TEDxDetroit returns Wednesday, ready to inspire the region with 30 speakers who have ties to Michigan. The annual event is an independently-organized subgroup of the national TED conference, which localizes the sharing of ideas about technology, entertainment and design.
“It’s tech, it’s business, it’s art,” said Charlie Wollborg, TEDxDetroit’s executive producer and curator. “It’s all together just to kind of put new ideas in your head and re-light the fire in your belly.”
Wollborg said “bridges” is one of this year’s dominant themes.
Renée Walker, president of Renée Walker and Associates in West Bloomfield, will speak on the value of burning bridges, while Justin Turk, CEO and founder of Livegistics in Detroit, a tech platform for contractors, will discuss bridging the world between construction and technology.
Benji Rosenzweig will give a talk on communicating without traditional bridges. Rosenzweig’s daughter lives with Coffin-Siris Syndrome, a rare condition where a missing “bridge” between her two brain hemispheres limits her ability to speak.
“Communication challenges don’t mean a lack of ability to communicate,” he said. “And people with communication challenges often understand a lot more than we give them credit for.”
Other speakers include Stefan Tongur, vice president of business development for Electreon, who will discuss the latest in self-charging roads for electric cars.
Sarah Welch, chief culinary officer and partner at Detroit-based Marrow restaurant, will ask people to re-examine how they look at food waste.
“I want people to essentially, every time they open their trash can, to ask themselves, ‘Is this trash?’” she said. “(I want them) to really question whether or not what they’re throwing away is trash or something that could be dinner tomorrow, or an inspiration for dinner next week or stock for a month from now.”
The full list of speakers includes:
In addition to the talks, the day will also include TEDxLabs and TEDxMarketplace which will showcase homegrown tech, art and small businesses.
The event will also include a variety of entertainers including an illusionist, stand-up comedians, a roller skating troop and percussionists.
Wollborg said the event will not only be fun but a way to improve your life and those of others.
“You can either drive the change or you can sink,” he said. “This is a way that you evolve your work, yourself and all of us.”
8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26
Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts
350 Madison St., Detroit
Tickets are $100. Visit www.tedxdetroit.com.
