviated version of Mike’s Cocktail 101 class, which normally costs $55/person.

More information about the Stir Cooking School can be found at: www.StirToLearn.com

Culture Haus Membership: http://bit.ly/fsGe1F

That’s right, the first sure sign of the return of spring is happening today with the return of B-cycle across the city (and across the street from SPIRE).

Visit B-Cycle today to learn more or contact the SPIRE sales center at 720-457-7550 to learn how you can get a free B-Cycle membership with a SPIRE residence.

Welcome back B-Cycle, we missed you.

We thought we would share this article from The Atlantic titled “City Limits: A Conversation With Edward Glaeson” talking about how Skyscrapers and High Rises benefit cities. Here is a quick excerpt..

Edward Glaeser is high on cities. Very high, in fact. In “How Skyscrapers Can Save The City” (The Atlantic, February 2011) the Harvard economist puts the high-rise at the heart of a newly accessible, affordable, vital and sustainable metropolis. The city that doesn’t build up must build out, Glaeser points out, sucking up resources, lengthening commutes and putting pressure on undeveloped land. He sees densely populated, vertical cities not only as environmentally responsible, but as engines of innovation and prosperity — and the best hope for developing nations. Yet in cities around the world, Glaser’s lofty vision has bumped up against height limits and restrictive permitting. He spoke with The Atlantic from his home outside Boston about how measures aimed at saving cities may actually threaten their survival.

Read more…

We have blogged about how SPIRE is a LEED® certified residential project, and of course we love to share all the great details about how SPIRE is a sustainable project such as…

LEED metrics are focused on energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. Some of SPIRE’s sustainable features include:

• Over 90% of all regularly occupied spaces provide direct line of sight views and access to daylight
• 100% Green Power, renewable energy contract to provide renewable electricity for the building
• 61.4% reduction in potable water consumption from a calculated baseline by using native plants, drip irrigation and moisture sensors
• 26.5% reduction in potable water use due to utilization of reduced-flow lavatory, kitchen sink faucets, shower heads, dual flush toilets, and waterless urinals
• Improved Indoor Environmental Quality through enhanced air filtration, low-emitting materials for paint, coatings and carpets
• Commitment to recycling with a dedicated single stream recycling chute located on all occupied floors
• Transportation options that augment a 97/100 walk score (one of the highest scores in Denver) include 180+ bike racks, motor scooter and motorcycle parking, discounts on Low Emission Vehicle Parking spaces, Connect by Hertz car sharing service located in the ground and adjacency to RTD light rail and the city’s B-Cycle program

But we also wanted to share with our new SPIRE homeowners, neighbors and friends some of the great sustainable living options you can enjoy as well. And since air quality is one of the LEED® criteria,  it seems only appropriate that we look at one great way to improve the air quality within your home… a natural mattress. It just so happens that one of the best known distributors of natural sleep mattresses is based right here in Denver. The Natural Sleep Store offers organic mattresses, pillows, and linens along with a whole list of reasons why sustainable beds are a great choice.

Move into your sustainable building with a sustainable bed and enjoy a great night’s sleep at SPIRE.

To learn more about SPIRE and our LEED® certified building please contact our sales center at 720-457-7550.

8 months of closings

From last April 19 – the day its lenders allowed it to start closing contracts – until the end of last year, 201 units have closed at the Spire, representing more than $60 million in sales. The sale price per square foot ranged from the high $200s to about $500. In addition, all 10,000 square feet of the ground-floor retail space has been leased in the LEED-certified building at 14th and Champa streets.

That is 328 percent more than all of the new home closings that took place during the time period at four of other condo buildings in Denver – One Lincoln, Pinnacle, Wynkoop Residences and Four Seasons – according to a study by Mark Co. Research. Closings at the Spire also have dwarfed the resale condo closings in One Lincoln, Glass House and Pinnacle during that period, according to the analysis.

“There’s a lot of ways to slice-and-dice real estate sales, but whether you look at the last six months or all of 2010, we were getting north of 75 percent of the local market, depending on how you measure it,” said Crosby, of Nichols Partnership, the developer of the 493-unit building.

Downtown Denver’s newest condo tower, SPIRE, has experienced phenomenal sales activity over the past nine months and has now closed on 204 units.  SPIRE’S lender has confirmed that it is the best performing building in their portfolio and thinks it is possible that the 42 story project is the best selling high rise condominium project in the United States.  Besides being an incredible addition to the Downtown skyline, buyers love the location, amenities, spectacular views, unit sizes, attainable price points, and that the project is LEED certified. (read more)