TEDx Idaho State University

Presenting New Ideas

An Idaho State University international student has taken a lead role in organizing a local TEDx forum, during which local speakers will share their visions for improving the community. TED Conferences LLC, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, posts talks online for free distribution using the slogan “ideas worth spreading.” TEDx is an offshoot program, with independently organized talks that receive a free license under TED. ISU’s TEDx is scheduled for Oct. 26 in the Black Box Theater of the Stephens Performing Arts Center. The topic will be “2030, WhereAre We Headed?”. The student organizers hope to make TEDx talks an annual campus event. Ritesh Yadav, an ISU undergraduate from Nepal studying business informatics in the College of Business, applied for a license to host the event and got it approved in December. He said TED is a global name, and many of his professors have used recorded TEDx presentations to explain concepts relevant to their curriculum. Ritesh’s co-organizer on the project is Katie Wright, an ISU undergraduate who was raised in Pocatello. “When I interact with professors, they are always excited about the new ideas of where the world is headed, about new creations and about new research,” Yadav said, explaining the forward-looking theme of the planned event. Yadav was inspired to organize an ISU event after attending TEDx at Boise State University last October. “That day, I was able to understand the wide diversity of what our world is headed toward,” Yadav said. “It amazed me how a small talk of 10 minutes can give you such an amazing idea of what the world is like and what we have.” TEDx rules will limit the audience to 100 spectators in the first year, and organizers expect tickets to sell out. The event will include a dinner in the rotunda of the Stephens Center, where spectators can mingle with presenters.

By John O’Connell, Idaho State Journal