TEDxIIT - Gaining Momentum!
Many of you have probably heard of TED - Technology, Entertainment and Design. For those of you who have not, TED is an international organization with speakers from all over the world who speak on various topics. The goal of TED is talking about “ideas worth spreading”. TED speakers talk about topics ranging from science, to engineering, design, leadership and a variety of other things. The first TED event at IIT was organized last spring at the Kent Auditorium with the apt theme of “Breaking Through” by TEDxIIT, the IIT student organization with a special license from TED. This spring, the theme, building upon last year’s, is going to be “Gaining Momentum”.
At the first TEDxIIT meeting on last Friday, and as expected, there was a lot of excitement. Amy Lee Segami an IIT alumna and former TEDxPeachtree speaker was present for the meeting. Students participated in a number of brainstorming activities, one of which was to write down words representing the vision for the next TEDxIIT event. Among the most resounding were inspiring, global, huge and connecting. Judging by the kind of vision that was seen at the meeting, it is safe to say that the TEDxIIT event is going to be a huge success when it happens on April 14th, 2012.
The event is planned to last all day at the IIT Tower, with seating for 100 people, according to TED regulations. Entry will be free of cost to IIT students, but those interested in attending will have to submit why they want to attend the talk. Only those with solid reasons will get to gain entry, since this is organized to be a high profile event with eminent speakers flying in for the day. The event will also be streamed live globally, so everyone can still watch the magic on their laptops. This may not be as cool as actually being there, but it certainly is not a bad bargain!
A few weeks prior to the talks, there will be small events at the Bog to get the student body excited for the full event, so if you are interested, watch out for those! Everyone should apply to go, because not only will this be a fantastic learning experience, but it is also going to be a great networking event with important people from IIT as well as the community attending. So watch out for the application when it opens, and maybe you will get to go! If you want to get more involved with the organization aspect of TEDxIIT, watch out for timing announcements on IIT Today, and on Facebook. It is an honor to have a TED event here on campus, and a fantastic chance to watch some of the best speakers around in action!
