EDMONDS — Sno-Isle Libraries has announced plans for a TEDx event this fall at the Edmonds Center for the Arts.
The theme of the event, scheduled for Nov. 6, is “Creating New Futures.” The goal is to bring together “thought-provoking ideas and speakers,” said Ken Harvey, a Sno-Isle spokesman. Participants will include scientists, performers, artists and innovators, he said.
“We’re guaranteeing that people will be intrigued and challenged and will make some new mental and interpersonal connections that otherwise they would never have made.”
The topics, and who will speak on them, are still being discussed by an advisory group with representatives from nonprofits, government agencies, business and industry, education and health care, Harvey said.
Examples of some of the wide-ranging ideas being considered for the event are how privacy is affected when there are cameras everywhere, from smartphones to those worn by law enforcement officers and surveillance cameras posted along city streets, and how high-capacity transportation will transform the region.
The local event is based on the weeklong national TED events held twice a year to bring together leaders in technology, entertainment and design. On its website, the weeklong event is described as “the ultimate brain spa.”
The national events are pricey to attend. Harvey said the TEDx event in Edmonds will be free. Registration is expected to fill up quickly, even in a venue with 700 seats. Plans are under way to webcast the event to other locations so people can hear from participants live. “TED is really about spreading ideas to everyone,” Harvey said.
Among the early sponsors of the event are the Sno-Isle Library Foundation, Economic Alliance Snohomish County, the Future of Flight Aviation Center and The Daily Herald. If the initial event in Edmonds is successful, Sno-Isle hopes to organize more over the next several years, Harvey said.
Sno-Isle decided to help plan a TEDx event in part because the role of public libraries is to be a center for people, ideas and culture, Harvey said. “That’s what we intend this to be,” he said. “We want to be a doorway to those ideas.”
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
TEDx in Edmonds
A TEDx program is scheduled Nov. 6 at the Edmonds Center for the Arts. More information is available at sno-isle.org/tedxsnoislelibraries. People can sign up to be notified when registration opens and suggest a topic or speaker. Program suggestions will be accepted until May 31.
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