TEDxMuskegon is Thursday, Nov. 7 from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Beardsley Theater of the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Muskegon.
MUSKEGON, MI – Tickets are still available for Thursday afternoon, Nov. 7’s TEDxMuskegon event at the Beardsley Theater in the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Muskegon.
This year’s locally-organized TED event has been put together around the theme of “reinvention.” The program of 12 short inspirational talks will be from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
For those unable to attend the event, the entire afternoon will be live streamed on the Internet at the TEDxMuskegon website: www.tedxmuskegon.com.
TED – technology, entertainment and design – is a global non-profit movement that encourages special events that feature “ideas worth spreading.” The TED talks – 15-minute messages – have become some of the most-watched videos on the Internet and have inspired a weekly, one-hour TED Radio Show on National Public Radio.
The speaker lineup is:
• Kimberly Sims, a Muskegon Heights City Council member and community activist, will talk about “weed and seed” in her home community.
• Barbara Lee, a vocational specialist for Kandu Industries and author, will discuss reinventing a “marriage ethic” with a “sexual ethic.”
• Todd Conrad, high school football coach and teacher at Mona Shores High School, will explore “collaborative competition.”
• Patrice Johnson, Muskegon Heights mayor pro tem, will reveal “the secret” in Muskegon Heights.
• Evan Tylenda, a sustainability advocate from Grand Rapids and a finance and accounting graduate, will discuss “responsible investing” in reinventing the way we invest our dollars.
• Joshua Davis, an American-Jewish song writer from Lansing, will wade into the Palestinian issues after an inspirational trip to the West Bank.
• Chris Willis of Media 1, a Grand Haven consultant on organizational improvement, will speak on human capital and re-inventing work.
• Dr. Joseph Salisz, a Muskegon urologist, will speak about his own journey with cancer and the local development of a “stoma” appliance that has revolutionized ostomy care.
• Dan Gorman, school food service director for Montague and Whitehall schools, will look at bringing “fresh” back into the national school lunch program.
• James Kendra, a social studies teacher at Kenowa Hills Middle school and Muskegon Community College graduate, will tell about a “content-free” social studies class that is about motivation, not memorization.
• Mark Peters, CEO of Butterball Farms Inc. in Grand Rapids, will speak on “lifetime employment” in an era of skill gaps and how communities can address having the needed workforce.
Besides the talks, TEDxMuskegon will have a musical performance by Eddie Sanders Jr. of Muskegon Heights and an online improv from the “Whose Tweet Is It Anyway” troupe.
Tickets are $30 and several dozen seats remained available as of Tuesday noon. More information on tickets can be found on the TEDxMuskegon website and can be purchased the day of the event at the door if they are still available, organizers said.
The event will conclude with an after party at Fricano’s Place, 1050 W. Western Ave.
Dave Alexander covers business and local government for MLive/The Muskegon Chronicle. Email him at dalexan1@mlive.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.