Saturday, May 30, 2015
YOUNGSTOWN
The first TEDx-YoungstownWomen connected local women with well-known speakers and experts Friday morning.
The event took place at the Fifth Floor restaurant in the Commerce Building, 201 E. Commerce St., downtown. The local event video- streamed speakers from Thursday’s international TEDWomen conference.
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.
A live TEDxYoungstown event featuring 14 local speakers took place at Youngstown State University in January.
“We decided that we want to start branching out,” Lori Shandor, curator of TEDx-Youngstown, said. “This year we wanted to see what kind of response we get [with this event].”
TEDxYoungstown- Women was broken down into morning and afternoon sessions. Both sessions had different themes: seduce and sustain.
Shandor said they selected the themes that came with recognizable speakers such as former President Jimmy Carter; Billie Jean King, former world No. 1 professional tennis player; and Maria Bello, actor and activist.
“There’s been a lot of activity in the Mahoning Valley about empowering women,” Shandor said.
About 50 people registered for the first session with the second session as optional to allow some flexibility for attendees’ work schedules.
“TEDxYoungstown was so successful that a more- targeted subject group should be interesting,” said Gina DeAngelo of Canfield and owner of the Massage Cafe, 4259 Boardman- Canfield Road. “As a woman in business, I’m interested in networking with women.”
Yvonne Fayaid of Boardman agreed. “It’s fitting that they’re celebrating women here.”
The next TEDx-Youngstown event will take place live in January, Shandor said.