“Ideas worth spreading.” That’s the motto for one of the world’s most popular lecture-based educational conferences, TED Talks. These lectures, often held at prominent locations like colleges and prestigious theaters, are famous for giving experts a voice that they normally do not have to express their ideas. Now, UW-Milwaukee has its chance to talk about some of these ideas and broadcast its message to the globe.
TEDx, a program that supports the famous TED organization, lets independent organizers host their own lectures with support from the mother company (x=independently organized TED event). A small group of students from UWM took the initiative to contact the organization and facilitate TEDxUWMilwaukee.
“The idea came from the event producer Jon Edquist,” said Aaron Davis, Director of Public Relations for the event. “From there we found a great team of people to help us and we’ve been planning ever since.”
The Zelazo Center at UWM will fill with featured speakers at 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 27, 2014 sand will host a variety of lectures covering a range of topics like art, business and science. 19 lecturers are scheduled to present, and a majority of them are from the Milwaukee area.
“We wanted to show that our community has the talent to put on a show like this, and that the good work in our city is represented,” Davis said.
This event will be the second time that TEDx has been in the Milwaukee area. These lectures are especially appealing to the young generation as they present information in new ways. College areas often provide a solid attendance.
Excitement among the students is growing as the event gets closer.
“I love TED Talks, I’ve seen quite a few of them. It’s cool that it’s happening right at our school,” said UWM senior, Brian Stark. Tickets for the show sold out nearly one week before the big day.
The event will be broadcast on the TED website after it ends. Davis assures that the lecture event is not the end of TEDxUWMilwaukee.
“Whether or not people can be there or not… the event starts the day it ends. September 28th is when the hype begins. We want this event to ring in people’s ears for a long time.”