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).

Harbison Theater
7300 College St.
Irmo, South Carolina, 29063
United States

Nick Wilson

Principal creative at The Half and Half - a design and printmaking studio in Columbia, SC. Widely known for concert and event posters, Nick has been recognized national for design and screen printing.

Dr. Carl Wells

Assistant Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs at the University of South Carolina. A master trainer and diversity consultant, he has worked with numerous corporations, universities and government agencies.

Cassie Premo Steele

Writing and creativity coach with two decades of experience teaching in university and community settings. She is the author of nine books of scholarship, fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

Julie Smithwick

Executive Director of PASOs, a community-based organization that empowers grassroots Latino leaders across South Carolina to educate their peers in the area of reproductive health, and improve access to services for women and their families.

Shane Slattery-Quintanilla

Documentary filmmaker who wrote, co-produced and edited The Ballard of Esequiel Henandez, an Emmy-nominated documentary about the killing of an 18-year-old American high school student by the Marines.

J. J. Shephard

Ph.D. cadidate in computer science. His research focuses on "serious games" that have been used to teach foreign languages, generate simulations, visualize complex biological data, and aid in speech therapy.

Linda Salane

Executive Director of the Leadership Institute at Columbia College. She is on a mission to train future generations of leaders -- women leaders in particular.

Chris Robinson

Professor of Art and member of the NanoCenter at the University of South Carolikna. His work focuses on the cross-disciplinary relationships between art and the complexity of contemporary science and technology.

Dr. Oscar Lovelace

Rural family physician in Prosperity, SC and advocate for reformed healthcare policy. Among his many accolades, he was most recently name South Carolina Family Doctor of the Year in 2011 by the South Carolina Academy of Family Physicians.

Dr. Jamie Lead

Endowed Chair in Nanoenvironmental Science at the University of South Carolina. His research focuses on understanding nanoscale phenomena in the environment, including natural nanomaterials, manufactured nanomaterials and their interaction.

Rachel Hatton

Licensed social worker and Director of Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion Programs at Senior Resources, Inc. These programs match up low-income seniors with volunteer positions in schools and with home-bound elderly citizens.

Dr. Erica Gibson

Medical anthropologist at the University of South Carolina. For the past three years, she has been working with Mexican immigrant women in South Carolina as well as women in Veracruz, Mexico on reproductive health issues surround pregnancy and birth.

Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson

Director of the Marine Science Program at the University of South Caorlina where her research focuses on ocean biogeochemistry, global climate change and marine toxins.

Pedro De Abreu

A non-profit leader, entrepreneure, author and student, British publishing house Marshall Cavendish recently featured him, along with 24 entrepreneurs from around the world, in the book Young Entrepreneur World: How 25 Teen-Treprenenurs Succeeded and Left World Leaders Scratching Their Heads.

Chase Mizzell

Student Body Vice President at the University of South Carolina where he studies international business and entrepreneurship. Chase is also the founder of Second Servings -- a food donation program that pairs on-campus dining halls with local homeless shelters.