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Historically innovative: William & Mary to host TEDx event

William & Mary’s first-ever TEDx event will take place on March 30 at 2 p.m. and will feature nine speakers from the university’s community.

The event, titled “TEDxCollegeofWilliam&Mary,” is organized around the theme of “historically innovative” and will be hosted in Brinkley Commons in William & Mary’s Mason School of Business.  

TED, a nonprofit devoted to “ideas worth spreading,” created TEDx as a series of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share in a TED-like experience. TED provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.

TEDxCollegeofWilliam&Mary, which was organized by a committee of faculty, staff, alumni and students with support from the Division of Student Affairs, will feature a combination of live speakers and TEDTalks videos to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group environment. This local TEDx program will feature an incredible lineup of speakers from a diverse array of industries and academic disciplines. Featured speakers include distinguished professors, a two-time Emmy-award winning multimedia producer, writer and editor, and $25 million grant awardees.

“The selected speakers brought the theme of TEDxTheCollegeofWilliam&Mary in their own unique way while still being prime examples of how William & Mary community members are challenging the status quo and looking to add knowledge to the world. This can be anything from community-based research or having us rethink our own philosophies,” said Alex Cooper '13, chair of the TEDxCollegeofWilliam&Mary speaker relations subcommittee.

The  speakers at this year’s TEDxCollegeofWilliam&Mary will be:

Adam Stackhouse ‘06, owner/producer AVAdventure Productions
Bailey Thomson ‘10, director of leadership development at EAdvance
Christiana Kallon ‘11, assistant dean of undergraduate admissions
David Aday, professor in American studies and sociology
David Trichler, director of operations at AidData
Michael Luchs, assistant professor of business
Pat Austria ‘13, undergraduate student
Tamara Sonn, professor of religious studies
Tim Pagano ‘14, graduate student

TEDxCollegeofWilliam&Mary is a public event, but due to space and regulation restrictions, tickets will be distributed through a lottery system to students, faculty, alumni and staff who submit an attendee registration form. The application will available online at tedx.wm.edu on Feb. 13, 2013. Community members are welcome to join the livestream of the event in the Commonwealth Auditorium of Sadler Center. The pre-show and post-show events are also open to all community members and do not require tickets.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

About TED
                 
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs; the annual TEDGlobal conference is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, the recently launched TED-Ed platform for students and educators, the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide, and TEDBooks, short e-books by speakers that elaborate on a single idea originally presented on TED's stage. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities. Follow TED on Twitter or on Facebook.