Texas Tech University to Host TEDx Conference in 2014

Organizers for the first TEDxTexasTechUniversity event are searching for speakers to fill next year's event.  TEDxTexasTechUniversity will be held February 8, 2014 at the Texas Tech School of Law.  The event will feature live webstreams and limited seating of up to 300 at the Texas Tech School of Law.

“This is a great moment for the university system in hosting our first TEDxTexasTechUniversity event,” said Ron Banister, assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) and conference organizer. “It is an excellent opportunity to be part of the passion of the TED organization and to join the TEDx global community. TED has a longstanding reputation for sharing cutting-edge concepts in the areas of art, education, design and technology. Our passion for innovation and the university’s unique efforts to envision, create and implement new ideas will be the cornerstone of this conference.”

Nominations will be accepted for speakers and presenters on topics that are representative of West Texas and the TTU System. The organizers encourage applications not only from Texas Tech University students, faculty, staff and alumni, but also from representatives of the business, social, art and music communities in the West Texas area.

Founded in 1984, TED stands for “technology, entertainment, design” and is perhaps most famous for its online “TED Talks” that have been viewed by millions around the world. The annual TED conference brings together some of the world’s leading thinkers and doers. In the spirit of “ideas worth spreading,” TED created a program called TEDx where “x” indicates the events are independently organized.

TED events are highly structured in which speakers are given a set amount of time to discuss a topic or life story.  For the TEDxTexasTechUniversity event some undergraduate students may be able to earn short slots of two to three minutes each, while other speakers may get timeslots up to 18 minutes in length.

“TEDxTexasTechUniversity is a wonderful opportunity for our community to share their remarkable ideas, innovations, stories, and experiences with a global audience,” said Kellilynn Frias, assistant professor in the Rawls College of Business and conference organizer. “The TED mission—ideas worth spreading—parallels our dedication throughout the university system to advancing knowledge through innovative teaching, research and scholarship. I am excited to see the TED and TEDx platform brought to life at Texas Tech University.”

For more information, or to apply to be a speaker at the event, visit the conference website at www.TEDxTexasTechUniversity.com.

Next year's TEDxTexasTechUniversity event won't be the first TED-sanctioned event to be held in Lubbock.  TEDxLubbock was held in at the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts in September 2012, and TEDxLubbockWomen was held in December of 2012.