In The Valley, Press Release

TEDx Lehigh River to add to world’s most inspiring ideas



TEDx Lehigh River will be the regional version of the international phenomenon.  Applications for free tickets to the event are being accepted through 9/16/14.

TEDx Lehigh River to add to world’s most inspiring ideas  

2nd annual event on 9/27 to feature short, powerful presentations
from eight Lehigh Valley residents with breakthrough thoughts 

 

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – (August 30, 2014) – Eight Lehigh Valley residents have ideas that they think can change the world.

 

And they’re working on the biggest presentation of their lives to deliver their powerful and compelling concepts at the second annual TEDx Lehigh River event, Sept. 27, 2014, 1 p.m., at Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown.
 

A community-based volunteer initiative, TEDx Lehigh River is an independently organized TED event that brings together a diverse group of speakers and audience members to participate in a program of engaging and thought-provoking presentations and conversation. The first TEDx Lehigh River was held in April 2013 with the Allentown Symphony Association, Lehigh University, and PBS39 as the founding partners.

TEDx Lehigh River is modeled after hundreds of other TEDx events worldwide. TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science and business to global issues and personal development — in more than 100 languages. More than 1,800 TED presentations logging hundreds of millions of views are available at ted.com.

A limited number of free tickets will be available though tedxlehighriver.com to watch the presentations live. Interested individuals must submit their request to attend along with an explanation of why they want to be part of the TEDx Lehigh River experience. A subcommittee of TEDx Lehigh River will curate the submissions and identify audience members most likely to share the presenters’ passion for original, breakthrough ideas. Attendance requests are due by September 16; selected attendees will be notified by September 17.

The program theme for this year’s event will be Giant Steps. “As the Lehigh Valley’s population grows and development continues to soar, the TEDx Lehigh River Organizing Committee agreed upon a topic that reflects both the strides our region is taking and the power of individual ideas,” says Dave Willard, TEDx Lehigh River Lead Organizer.

Speakers and topics for this year’s event include: 

  • Bryan Tuk, Attorney, Eastburn and Gray, PC – Of Two Minds – A dynamic personality can lead to enhanced personal satisfaction in a world of labels and judgment.

  • Kevin Bahler, Grant Writer, Allentown Symphony Association – How to Introduce Yourself – How you introduce yourself is usually the weakest explanation of who you really are.

  • Rick Boulay, M.D., Lehigh Valley Health Network – Cancerism: Confronting the Biases We Share – Our precious time and heartfelt hopes should not be abandoned easily.

  • Robert M. Gordon, Psychologist – The Power of the Apology – There are three parts of a meaningful, heartfelt apology — and most people don’t get more than one right.

  • Zach Gray, Lehigh University Student – Giving and Receiving Help is about More than Just Help – Thirty days of helping others led to a revolution.

     

  • Tim Lytle, Developer Evangelist, Nexmo – Don’t be Good at What You Do; Do What You are Good at – In a future filled with automated buildings, self-driving cars, and computers in every device – what will be left for humans to do?

     

  • Katy Worrilow, Founder and CEO, LifeAire Systems, LLC – Noissap – From disappointment and devastation comes great things.

     

  • Rebecca Einstein Schorr, Rabbi and Writer –  How I Got 75 Rabbis to Shave Their Heads –

     “All of us at Miller Symphony Hall are very excited to be hosting TEDx Lehigh River this year,” says Sheila Evans, Executive Director, Allentown Symphony Association. “Our historic theatre has been a landmark within the Lehigh Valley for many years.  It is a great location to have a program of cutting edge speakers and leading innovators in our revitalized Allentown Downtown.

    Miller Symphony Hall is located at 23 N. 6th Street, Allentown, Pa. For more information or to see clips from the first TEDx Lehigh River event hosted on April 6, 2013, visit https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/8073 or https://www.facebook.com/TEDxLehighRiver.

    NEED TO UPDATE: The TEDx Lehigh River Organizing Committee is comprised of Christine Bauder, Allentown Symphony Association;  Destinee Deely, Muscular Dystrophy Association; John Dodds, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.; Michael Drabenstott, Spark; Sheila Evans, Allentown Symphony Association; Tim Fallon, PBS39; Lisa Getzler-Linn, Baker Institute, Lehigh University; Jessie Heimann, PBS39; Carolyn Katwan; Linda Kempf, PBS39; Jon Lunger, ArtsQuest; Wagner Previato, WDIY; Dave Willard; and Megan Yost, PBS39.

    About TEDx Lehigh River

    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 = 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).TEDx Lehigh River, now in its second year, is committed to bringing the TED experience to the greater Lehigh Valley.

     

    About TED

    TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Started as a four-day conference in California almost 30 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes on a diverse mix of topics. Many of these talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The TED2014 Conference will take place in Vancouver, British Columbia, along with the TEDActive simulcast in neighboring Whistler. TEDGlobal 2014 will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TED Talks are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; and TEDBooks, short e-books on powerful ideas. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world get help translating their wishes into action; TEDx, which supports individuals or groups in hosting local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.