TEDx talks return with new ways, places to watch

EDMONDS — All 800 seats for Friday’s TEDx conference at the Edmonds Center for the Arts are taken.

But you still can find ways to participate in Friday’s event.

There are public viewing sites at 13 libraries in Snohomish and Island counties as well as the Snohomish County PUD auditorium, Everett and Edmonds community colleges, and the University of Washington Bothell.

Or you can watch the conference livestreamed on your smart phone, tablet or computer.

This is the second consecutive year for a TEDxSnoIsleLibraries event in Snohomish County.

“TEDxSnoIsle is about sharing ideas,” said Jim Hills, a spokesman for the Sno-Isle Libraries, which organized the event.

The topics may not be familiar, but the presentations “will be compelling and bring new things to light,” he said.

Talks last no longer than 18 minutes. Speakers make their presentations without cue cards, PowerPoints, or teleprompters.

This year’s theme is “Transformations.” The 17 speakers are diverse in their specialties: Andre Feriante, a flamenco guitarist and poet; Karla Hawley, a music therapist; Betty Smith, a Boeing Co. aerospace engineer; and Kevin Bowcutt, hypersonics scientist whose career includes leading the team that designed reusable space launch vehicles.

Speakers range in age from 16 to 64, and include two high school students.

Radhika Dalal, a senior at Kamiak High School in Mukilteo and an an intern at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, will speak on “How Technology is Changing the Dream.”

Sriharshita “Harshu” Musunuri, a junior at Everett’s Henry M. Jackson High School, interned at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and is curriculum director of the nonprofit Girls Rock in Science and Math. Her topic is “Channeling Your Inner Renaissance.”

The TEDx event is an offshoot of the TED talks, events that began in 1984 to discuss technology, entertainment and design. They have since grown to 2,300 international events on a broader list of topics.

TEDx events were launched on the theme “ideas worth spreading,” to allow people to have a similar events in their own communities. Local TEDx talks have spread globally. On Friday, 12 other cities will join Edmonds with their TEDx events, including sites in India, Lithuania, and Egypt.

All TEDx talks in Edmonds will be videotaped and posted online. Last year’s presentations have had more than 100,000 views, Hills said.

A one-day art installation will be part of this year’s event. It will be in an annex of the arts center, which during Friday’s event is called the Idea Lab. This year’s installation is from Edmonds artist Mona T. Smiley-Fairbanks, who uses light to make designs. People can interact with it and make their own art using light, Hills said.

The day’s speakers also will be in the Idea Lab so that audience members can have a chance to talk with them one-on-one.

There’s no charge to attend TEDx but tickets are required. All were grabbed up within 24 hours after they were posted Oct. 10.

“We knew it would go fast,” Hills said. “Nobody expected that fast.”

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.

Library viewing sites: Camano Island, Coupeville, Darrington, Edmonds, Freeland, Granite Falls, Lynnwood, Marysville, Monroe, Mukilteo, Oak Harbor, Snohomish and Stanwood. Register online at: www.sno-isle.org/tedx/events.

Community viewing sites: Snohomish Public Utility District auditorium, 2320 California Ave., Everett; Everett Community College Gray Wolf Hall,2000 Tower St. Room 168; Edmonds Community College,Woodway Hall Conference Room, 20000 68th Ave. W, Lynnwood; and University of Washington Bothell North Creek Events Center, 18225 Campus Way NE, Bothell.

TEDxSnoIsleLibraries will also be livestreamed at sno-isle.org/tedx and heraldnet.com

Link | http://www.heraldnet.com/news/tedx-talks-return-with-new-ways-places-to-watch/

Regards

Pralhad Jadhav

Senior Manager @ Library

Khaitan & Co

Blog | http://pralhad-fyilibrarian.blogspot.in/