Saturday April 23, 2016 Gustavus hosted its third annual TEDx conference.
TEDx derives its name from the TED organization, which began in 1984 and gets its acronoymous name from the intersection of technology, entertainment, and design. In comparison to TED events and talks, TEDx conferences are more locally based, and broadly focused on “ideas worth spreading”.
Saturday’s conference was centered around the theme “ENGAGE!” and featured 8 speakers with talks such as “Sparking Goodness”, “Knowing Your Worth”, and “What Does it Take to Push the Racially Biased System, and Fail?” among others.
“The idea of Tedx is to get speakers to share their stories and ideas with the world for free through collecting videos” – Luke Israel
The event was put on by Community Based Service and Learning (CBSL) with a board in charge of the events comprised of 6 students, 1 faculty member, and one graduate intern. The team worked together the whole year meeting weekly to plan and create the event. The event sold out this year, filling Wallenburg Auditorium in Nobel.
One speaker was a Gustavus Alum, Paul Batz, whose daughter Anna Batz is a current sophomore. Paul Batz spoke on how shared values, good intentions, and concern for others allow leaders to thrive in all kinds of conditions.
“It was a fun and energetic atmosphere and it was cool to see my dad as a part of it,” Anna Batz said.
“I think people left with new ideas and ways they can shape their own lives a little better” – Ben Michalicek
“Ted talks are good for students because we get to have off campus perspectives on important topics,” Batz added.
Israel echoed her sentiment on the importance of the talks.
“I think that conferences like ours are incredible opportunities to share knowledge and ideas as well as make connections to others interested the topics being discussed. The idea of TEDx is to get speakers to share their stories and ideas with the world for free through collecting videos. Conferences like ours add value to their goal and the global community as they act as a type of crowdsourcing for knowledge and experience,” Israel said.
The event lasted from 12:30-5:00 p.m., and the feeling was that most people left energized and brimming with new ideas and thoughts. Junior Ben Michalicek was another student who helped work on the event starting in January.
“A lot of attendees talked about how much they enjoyed it. We brought in a lot of energy and sparked some fires, and I think people left with new ideas and ways they can shape their own lives a little better, and also ways they can help shape others’ lives. That’s the mission statement of Tedx conferences ideas worth spreading,” Michalicek said.