New Deep Ellum venue, different vibe
TEDxSMU is changing its model to reach a broader audience with “ideas worth spreading.” The shift starts with location, as the high-energy mash-up of passionate talks and demonstrations moves to The Bomb Factory in Deep Ellum Nov. 11-12.
 Alice Laussade, CEO of Meat Fight, Inc. (Click image to see her 2015 presentation.) |
DALLAS (SMU) – TEDxSMU is changing its model to reach a broader audience with “ideas worth spreading.” The shift starts with location, as the high-energy mash-up of passionate talks and demonstrations moves to The Bomb Factory in Deep Ellum Nov. 11-12.
The program will be spread over two days, starting with TEDxSMU: After Dark, a casual evening event from 6-8:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, wrapped around food, drinks, a handful of speakers and live music. Then, on Saturday, Nov. 12, a shortened TEDxSMU program will feature 14 speakers spread over two sessions from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
In between sessions, audience members get the chance to mingle with speakers and each other, and participate in interactive exhibits and discussions.
“We’ve retired the all-day, “talk-till-you-drop” Saturday format,” said TEDxSMU Director Heather Hankamer, “By splitting and ticketing our program over two days, we’re allowing people to get a little taste of TEDxSMU on Friday or Saturday only, or enjoy all of it over two days.”
Purchase tickets online for Friday night, Saturday, or both events at http://www.tedxsmu.org/tedxsmu2016/. Prices begin at $25 for general admission to TEDxSMU: After Dark on Friday and $75 for general admission to TEDxSMU on Saturday.
Speakers at TEDxSMU: After Dark will include Chris Garcia, an artist and engineer whose Evolinea clocks are expressions of time through contemporary art; David Hopkins, a writer whose tool kit includes essays, short stories and graphic novels; and photographer Justin Terveen (interviewed by KERA’s Boyd), who specializes in images of architecture and the urban aesthetic.
Fourteen speakers will take the stage Saturday:
- SMU advertising professor Willie Baronet, who returns to TEDxSMU to introduce the friend he made on the other side of a homeless man’s “help” sign
- Writer, speaker, and educator Thom Browne
- Garnette Cadogan, author of Walking While Black
- Paige Chenault, founder of The Birthday Party Project
- Popular oceanographer and TEDxSMU “frequent flyer” Dave Gallo
- Laura Huffman, Texas state director of The Nature Conservancy
- Antoine Joyce, city leader for All Stars, Dallas
- Daniel Krawczyk, associate professor of psychiatry, UT Southwestern’s Center for Brain Health
- Architect and Realtor Douglas Newby, on characteristics of homes that make people happy
- Jason Roberts, co-creator of Better Block
- Author and former filmmaker Lois Stark
- Journey On’s negotiator and author Linda Swindling
- David Vobora, founder and CEO of the Adaptive Training Foundation
- Physician Michael Weisberg on how the art of medicine became a business in the 21st century
“When TEDxSMU debuted in 2009, it was a concept new to Dallas and it blew people away,” Hankamer said. “The event grew and moved from a campus auditorium, to the Wyly Theatre, to the Dallas City Performance Hall. We’ve been able to create a real village of enthusiastic TEDx followers who never miss an event.
“A few years down the road, we know there are more places these days for people to tap into big conversations and thought-provoking ideas, ranging from the One-Day University programs, to the “let’s remake the city” approach of the Dallas Festival of Ideas,” Hankamer said. “But we expect our re-designed TEDxSMU will draw a whole new audience, and re-energize the core audience that has been with us since 2009. Deep Ellum is developing its own sense of community, and we hope to tap into that, too.”
Hankamer also thinks this is a good time to bust a big myth for people who have never attended TEDxSMU or any of its smaller salon events:
“TEDxSMU is produced by a team at SMU, but it’s not about SMU,” Hankamer said. “We usually include a brilliant speaker or two from the University, but the idea behind TEDxSMU is to engage the entire community with a variety of compelling speakers.”
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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, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. 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, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) delivered by today's leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED's annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and made available, free, on TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.
TED's open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from thousands of volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; the annual million-dollar TED Prize, which funds exceptional individuals with a "wish," or idea, to create change in the world; TEDx, which provides licenses to thousands of individuals and groups who host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.
Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED or Instagram at https://instagram.com/ted.
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