STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
There are still a few tickets available for the third annual TEDxSunValley, which will be held from noon to 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16, at the Sun Valley Opera House.
This year’s theme revolves around “ways to change the current.” And the range of topics is vast, said Aimee Christensen, who co-founded the event with Kim Castellano.
“From the power of rethinking adolescent education to financing forest restoration, from how to give a great speech to the brave new world of cannabis, we have diverse experts to share their ideas worth spreading,” said Christensen.
Those who will share their stories include Doug Greene, who will share how he dealt with losing his sight and Gina Ballou, who will discuss taking care of her aging mother.
Alex Weber will discuss how communities can overcome tragedy to become great. Alison Poulsen will talk about relationships. And Cary Dakin will talk about the psychological impacts of what humans are doing to their planet.
Other speakers are Blair Brown, Krista Burns, Avery Frazier, Ann Janikowski, Frank King, Leigh Madeira, Michael Marlin, Chris McAvoy, Majeed Mogharreban and Elizabeth Sawin.
They were chosen from nearly 50 applicants.
Their short talks will be augmented by some inspiring TED Talk videos.
“Ups and downs, insights and inspiration, it is sure to please!” said Christensen.
TED is a nonprofit organization that challenges people to offer innovative ideas worth sharing in 18 minutes or less. Many of the speeches are given at TED’s annual conference in Vancouver, B.C., and made available free of charge on TED.com.
Past TED speakers at that conference have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Sir Richard Branson and Monica Lewinsky.
Sun Valley’s is a local event following rules provided by TED. Applicants have spent the summer honing their presentations with the help of coaches.
General admission tickets to Sunday’s event are $50. VIP tickets are $100 and include preferred seating and help fund scholarships. A taco bar lunch will be provided outside at the 1:45 p.m. break.