TEDx to Launch Speaker Series in Keene

The Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College. Photo: KSC

A group of volunteer organizers is launching TEDxKeene on April 8 at the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College. The event, slated to run from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., is the most recent entrant among a handful of TEDx events throughout the state, according to organizers.

TED is a nonprofit that organizes conferences typically comprised of short, focused talks (18 minutes or fewer) from prominent modern thinkers. Many of these talks are given at TED's annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and made available for free on the organization's website and YouTube page.

The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are mostly local, self-organized events in smaller settings.

The theme of TEDxKeene is “A Tipping Point" and will include speakers focusing on small actions resulting in big effects—or the lack thereof—in attendees' lives and communities. Speakers and their respective topics include: Mackenzie Donovan (Forest Protection); John Benjamin and Chris Ekblom (The Power of Songwriting); Rana Abdelhamid (Hate Crime Self Defense); Dottie Morris (Taking Control of Identity); John Hoffman (Overcoming Depression); Ryan Owens (Conservation as Human Interest); Rudy Fedrizzi (Community Health); and Bryan Russell (Breathing Techniques).

Since TED limits all TEDx events in their first year to 100 attendees, this first TEDxKeene event is closed to the public, though a free livestream of the event will be made available.