In hopes of igniting a change in the world through inspiring stories, TEDxPSU will host its third-annual conference March 17 in Schwab Auditorium.
The mission of the conference is to bring together innovative and thought-provoking individuals from the Penn State community and the world to share ideas worth spreading, according to the event’s website.
“TEDxPSU is all about taking the smartest people you know, people with a passion for this topic, and giving them the opportunity to share their ideas and get their ideas across,” Ali Pump, TEDxPSU director of communications, said. “It’s about being that spark that can change the world.”
The theme of the event, which was decided by the TEDxPSU team, is Yesterday’s Frontiers and Tomorrow’s Horizons.
“I love the broadness of the theme because it doesn’t limit topics,” Pump (senior-public relations and history) said. “It will explore how boundaries affect who we are today and how we can take inspirational stories of the past and marry them to the future.”
On Monday, members of the event team were stationed on the first floor of the HUB-Robeson Center to give students more information on the organization and help get students get involved through volunteering.
“We need a lot of volunteers on the day of the event to welcome attendees and help speakers out,” Sean Meadows, TEDxPSU curator, said. “We encourage the community to share these ideas and start connections that otherwise wouldn’t be possible.”
Alex Murdoch, director of operations, said the TEDxPSU team is looking forward to seeing the community grow through the talks at the event.
“At the upcoming conference, I think we want to see growth in the community because it’s great if you have ideas, but if you can’t implement or spread them, then they are of no use,” Murdoch (junior-biochemistry and business) said. “In previous conferences, we’ve had great talks and a great showing of the community, but not so much with PSU. We are really interested in empowering people to spread their own ideas.”
As of now, those who will speak at the conference have not been announced. However, Pump said the team is working to make the conference the best it can be.
“We haven’t unveiled our speakers yet, and it is still an ongoing process because we really want to get it right,” Pump said. “We do weekly meetings, and we are trying to create experience of how we can use the community and provide great content.”
Tonight at 7 p.m. in 117 Osmond, the organization will hold its first community meeting where students can volunteer to help out, share their own ideas, learn how to be a better speaker or even volunteer to share their own TED talk, Pump said.
The organization will also hold “adventures” leading up to the conference to get the community engaged.
“The adventures are meet-ups for the community to participate and get engaged in the community and excited for the conference itself,” Meadows (senior-information science and technology and security and risk analysis) said. “I can not wait to get the first adventure underway because it will be exciting to get it moving.”
