TEDx event coming to Holton in January

“Ideas worth spreading” is the goal of an internationally-known mini-conference that a Holton High School senior is working to bring to her hometown this winter.

Penny’s on the west side of Holton’s Town Square will host a TEDx event — a localized offshoot of the global TED conferences — on Monday, Jan. 11, under the guidance of Maddie Foster, a senior at HHS who said that with the upcoming free event, she is “hoping to reach a different crowd than many activities in Holton already do.”

TED — an acronym for “Technology, Entertainment and Design” — is, by its motto, a global organization dedicated to “ideas worth spreading,” mainly through short lectures known as “TED Talks” that Foster said she and others enjoy watching. The “x” in TEDx, according to the organization’s Web site, signifies an “independently organized TED event” that any individual or group with a desire to “spread new ideas” may put together.

“Many people have never even heard of TED Talks, so our goal is the same as the TED organization — to spread new ideas,” said Foster, who is organizing the event with assistance from Erin Lassey of Penny’s. “We decided that it could be a new, fresh idea to hold an actual TED event and give the community a chance to expand their ideas and possibly start up a new activity for those of Holton.

“There aren’t always events available for all ages who want to expand their knowledge and viewpoints, so I want to eventually hold events like this more often and allow people in the community to share their ideas as well,” Foster added.

TED began in 1984 as a one-off conference led by architect and graphic designer Richard Saul Wurman, who “observed a convergence of the fields of technology, entertainment and design,” it was reported. That first conference featured demonstrations of then-new technologies such as the Apple Macintosh computer and the compact disc, along with presentations from leaders in the field of computers.

Although that first conference was not a success, it resurfaced in 1990 as an annual event that expanded to include not only those in the fields of technology, entertainment and design, but also scientists, philosophers, musicians and others. Since then, more than 30,000 “TED Talks” have been archived at the organization’s Web site, it was reported.

TEDx was created to support independent organizers who want to create a TED-like event in their own communities, according to the organization’s Web site. The TED conference provides general guidance for TEDx programs, but individual TEDx events, such as the one being organized by Foster and Lassey, are self-organized and feature mainly filmed “TED Talks,” Foster said.

These events can be organized by anyone who obtains a free license from TED, although they must agree to follow certain principles, it was reported. Foster said she had originally planned to have the local TEDx event in November, but the date was pushed back to January to satisfy license application time allotments, she added.

For this particular TEDx event, all participants will view the same TED talks, with topics such as whether school systems are “killing” creativity, human trafficking, early cancer detection and others to be determined. There will also be a time for group discussion of topics presented at the event, Foster said.

For more information about the Holton event, visit the TED Web site at http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/17474