It is that special time of year when winds blow strong, flowers begin to bloom, and TEDxABQ accepts applications for speakers with big ideas.The three-question application to speak at the local non-profit offshoot of the TED Talks conference will be available on tedxabq.com through April 30. “We think of this as an idea-generating conference,” Bill Meador, community outreach leader for TEDxABQ, said.The secret selection committee will only choose an applicant if their idea is creative, unique and doable. After that, speakers work with a Toastmaster to perfect their presentation. This is the fourth year of the TEDxABQ conference, which has also created other conferences, including TEDxABQWomen and TEDxABQED.TEDxABQED began in January 2013, after TEDxABQ 2012 audience member Lisa Harris suggested that the local chapter should do something education-centered. “She thought that there should be an event with some teachers, so Lisa and I organized the education event,” Meador said.The TEDxABQ events have grown since the first conference in 2010, when it was held in a small conference room at the Hard Rock Hotel. The 2011 and 2012 conferences moved to the National Hispanic Cultural Center, and this year’s events will happen at Popejoy Hall, said Meador.Apart from the conferences, TEDxABQ also holds smaller events throughout the year including a book club, luncheons and documentary screenings, which are organized through meetup.com/TEDxNM.TEDxABQ 2013 will be held on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Popejoy Hall. Tickets go on sale in July.For more information about any of the TEDxABQ events, visit tedxabq.com.Editor’s Note: The independent, micro TedX conferences have taken on increasing importance as the original TED folks are under fire for censuring the talks of some prominent speakers. In a recent open letter in Daniel Pinchbeck’s Reality Sandwich blog, TED curator Chris Anderson was criticized for refusing to show TED talks given by Graham Hancock and Rupert Sheldrake, dismissing their remarks about consciousness as “pseudo-science.” Read Ken Jordan’s “Open Letter to Chris Anderson” on Reality Sandwich for more information: http://bit.ly/171jghg
TEDxABQ seeks local speakers about science, technology, economic development and anything else—Got something to say? Tell TEDx!
