Alright, ya’ll. We did a fuckin’ thing. We did a thing.
In case you haven’t seen the posts here, here, here, here, and here, there’s a group on campus called TEDxWesleyanU, and they’ve been a-brewin’ for the past year and a half.
You all have probably heard about TED, and might even be familiar with the TEDx format. But TEDx means that this is an independently-organized TED event, with some guidance from TED’s branding. This TEDx event is entirely student-organized, and it’s been a trip to put this all together.
Here’s a video explaining more about how this came about:
Here’s a quick Q+A of things you need to know about TEDxWesleyanU
What the heck is TEDxWesleyanU?
TEDxWesleyanU is an independently organized TED conference that is entirely student run. Basically, we have the license from TED, so we will have the TED brand and reach, but what’s great is that TEDxWesleyanU is at home base––the TED conference is held once a year, and each ticket is hella expensive $10,000 per seat, so TEDx allows for TED-caliber speakers to be accessible to the community.
When is TEDxWesleyanU?
The conference will be held on Saturday, April 7th from 1:00-7:00 PM in Ring Family Hall. The conference is split into four section to allow maximum attendance. You can find ticketing information here.
WHEN CAN I GET TICKETS?
Ya’ll. Tickets go LIVE at MIDNIGHT on Thursday. So…like, in a few hours. Seating is limited (65 tickets for students/session), so make sure to yonder over to the website to get your tickets through the box office. Tickets for students is $6/session.
Social??? Media??
We’ve been unveiling our speaker list for the past nine days through our social media accounts. It’s been a time having fun with Photoshop for advertising.
Who is speaking?
We’re so excited to have such an incredible lineup of speakers who will be joining us this year. We’ve unveiled:
- Lucy Hutner ’92, Women’s reproductive mental health psychiatrist
- Maria Santana ’98, New York based anchor and correspondent for CNN en Español
- Sallome Hralima ’02, Executive Dream Director, The Future Project
- Michael Yamashita ’71, Photographer, National Geographic
- Sharon Belden Castonguay, Director of the Gordon Career Center
- Lily Herman ’16, Writer & Activist, refinery 29, Teen Vogue
- Matthew Lesser ’10, Connecticut State Representative, 100th District
- Mohamad Hafez, Architect and Artist
- Anand Kini ’92, CFO NBCUniversal
We’ll be unveiling three more speakers today, so keep an eye out!
How can I get involved?
If you’d like to volunteer for the conference, (I would love you forever) email us at team[at]tedxwesleyanu[dot]com with the subject line “I WANNA VOLUNTEER.” This is first-come, first-serve basis, so get ‘yo volunteering shoes on and get in touch with us!
WHAT IF I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS?
Email us, we don’t bite :)
Just a reminder, tickets go on sale in less than a day! Make sure to get your seats! This has been a year and a half in the making, and we are so excited to see your beautiful faces.