The University of Northern British Columbia is looking for speakers for its upcoming, and first-ever, TEDxUNBC.
You have until the end of the month to apply for the popular public speaking and idea-sharing conference series.
This year’s theme is “dispelling misconceptions.” Organizers are looking for presenters who bring new, eye-opening approaches to the status quo. There’s no guideline to potential topics; climate change, pop culture, art, science, and individual identities are just a few possibilities brought forth by organizers.
If you’re passionate and thinking outside of the box, event President and Curator Grant Bachand wants to hear your pitch.
“If you’re somebody from CNC, if you’re somebody from Northern Health, if you’re from anywhere in the community but you think you have an amazing talk you want to present, then we want to hear from you. This is not an exclusive event and the speakers don’t need to be associated with UNBC to speak at this event.”
TED is a nonprofit organization sharing short, online videos of “today’s leading thinkers and doers.” It holds an annual conference in Vancouver that’s hosted speakers such as Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, and Daniel Kahneman. TEDx is an independently organized, grass-roots spin-off of TED, which shares the same spirit and goals as the original.
By inviting our local, bright minds to present in this environment, Bachand hopes speakers will spark new ideas within in the community.
“So far, when organizing, I found out about people in our community who are amazing. There (are) people who are doing things that are internationally renowned and they’re from our community. Our community benefits by knowing about these people, knowing how they Inspire and how they do things, and then hopefully that will make (our community) want to do something and them want to take that extra step or give them the knowledge that they need to venture out on their own thing,” he says, “TED about inspiring ideas. What this whole event is to create a beacon for people who have crazy ideas who might not want to do it because they’re from Prince George, it does not matter, you can do it anywhere and TED this is a testament of that.”
The application process is broken down into three phases: the first asks for your ideas until May 31st. Those selected will then make a three-minute video to sample their speaking skills. The last stage is an audition in front of the event’s Speaker Selection Committee.
The conference will be September 30th in UNBC’s Canfor Theatre.
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