By Loti Woods 

There is a buzz in our Foothills. A new guy in town? I heard he has a funny name with an x after it. Really! You may have heard TEDxTryon is happening September 12 at the Tryon Fine Arts Center. And you may wonder, “What is TED, or TEDx?” Our new bimonthly column will hopefully answer your questions. And no, TED is not a guy!

 

TED actually stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design and is a global set of conferences run by a non-profit, using the slogan “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Conference speakers share a new idea in 18 minutes or less. All talks are videotaped and put online for free. The subjects range from Monica Lewinsky discussing shame to Bono talking about poverty. The most watched talk? With 29 million views, it was “Do schools kill creativity?” In 2009, a program called TEDx (the “x” referring locally organized) was started by the TED folks to bring speakers to local communities to share inspiring ideas. To date, over 30,000 TEDx talks in 160 countries have been put online.

 

That’s great, but what does that have to do with our community? Well, glad you asked. Local sisters Corrie and Loti Woods, who both love TED talks said, “Why not bring TEDx to town?” The first steps were the completion of a rigorous application from TED, working with the Tryon Fine Arts Center (not only as a venue but also coming under their direction as a special project), and engaging a core group of volunteers.

 

And now, with the groundwork laid, we really need your help planning this daylong event. So we challenge you. What are your passions? What do you want to learn more about? The plight of the bees, addiction, locally grown food, small town vitality? We want to hear your ideas for speakers and talk topics. Too, we need more volunteers and sponsors. To learn more and share your thoughts, visit TEDxTryon.com or our Facebook page.

 

 

PHOTO: TEDxTryon organizers at a recent organizational meeting.