Talk-ity Talk, Talking About TEDxMacon Talks
Above video is from last year’s TEDxMacon (which was held at the Capitol Theatre on May 5th, 2012), titled “Macon Local”; Floco Torres speaks on Personal Responsibility
TED talks…. heard a lot about em, don’t really know so much.
I remember when they came to town, maybe a year ago? My basic understanding of it was that people would get up and speak on a subject they are passionate about. Easy enough, right?
But maybe not. From their website (http://www.ted.com/pages/about) ” TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design.” The mission is to spread ideas, and to empower people such as you and I to share our ideas. Think about it- maybe you have a fantastic idea for Macon but you just can’t find the audience to listen? This is one way to get your voice heard.
To take it a step further, TED has a prize, the ” TED Prize is awarded annually to an exceptional individual, and is designed to leverage the TED Community’s wide array of talents and resources. In 2012, the cash award was raised to $1 million to provide powerful seed funding for “A Wish to Inspire the World.” After several months of preparation, the wish is unveiled during a ceremony at the TED Conference. Over the life of the prize, wishes have led to collaborative initiatives with far-reaching impact.” —-> THAT’s some pretty amazing stuff.
Last year, there were Floco Torres, a local hip-hop musician (who I also did a photo shoot with- click here); Dr. Silver, of Mercer University, and Dr. O’Dell, also of Mercer and others.
So, who is on the docket for this year’s TEDxMacon? Chris Nylund, one of the organizers, was nice enough to let me know:
Makenna Johnston – Makenna is a doula, educator and activist. Her talk is entitled “Compassion for Change”.
Heather Bowman-Cutway – Heather Bowman-Cutway is a professor of Biology at Mercer University. She is passionate about local activism and is very active in her downtown community. Her talk is entitled “What You Should Get to Know Your Neighbors”
Heather Evans – Heather is a business professional for a Fortune 500 company. She is giving a talk entitled “How to Change the World by Changing the Conversations at the Water Cooler”
Angel Collins – Angel is a writer, activist, and avid TV watcher. She is giving a talk entitled “Can I See Me?”
Nathan Dees – Nathan Dees works in IT for GEICO. His talk is called “Cloudwalkers”.
If that isn’t enough to tempt you, the event will be held at The Armory Ballroom and catered by The Moonhanger Group. Brent Shaver, Director of Catering and Events, was nice enough to speak with me as well:
” We will be serving lunch along with the $15 ticket and it will include boxed lunches with your choice of Chicken salad, pimento cheese, cucumber hummus served with apples and chips.” Brent went further to note that ” we are honored to be hosting this event. Macon is a wonderful city full of history and architecture. But, it would be nothing were it not for it’s amazing people. TEDx is a wonderful conduit for sharing with the world just a few of the brilliant and creative minds that call Macon, GA home.”
Chris Nylund also let me know that roughly 18 people auditioned, and while only the 6 listed above were chosen, everyone had amazing presentations and they will be keeping in touch with them for the next presentation. It’s a pretty big deal to get to do this, and the hosting facility has to provide a videographer as well as TED later promotes their talks with these videos and selects their prize winner from there.
Are you going to be a TEDxMacon? I know I will! Frankly I wouldn’t miss Jay Black speak anyway (he happens to be one of my favorite professors at Mercer- and I don’t even have a class with him). To learn more go here: TEDxMacon and to purchase tickets go here: http://tedxmacon.eventbrite.com but hurry! Once it’s sold out, it’s really sold out.
Love to all yall…
Molly
