Ideas to Take Stage at 1st TEDxYoungstown Event
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- What organizers characterize as a first-of-its-kind event for the Mahoning Valley will take place Jan. 24 when 18 speakers share their thoughts on innovation with 100 audience members at the inaugural TEDxYoungstown event.
"I think it's going to bring a formal stage for people to bring positive thoughts and concepts to the Valley," says Lori Shandor, chairwoman of the event, which will be held at Youngstown State University's Williamson College of Business Administration.
TED -- for Technology, Entertainment, Design -- is a nonprofit organization that describes itself as devoted to "ideas worth spreading." TED events feature prominent "thinkers and doers" who are asked to give the "talk of their lives" in 18 minutes or less. The talks, which can be on virtually any topic, are recorded and shared through the group's YouTube page. Some of the more popular talks find their way onto the TED website, where they are shared for free.
A TEDx event is an independently organized event with TED providing general guidance. As per TED guidelines, TEDxYoungstown will limit attendance to 100.
"It's thought provoking. It's a way to get you to look at something differently than you would have before," said Shandor, who began organizing the event when the idea was pitched to her by Brian Kolenich, the executive director of Park Vista of Youngstown.
Shandor who has been watching TED talks for four years, decided to reach out to the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, the Youngstown Business Incubator and the Mahoning Valley Young Professionals for help in getting the idea off the ground.
The TEDxYoungstown committee was created and began collecting applications for speakers through its website. Committee members include Shandor; Kolenich; Heidi Daniel, director of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County; Debbie Liptak, the library’s development director; Bob McGovern and Robert Cruciger, representing the Mahoning Valley Young Professionals, Colleen Kelly, YBI's director of development; Christian Rinehart, owner of O'Donold's Irish Pub; and Bergen Giordani, owner of One Hot Cookie.
Shandor's upcoming participation in the annual TED conference in Vancouver will allow future events to be opened up to larger numbers. Plans are to hold one TEDxYoungstown event annually.
Among the 18 speakers will be Jeff Hoffman, the founder and former CEO of Priceline.com. Also, Wil Harris will give a seven-minute talk called "Innovation of the Mind," in which he'll discuss how people can take control of their lives through paradigm shifts and positive self-talk. As the leadership director at J&W Limitless, Harris spends his days working with at-risk kids.
"My thing is working with kids who are falling through the cracks," Harris said. He realized he needed to change his life's course at age 17 when his cousin was shot and killed. "That woke me up and made me recognize my own mortality and that life is short," he remarked.
Rob Gorham, deputy director for technology development at America Makes (the brand name for the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute), will discuss how to increase American competitiveness in the world through manufacturing. "We believe that making in America is what makes America work," he said.
The full list of speakers is as follows
- Ewelina Boczkowska and Cicilia Yudha
- Leslie Brothers
- Tony DeAscentis
- Adam Earnhardt
- Colonel Al Faber
- Jim Fogarty
- Kathleen Fox
- Rob Gorham
- Wil Harris
- Jeff Hoffman
- Michael Kovach
- Dave Morgan and Amanda Powell
- Steve Reale
- U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan
- Dennis Schiraldi
- Rose Shaffer
- Brian Sinchak
- Cori Todd
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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