by Kelly Rogge
Time still remains to register for Kansas City Kansas Community College’s TedxWyandotte event later this week. The goal is to encourage community members to come together to discuss ideas and solutions to issues within their own community.
The 2016 TedxWyandotte event, “Ideas.Friction.Dialogue,” starts with food and drinks at 6 p.m. Nov. 17 at the KCKCC Performing Arts Center, 7250 State Ave. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. It will feature approximately five presenters speaking on the theme of ideas creating friction, which generates dialogue.
General admission is $20. Groups of 10 or more can attend for $15 each. KCKCC students can attend for free with student identification, but must register in advance. A current student ID must be presented at the door with the ticket or you will be required to pay the admission fee. Admission includes the event, refreshments and a T-shirt. KCKCC is the lead sponsor for TEDxWyandotte.
TED, a nonprofit organization, started as a four-day conference in California almost 30 years ago and has grown to support “world-changing ideas” with multiple initiatives. In the spirit of Ideas Worth Spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event. TED speakers have included people such as Bill Gates, Jane Goodall and Sir Richard Branson, among many others. In addition, TED has created TED Prize, an annual award given to “exceptional individuals” who want to change the world. Award winners get help in translating their plans and ideas into actions.
Speakers at this year’s event include:
• Andrea Dahl – “An Unheard Impact on Climate Change” – is a high school student who discovered climate change has a “significant effect” on penguins living on the Antarctic Peninsula.
• Tai-Jung (Fofo) Tsai and Johnathon Westcott – “Percussive Art through Sound and Motion” – is a performance that will explore the boundaries of what music can be through a combination of rhythms derived from popular music, hand gestures, freely composed rhythms and dialogue.
• Michelle Tyrene Johnson – “Storytelling as Advocacy” – will speak on how storytelling is a way to talk to each other instead of talking past each other.
• Jerry Jones – “Increasing the Speed of Social Change: Advancing Health, Education and Justice” – is the executive director of the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County. He will share his insights on the need to increase the speed of social change for advances in health outcomes, education and race relations.
• The Rev. Amir Tawadrous – “Breaking Down Stereotypes; a Story of a Middle Eastern Pastor” – is a Coptic Presbyterian minister from Egypt. He will talk about breaking down stereotypes as a Middle Eastern pastor in the Midwest.
TEDxWyandotte offers the community a forum in which to hear local stories from people involved in making change happen. Organized by local volunteers, the annual event is in its third year.
For more information on TEDxWyandotte or to register, visit tedxwyandotte.org.
Information is also available by visiting TedxWyandotte’s Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/TEDxWyandotte or by contacting Marisa Gray, TEDxWyandotte Organizing Committee and KCKCC staff member at [email protected] or 913-288-7163.