I often find myself fantasizing about a fictional career in which I make an ample living staying home in my pajamas, drinking wine and watching TED talks all day long. It’d be nice, wouldn’t it?
Cerebrally, it would — there’s nothing like resorting to a TED talk when you want to get your creative juices flowing, be inspired or just in awe about how brilliant we, as people, can be.
I can’t exactly plop down the $7,500 ticket to go see a live TED talk in Long Beach, Calif. — not many can. Luckily, news is brewing of Cincinnati’s own TED talks, TEDxCincy, evidently to surface this May.
The first TEDxCincy event took place in Oct. 2010 at the Aronoff Center. Speakers have included Bengals linebacker and entrepreneur Dhani Jones, pediatric surgeon Dr. Victor Garcia and author and cultural anthropologist Grant McCracken, among other intellectuals from Cincinnati and otherwise.
If you’ve never seen a TED talk, clue in. TED is a nonprofit that’s dedicated to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” TED organizes annual conferences across the world, bringing together forward-thinkers and doers from different disciplines. A series of intellectuals put together short, stirring, meticulously prepared speeches covering a particular issue in front of a live audience; videos are later uploaded online for everyone to see.
TEDx talks are independently organized events bringing people together to form TED-like experiences on a more intimate, community level. Cincinnati’s TEDx is a project led by LPK design agency and supported by Proctor & Gamble, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce and Agenda 360.
The original concept of TED talks was to stimulate interest in issues from the disciplines of technology, entertainment and design, but topics have since expanded, covering everything from endangered shark habitats to gun usage to dictatorship.
Details on Cincinnati’s TED talks are still in the works. Periodically check www.tedxcincy.com for updates; details are expected to be released soon. Keep your eyes peeled...a TED talk could very well change your life.
Taste a TED talk:
And a TEDxCincy talk:
