Tickets available for second TEDx Youngstown

By Denise Dick

denise_dick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The second TEDx Youngstown is all about “Breaking Boundaries.”

The event begins at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 23 and will run throughout the day inside the Ford Theater in Bliss Hall at Youngstown State University.

TED — Technology, Entertainment and Design — started in the 1980s and continues as a series of conferences around the world. The “x” means the event is independently organized.

“The theme this year is ‘Breaking Boundaries,’” said Lorilyn Shandor, event curator. “We’re going to take a look at boundaries that have been broken, that will be broken and that need to be broken.”

The 14 speakers come areas of human trafficking, bioethics, alternative protein, 3-D printing and sexual orientation.

That’s something that’s different this year. The organizing committee identified topics on which speakers would focus.

“We sought out regional experts on those topics rather than having open applications and auditions,” Shandor said.

Speakers include professional magician Jason Alan; Kevin Bachhuber, founder of Big Cricket Farms, the country’s first urban edible-insect farm; Brian Alls, photographer, creative director and tech start-up founder, who will talk about maker communities; and Dr. Mike Sevilla, a Salem family physician who is a national speaker on social media and medicine.

Shandor said committee members chose topics they believed where relevant to what’s happening in the community and would encourage conversation among attendees.

Tickets are $75 each and available at http://tedx-youngstown.com. The price includes parking and lunch.

On Jan. 21 and Jan. 22, organizers will launch student and senior rush, offering remaining tickets for half price to full-time college students and individuals older than 60 in the community.

“We really want to make events more accessible to college students and seniors in the community,” Shandor said.

Bliss Hall’s Ford Theater offers more space than the auditorium inside YSU’s Williamson College of Business, last year’s event venue.

Last year’s TEDx Youngtown sold out its 100 tickets. This year, 300 tickets are available, and sales are brisk, Shandor said.

Another change this year is the time between sessions.

Each speaker’s talk will range between 10 and 18 minutes. Breaks, after every four to five speakers, will run about 30 minutes.

“We wanted more time for attendees to think over the topics and talk about them,” Shandor said.