EDMONDS — The first six of more than two dozen people anticipated to speak at a Nov. 6 TEDx conference have been announced, and they include a documentary film maker, the head of a Mukilteo aerospace company, a former astronaut and the mayor of Arlington.
The free, day-long event, called “Creating New Futures,” will be held at the Edmonds Center for the Arts. The goal is “bringing together some of the brightest minds and the work that they’re doing and putting it on a stage,” said Ken Harvey, a spokesman for Sno-Isle Libraries, which has helped organize the event.
Speakers were chosen after talking with leaders from business and industry, government, non-profit groups and public library organizations and asking “what are some of the great ideas that are happening in our region and who might be some individuals who could speak to those ideas,” Harvey said.
TEDx is a local offshoot of TED talk events, organized to bring together leaders in technology, entertainment and design.
The topics each person will speak on in Edmonds won’t be disclosed prior to the day of the conference because “I want to leave some suspense,” Harvey said.
The names of the first six speakers participating in the event are:
Ben Hempstead, chief of staff of ElectroImpact, Inc in Mukilteo. “ElectroImpact is one of those organizations doing work that is highly respected and sought after by major aerospace companies around the world and need equipment and systems that do incredible things,” Harvey said.
Barbara Tolbert, best known locally as Arlington’s mayor but also an aviator who became executive director of the Arlington Fly-In in 1994. She was elected mayor in 2011 and helped guide the city through the Oso mudslide disaster.
Evan Briggs was trained as an international human rights lawyer who switched careers to become a documentary filmmaker. She is an adjunct professor at Seattle University. Her film, “Present Perfect,” explores aging in America by documenting a year in a preschool housed within a retirement home.
Jeff Ericson, who has combined his Camano Island Coffee Roasters business with a desire to make the world a better place. He lectures around the world on social business, sustainability and the effect of ethics in business practices.
Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger participated in a resupply mission to the International Space Station. She retired from the astronaut corps in 2014 and is now finishing a degree in applied geosciences at the University of Washington.
Matt Cail owns Super Charge Marketing in Lynnwood. He previously worked in telecommunications and other consulting jobs for Congress.
The full list of speakers will be announced later this month.
Plans for the Edmonds TEDx event were first announced in the spring. It is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and end at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 6. Although no tickets remain for auditorium seats at the Edmonds Center for the Arts, there are a variety of ways that people can participate in the event, Harvey said.
The events will be webcast to public viewing rooms at the Camano Island, Coupeville, Darrington, Edmonds, Freeland, Granite Falls, Lynnwood, Marysville, Monroe, and Snohomish libraries. Due to limited seating at each venue, the public needs to register to attend. Viewing sites also will be available at both Edmonds and Everett community colleges.
“There’s something really fascinating that happens when individual watches a TED talk with others,” Harvey said. The talks are intended to encourage new ways of thinking. So having others with whom to discuss what was said “can result in some delightful ah-ha moments,” he said.
“The original TED talk really took off because attendees were experiencing those new connections both from what they heard on stage and during the breaks when they chatted with other attendees,” Harvey said.
Sometimes the most important connections happened during breaks, he said “We’re designing the day with breaks intended to enhance those connections,” Harvey said.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com
The TEDx talk is scheduled 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Edmonds Center for the Arts, 410 Fourth Avenue N. More information on the event is available www.sno-isle.org/tedx
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