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The Who, What, When, Where and Why of TEDxICC

On April 29, at Memorial Hall in Independence, Kansas, Independence Community College (ICC) will host TEDxICC, only the second TEDx event held in Kansas and the first by a Kansas community college. 

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design and according to www.TED.com; 

TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world. 

ICC Associate Professor of Communication, Konye Ori, had help organize a TEDx event in his previous life at a community college in Indiana.  He volunteered to prepare the application to TED to host a local, independently organized TEDx event in Independence.  The primary requirement to host a TEDx is to provide a day of diverse speakers all with “ideas worth spreading”.  We received our approval  and a planning committee was formed  adopting a theme of “Rethinking Tomorrow”.  Another requirement is to make high quality videos of the presentations for upload to the TED web site and posting to YouTube.  We’ve hired a professional production company to do the recording to make sure the quality is top notch. 

We went to work finding speakers; some we knew and some found out about our event on the TED web site.  We have a great lineup of 13 speakers for the day, each agreeing to present their “idea worth spreading” in 13 minutes or fewer. 

Our TEDxICC presenters are not paid; they participate for the exposure and to include a TEDx presentation on their resumes.  It is not our job, as organizers, to make sure the content fits within any particular “view” of “rethinking tomorrow”, but rather to present a day of diverse topics for consideration by those in attendance and those viewing the videos afterward. 

The best answers for change come after listening to several points of view and using our critical thinking skills to build our path to the future. 

Come and join us for a day of “ideas worth sharing” on April 29 from 9:00am to 3:00pm at Memorial Hall in Independence.  Students are free but need to register; tickets for non-students are $30.  See http://www.indycc.edu/tedxicc for the link to register and list of presenters. 

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349 or by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu. Archive columns and podcasts at www.fablabicc.org.  

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