The fourth annual TEDx Edmonton is taking a leaf from the Starship Enterprise. It’s theme this year is The Future of … .
TEDx is a non-profit organization devoted to spreading new and innovative ideas. Leading thinkers and doers are invited to speak for 18 minutes in hopes of sharing and stimulating their audience to pursue their own ideas. This conference focuses on global ideas, attitudes and actions.
It challenges both speakers and the audience to stretch their thought processes, explore new ideas and question existing models.
“The main reason we wanted to put the conference on was to get people interested in who the innovative and creative thinkers from Edmonton were,” said St. Albert entrepreneur Ken Bautista, founder/CEO of Startup Edmonton.
Startup Edmonton is an innovative business incubator and community dedicated to igniting creativity and entrepreneurial thinking. One of its projects is to organize TEDx.
The Future of… features 12 speakers and performers. The topics of discussion range from health, money, food, news and entertainment to education, recycling, manufacturing and the arts.
“It’s challenging people to think bigger, to up their game,” Bautista said.
Cirque du Soleil is the perfect example. With its production of Amaluna drawing rave reviews, Bautista invited artistic director Mark Pawsey to speak, with a side performance by Lara Jacobs in her role as the Balance Goddess.
On the local level, featured speakers include Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. James Talbot, ATB Financial chief economist Todd Hirsch, Edmonton Oilers president Patrick LaForge, Canada National Science Fair winner Sartak Sinah, and GREY’s Recycling founder Rajan Ahluwalia.
Last year the conference attracted 500 individuals.
“The great thing is that it brings out a diverse community – lots of different types of people,” Bautista said. “There’s a range of ages and a range of backgrounds. It’s people interested in thinking differently and bringing interesting conversations around those ideas.”
The University of Alberta Student Design Association has also been tasked with creating a stage design that establishes a futuristic atmosphere.
“Your brains are done by the end of the day. There’s lots of thought-provoking stuff,” Bautista said. “But that’s the thing. How do you take the ideas and make them your own. That’s the challenge, but people are inspired and take action because they are inspired by change.”
The full-day conference runs Saturday, June 15 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Maclab Theatre located in the Citadel Theatre. Tickets are $99 plus fees and are available at tedxedmonton.com/2013.
