STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
TEDxSunValley will field 15 speakers for its third annual TEDxSunValley on Sunday, Sept. 16.
The speakers will address such ideas as postural de-evolution or mental illness, re-thinking cannabis and changing our views of what a healthy forest looks like.
The speakers include Gina Ballou, Blair Brown, Krista Burns, Cary Dakin, Avery Frazier, Doug Greene, Ann Janikowski, Frank King and Leigh Madeira.
Others are Michael Martin, Chris McAvoy, Majeed Mogharreban, Alison Poulsen, Elizabeth Sawin and Alex Weber.
This year’s theme, “Changing the Current,” garnered nearly 50 applicants—the majority of them from outside the Wood River Valley.
“I think it is a testament to the quality of our past speakers and the receptiveness of our community to these ideas worth spreading,” said Kim Castellano, who co-organized TEDxSunValley with Aimee Christensen. “The word is out in the TEDx community that we have a sold-out event and that our speakers’ videos have well over 300,000 views.”
Applicants submitted topic themes, outlines and descriptions of how they hoped to impact the TEDx audience. They also submitted 2- to 5-minute videos summarizing their story or insight, giving the selection team an opportunity to see their onstage presence.
The curation team, made up of local volunteers held lengthy discussions about the relevance, public interest and newness factor of each application. The speakers will spend the summer working with volunteer coaching teams to hone their message according to TED guidelines.
The third annual TEDxSunValley will be held from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Sun Valley Opera House. It will feature these new TEDx talks, some inspiring TED Talk videos and local performers.
Tickets can be purchased at http://TEDxSunValley.com.
Those interested in volunteering or sponsoring the event are also invited to visit the website.