Lansing
x = independently organized TED event

This event occurred on
May 20, 2011
9:00am - 5:00pm EDT
(UTC -4hrs)
East Lansing, Michigan
United States

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, TEDTalks 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. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Wharton Center
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan, 48824
United States
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Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check event website for more information.

Andrea Collier

As Michigan tightens its belt to ride out the storm, the things that end up on the cutting room floor tend to be passion, innovation and creativity. But the best places to live are also the places that serve the best cake. They are the places that embrace the artists, the entrepreneurs, and all the people who put themselves out there for their art. And they are the places that understand that a really piece of cake is the core of a city’s civilization are the people who will help cities like Lansing grow.

Bobby Bringi

After finishing graduate school, Bobby spent over a dozen years developing and commercializing a breakthrough bio-based technology to produce an anti- cancer drug called Taxol. Learning along the way how to question how we can better advance promising technologies from the laboratory to market. The significant technology-readiness gap between early ideas and market-ready technologies is a recurring challenge. We need a system that allows us to succeed at failing. We need to identify the deal- breaker risks associated with a given idea, and use a disciplined experimentation process to rapidly generate empirical data to test these risks. Many ideas will fail and that is okay. Failing early, failing cheaply, and failing fast will let us direct investments to those ideas that are more likely to be viable. Once commercial viability is demonstrated, the path to market is more straightforward. If we are successful, we can turbo-charge entrepreneurial and commercial activity, since everyone can focus on those viable ideas that have a high probability of reaching the market.

Anne Hornak, PhD.

Individuals who self-identify as White in America often do not need to think about their racial identity because it has become ubiquitous in our society. The notion of Whiteness is everywhere and many norms and rules are based on a White culture. Anne explores being White for six individuals who took part in a 6-year longitudinal study that began to challenge their notion of race and Whiteness. The participants were encouraged to explore their definition of being White and what that means in a racial context.

Ivy Hughes

Ivy started reading the Bible — cover-to-cover — in June 2010. Not a religious person (she says 'God hates me') but because she wanted to understand why religion breeds so much hate and why her sister, who was going to church at the time, wanted nothing to do with her. Ivy documented her journey in her Thump Me Blog and posted twice a week, making last entry from her parents’ house Dec. 25, 2010 while grappling with the idea that she and her husband would divorce in 2011. The marriage fell apart in November 2010. People frequently ask what she learned from the Bible. Her answer: "I learned to trust myself". Hear the rest of Ivy's fascinating journey with us.

Garlin Gilchrist

During the 2008 Presidential Election season, Gilchrist served as the Social Media Manager for the Barack Obama campaign in Washington. In this capacity, Gilchrist used social networking and text messaging to engage more online volunteers during the final month of the campaign than any other state. Garlin is one of the many Detroit natives actively looking for the right opportunity to come home and be a part of Detroit's future. In his community of friends and colleagues that hail from Detroit, the desire is there virtually across the board, but they don't know exactly what their path is/should be. Where will they work? Will they live in the city of the suburbs? Is their old neighborhood still there? What about the schools? Detroit Diaspora will be a participatory storytelling space where returners can share their stories of return, those wanting to return can share their questions and have them answered and those seeking returners can contribute to concrete action plans for those wanting to return home. Returners will use this and other parts of the platform to ensure a productive transition to life back at home.

Sharon Emery

Sometime way-back-when, humans figured out that we need to interact in a meaningful way, so language – talking and listening –came to be. That was then. Today we focus on the production of sound rather than the thoughtful receipt of it. Our culture celebrates the glib, which poses a real challenge for people like Sharon, who stutters. Banter is not something stutterers do, which makes it very hard for you would-be listeners. You’ve in effect been disabled by the Culture of the Glib. Anything that veers from that standard throws you off course. They see you wince when they are speaking, look away or actually break out in what can only be assumed to be nervous laughter. Sharon will present on the social stigmas faced in life as a stutterer and how to listen, to really listen and hear, what one of our region's most experienced communicators has to say.

Jake Pechtel

In 2004, Jake met Sam Rivers, a very accomplished and still performing jazz musician, who said "the secret to life was to eat half of your food". At the time, it seemed like weight loss advice. It turned out to be some of the best advice he'd ever received, though it didn't hit until 2008. At that time, Jake made a major life decision: Give up his career so that his wife could keep doing what she loved to do. This meant moving out of their 1400 square foot loft apartment into a 700 square foot house. Half – as a concept – had returned to their life and became a new way of thinking. Sometimes the best advice in life comes to you when you aren’t ready to listen to it.

Theresa Bernardo

Theresa recently returned to MSU after working with the Americas Regional Office of the World Health Organization where she had first-hand exposure to the usefulness of social media in responding to the two most serious emergencies in the history of the organization. Tracing the evolution of the use of social media for emergencies, such as Pandemic H1N1 (swine flu) and the Haitian earthquake, she will discuss its potential to promote healthy people, communities, environments and economies. We have much to learn from social media natives not just about technology, but the collaborative behavior required for success in the 21st century. It is now time to show leadership in adopting 21st century tools and approaches that will be necessary to overcome the complex and inter-related challenges of energy use, management of water and other natural resources, and the resultant health of our ecosystems, economies and ourselves.

Tim Bograkos

The Tom Izzo Experience in 140 characters or less: Lessons that will transcend Sport and Business

Dave Hornak

What do we all have in common? We were all born. We all have parents. We all went to school in some capacity or another. Today, schools need support more than ever. Engaging family members can be rewarding and challenging. One mid-Michigan school has been successfully engaging family members and empowering children to make positive decisions each day. This conversation will grapple with why we do school the way we do school and discuss some solutions to many of the challenges schools are facing daily. Topics include: School gardens, walking school bus, engaging families, active engaged academic time, minimizing negative behaviors, alternative school calendars, and how to partner with your school to name a few.

Organizing team

Jennifer
Middlin

Lansing, MI, United States
Organizer
  • Robin Miner-Swartz
    Co-Director
  • Payal Ravani
    Co-Director
  • Jessica Knott
    Social Media
  • Betsy Weber
    Photography Lead