MEDIA ADVISORY: MU Students Bring TED Talks to Columbia

February 14th, 2012

By Brad Fischer

WHAT: For 25 years, Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED), which is a non-profit organization, has devoted itself to “ideas worth spreading.” The annual, international TED conferences bring together notable experts and celebrities to present new ideas. Many of these “TED Talks” have gained wide notoriety through online video viewing. Now, TED is spreading to the University of Missouri.

TED allows individuals to create and host their own events, modeled after these conferences, called TEDx events. A group of MU students have founded TEDxMU, an organization devoted to hosting a TED conference in Columbia. Leading up to the conference on April 14, TEDxMU will host weekly TEDxTuesday discussion and screening sessions beginning Feb. 14. At the seminars, students and the general public will watch a TED Talk. Following the talk, participants will discuss the issues and ideas presented by the speaker. At the first seminar, participants will watch and discuss NYU professor Clay Shirky’s lecture, “Clay Shirky’s Why SOPA is Bad.”

In addition, the organization will host a screening of “TED 2012 Full Spectrum” on Feb. 29. TED Full Spectrum is one of the international conferences held annually in Long Beach, Calif.

On April 14, MU students and community members will come together to discuss new ideas. The event’s theme is “Innovation Through Collaboration.”

WHO: MU students, faculty and the general public

WHEN &

WHERE: TEDxTuesday discussions will take place at 2 p.m. every Tuesday from Feb. 14 to March 20. Discussions held on Feb. 28 and March 6 will be in Memorial Union, Room N206. Other discussions will be held in Memorial Union S110.

The TED Full Spectrum screening will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Feb. 29 in The Shack at the MU Student Center.

The main TEDxMU conference will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Saturday, April 14 in the Fred W. Smith Forum, located inside the Reynolds Journalism Institute.

NOTE: The discussions and TED Full Spectrum screening are free and open to the public. To attend the main conference on April 14, those wanting to attend must submit an application and, if accepted, pay a $20 fee. For more information on the event series, or to apply to attend the TEDxMU conference, please visit TEDxMizzou.com.