Ideas worth spreading will be on the stage at TEDxBurlington this year; a first for the city.

By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON  March 20, 2012  Spencer Campbell  grew up in Burlington and lives here now.  He’s done some amazing things but it is his latest initiative that you might want to hear about.  Keep the words TEDx Burlington in mind and you might want to reserve May 27th for a possible outing.

TED stands for  a Technology, Entertainment, Design.   It is a known as a group that pulls together people who have Ideas Worth Spreading and Campbell is bringing  a version of that program to Burlington.   The local version is called TEDxBurlington.

TED'x's have been held all around the world - Waterloo Ontario recently held a TEDx - now Burlington.

TED is an international organization created to get people talking about ideas and then spreading those ideas as far and as wide as possible and then putting them on a web site.  It is a non-profit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site.

TED has thousands of filmed talks from the likes of Sir Richard Branson, Bill Clinton, Jane Goodall, astronomers / physicists to philosophers/performers to many, many less known but just as inspirational speakers. The intent is to get highly motivated speakers –those who are  professional and those who are not – from various walks of life to  share their personal passion on issues that matter for audience discussion.

The TEDx program gives communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. TEDx events are planned and coordinated independently.

Spencer Campbell, entrepreneur and Burlington resident is heading up the group bringing a TEDx event to the city.

Spencer Campbell is bringing TEDx to Burlington to do the same thing and has so far confirmed four speakers for his May 27th event. Get to TEDxBurlington for more details.

On the platform so far are:

•  Dr. Jean Chamberlain – distinguished McMaster Medical Professor and Founder of www.savethemothers.org an organization that focuses on reducing maternal mortality in African developing countries.

•  Patrick O’Neill – CEO of www.extraordinary conversations.com    a leadership expert who has been involved with the Middle Eastern Peace Process

•  Michael Jones – a Juno nominate Pianist who will perform during the session and ask us to explore the heart of our own creativity

•  Josh Nelson – a childhood cancer survivor. Three years ago Josh asked the Sears National Kids Cancer Ride cycling team to ride for him until the day he could ride with them. Two years ago Spencer Campbell cycled with 41 others across Canada in 15 days to raise more than $1.5M for childhood cancer patient needs – Josh joined them from Woodstock to Toronto. He gave an incredibly moving speech when they stopped in Burlington.  Last year Josh  cycled – from Vancouver to Halifax.

•  Scott Graham – author, sought after speaker who focuses on helping kids develop character, confidence and budding leadership.

•  Trish Barbato – author, inspirer and career planning expert

TEDx events have taken place in cities around the world. The advent of a TEDx in a city is usually a sign that it has grown up and has an engaged informed population.

TEDx Burlington will take place in the Community Studio at the Performing Arts Centre.  Each speaker gets a maximum of 16 minutes.  The event runs from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm with a reception after the event at Thinkspot!, a three minute walk from the Performing Arts Centre.

The event is limited to 100 thinkers/doers/humanists. All the “talks” are videotaped and streamed online.

Campbell feels Burlington is ready for a TED event.  They do tie in nicely with Mayor Goldring’s Inspire series where experts in different fields come to the city to engage the community in subjects that relate directly to Burlington.

 

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