Avenue Magazine Edmonton

Posted by Ken Bautista in Top 40 on Mar 9 2010 12:13

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a non-profit organization devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” What began as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are made available for free at TED.com. Millions have tuned in to watch talks by such speakers as Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck and Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Personally, I’ve spent a lot of time being inspired by TEDTalks video streams. J.J. Abrams’ Mystery Box presentation is one of my favourites:

Hosted by artsScene Edmonton, an organization I chair, TEDx Edmonton is an independently organized event taking place this Saturday, March 13 at the TransAlta Arts Barns (10330 84 Ave.). TED is about ideas worth spreading, and we wanted to bring the TEDx brand to Edmonton to inspire people in our own community. Under the theme of "Cultivating the Creative Economy," we sought out passionate entrepreneurs, innovators, thinkers and creators across the city and beyond. Our speaker lineup includes:

• Tim Antoniuk, industrial design professor dedicated to a creative economy
• Cameron Herold, successful business leader passionate about raising kids to be entrepreneurs
• Andrew Hessel, genomic scientist and champion of open-source biology
• Theresa Howland, head of Canada's 100 per cent green electricity provider, Bullfrog Power
• Shafraaz Kaba, local architect passionate about urban design, art and architecture
• Shawna Pandya, startup entrepreneur and innovator using smartphones for disaster response at NASA Ames Research Center
• Grant Skinner, internationally recognized leader in the field of rich interactive experiences
• Sean Stewart, influential pioneer who defined the worldwide alternate reality entertainment genre
• Krystle Dos Santos, award-winning soul and jazz artist

Passes to the live event are already sold out, but the event will be webcast live for free at TEDxEdmonton.com, followed by an after party open to public. We've also started offering TEDTalks at Lunch in partnership with the University of Alberta Alumni Association. We present a single TEDTalk each month over lunch at the campus, to keep the ideas spreading all year long.

Ken Bautista is the chair of TEDx Edmonton and the artsScene Edmonton Organizing Committee, an associate creative director at RED The Agency and the CEO and creative director of CIE: Seek Your Own Proof. He is also an alumnus of Avenue's Top 40 Under 40.