Theme: What Matters Next

Last year NASA, NIA and our industry and community partners worked together to combine the unique format and intrigue of TED with the ingenuity and reach of NASA. TED presenters are known for posing intriguing questions. NASA is known for inventive solutions. Together, in TEDxNASA, they create a vehicle for discovery, an opportunity for exposure to new ideas, and to revisit traditional ones from a new perspective. The result is an inspiring, one day, interactive conference designed to engage its participants and promote the exchange of ideas worth spreading. My thought was to combine the generally analytical NASA thinkers with the creative, more free thinking entertainers and musicians. This is how the conference came to include scientists and musicians, artists and engineers, authors and visionaries. Each expert, performer and video was intentionally selected to deliver a powerful message somehow relating to creativity, innovation, or an idea worth spreading. Attendees were given time to participate in open discussions in the belief that by bringing together thought leaders from a variety of professions, great ideas and solutions will emerge.

Imagine as you walk up the pathway to the building’s entry, surprises abound. Entering the lobby is like wandering into a wonderland, filled with cutting edge exhibits to elicit curiosity and tantalize the senses. Presenters are unconventional. Their presentations are extraordinary, quick, but intricate, while still relating to the conference theme – What Matters Next.

Ferguson Center for the Arts
Christopher Newport University
1 University Place
Newport News, Virginia, 23606
United States