TEDxUIdaho is the only TEDx event on a university campus in Idaho or on the Palouse.
Saturday’s fifth annual event is a chance to learn from eight speakers as they share their passions and expertise.
Those presenting include University of Idaho students and professors, as well as members of the Moscow community. They will speak from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Administration Building Auditorium.
Yvonne Nyavor, event organizer, said TEDx is similar to the mainstream TED Talks, with the goal of highlighting ideas and stories people should hear. There are TEDx events organized each day throughout the world, such as university campuses, cities and towns.
“Even if they aren’t things that people agree with, it is a place for idea dissemination and discussion,” Nyavor said. “We can actually talk and get to learn more, and hopefully, leave with our perspectives’ changed or inspiration to go out and basically make a change in the world.”
All people should attend to share ideas and gain new or different perspectives.
Speakers are chosen based on their expertise, overall merit and community involvement, or a year round application process of what they would like to talk about and how they are qualified.
“We all benefit from having expanded world views and perspectives. We all benefit from being inspired and motivated. We all benefit from learning new things,” Nyavor said. “Our audience is everyone.”
Giving a TEDx speech on the zero waste movement last year, Mary Alice Taylor made the point that everyone making little changes in their lives is more important than one person making a huge change.
“Knowing I made an impact was definitely the best part about giving a TED Talk,” the UI third-year student said. “All of the people coming up to me afterwards and telling me something I said resonated with them and mattered, and that they were going to try and make changes in their life after hearing my talk was the best.”
Students should attend because it is a great opportunity, since it broadens views on a variety of topics, Taylor said. Hearing other peoples’ stories is powerful and impactful — there is a lot to absorb in one day.
“I think TED Talks are important because they are easy to relate to, cover such broad topics and they’re short, so it’s not something that requires a lot of time out of the day to watch,” Taylor said. “There are a lot of benefits to them.”
Allison Spain can be reached at [email protected]