TEDxTryon invites everyone in the region with “an idea worth spreading” to apply to speak at its September 12 event to be held at Tryon Fine Arts Center. Speaker applications are being accepted online at www.tedxtryon.com through May 30. Anyone who cannot access the application online can call TEDxTryon at 828-243-9423.

“What we are looking for first and foremost,” says Loti Woods, co-organizer of TEDxTryon, “are new ideas that will sprout new ways of thinking and inspire our community. Second, we are looking for dynamic speakers.”

The theme for 2015 is “Live. Inspire. Repeat.”

One of hundreds of TEDx events worldwide, TEDxTryon provides the opportunity for a community conversation exploring the people, places, and events that shape our lives in the Carolina Foothills. Operating under a license from TED, TEDXTryon is independently produced and organized by community volunteers.

Those who wish to speak at this year’s inaugural event can go to www.tedxtryon.com to learn more about TEDxTryon, find resources for creating a great talk, and, of course, access an application.

Ten speakers will be chosen. In addition to the TEDx talks held in the auditorium, the day-long program will spread out through the TFAC campus and include performers and a farm-to-table lunch. Post-event meet-ups are also being planned to keep the conversations sparked by TEDxTryon talks going throughout the year.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, 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 combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x represents an independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) delivered by today’s leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED’s annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and made available, free, on TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

TED’s open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from thousands of volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; the annual million-dollar TED Prize, which funds exceptional individuals with a “wish,” or idea, to create change in the world; TEDx, which provides licenses to thousands of individuals and groups who host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED or Instagram at https://instagram.com/ted.

– Submitted by Beth Brand