The Daylong Conference is on Pace to Sell out, Featuring World-Class Presentations
Santa Cruz, California – More than 20 speakers are taking the stage on March 8, 2014 as part of the TEDx Santa Cruz event, offering ideas that are sparking experiences, projects, work, or creativity and setting in motion a new reality, igniting new connections, or energizing communities.
According to Irene Tsouprake, an organizer, the curating (organizing) process is 90% method and 10% madness. “We receive a couple hundred applications that we curate down to 12-14 speakers,” said Tsouprake. “Then we look at the balance in terms of gender, age, discipline, tenor of the talk—for instance technology, environment, social justice. Then we always leave a few spots open to reach out and “hand curate” the last few openings. And we include poetry, dance, music—we’ve found people’s brains need a breather because the talks are so meaty—the brain needs room to dance with these ideas.”
The March 8 event, will take place at Hotel Paradox, 611 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm. TEDx Santa Cruz has been fully planned and coordinated independently by a wide roster of volunteers, from curators to event managers to music producers. TEDx Santa Cruz reviewed over 100 interested speakers nominated by others or themselves and selected the finalists who represent how ideas move from inception to activation in their power to change the world. Each speaker has had rigorous interaction from the curation team in an effort to help them edit their presentations into true story telling.
ACTIVATE will highlight speakers including Navy Captain Wayne Porter. Organizer David Warren says Porter’s talk will set the stage for many of the other talks featured. The Joint Chiefs of Staff and Admiral John Mullen tasked Porter with developing and writing a National Strategic Narrative that in many ways, challenges the current paradigm or definition of security.
“Porter personally defines security as a lack of anxiety,” says Warren. “What kind of plan will it take to eliminate anxiety in America? The Narrative tells the story we want to live into. It might surprise you, what this guy in a military uniform with expertise in complexity theory came up with after 2 years of working on it.”
The day will address a plethora of topics; one of them is social justice and mass incarceration in America. Attendees will hear from Santa Clara Public Defender Jessica Delgado who, working with the Stanford Three Strikes Project, has already helped free 18 men and women serving life sentences for nonviolent crimes. Joining her onstage will be Dave Gomez and Bilal Chatman, both freed through Delgado’s advocacy, a format that will challenge preconceived notions about what constitutes justice.
Other local speakers include Marine Biologist J Nichols who will talk about his work around the neuroscience of BlueMind–your brain on the ocean, and Katie Reid, a biochemist and mother who will talk about the human microbiome (human microbiota) and its relationship to health and wellbeing. Her personal experience in dealing with autism addresses her take on the single most important thing we can do to impact our health.
TEDx Santa Cruz is expected to sell out, with many of the presentations likely to be rebroadcast as part of the growing online library of TEDTalks.
TEDx Santa Cruz is completely supported through sponsors and volunteer contributions from organizations like Ghostband, KAZU, Santa Cruz Tech Beat, Arts Council of Santa Cruz County, Gateway School, Santa Cruz Weekly, KUSP, Sub Culture Television, IP Society and Chowdahead Growth Fund.
TEDx Santa Cruz attendees will enjoy presentations in the grand ballroom and a lunch catered by Paradox’s Solaire Restaurant and Bar. After the event, the audience will get a chance to mingle with the speakers, performers, and fellow guests at a festive after-party no-host reception, featuring the TEDxSantaCruz signature cocktail, the “Blast.”
Tickets are $75 and the price includes the full-day conference, lunch and afternoon refreshments. Those interested in attending the event can purchase tickets at https://santacruzfilm.secure.force.com/ticket#sections_a0FF0000009HunQMAS
For more information about TEDxSantaCruz, visit http://www.tedxsantacruz.org – Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TedxSC – Follow us on Twitter profile is: http://twitter.com/TEDxSantaCruz – Our hashtag is: #tedxsc
TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers are combined to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. 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.