TEDxColumbiaSC – January 21st, 2013 – Apply Now to Attend

TEDxColumbiaSC Announces Speakers and Attendee Applications

COLUMBIA, SC – October 24, 2012 – More than a dozen high-profile speakers from across the Midlands will present at the second TEDxColumbiaSC on a wide range of topics covering everything from nanoscience to philanthropy. TEDxColumbiaSC is a full-day event to be held on January 21, 2013. Seating is limited to 400 and attendance is by application only.

This year’s event has been made possible thanks to the generous support of BB&T and BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina with additional support from the Central Carolina Community Foundation.
After evaluating more than 100 speaker nominees, the TEDxColumbiaSC planning committee is excited to announce an incredible group of innovative educators, scientists, artists, entrepreneurs and business leaders who exemplify the TED platform of Ideas Worth Spreading. To also create an intellectually diverse audience and generate thought-provoking conversation, all members of the community are invited to apply for attendance.

There are millions of ways to improve the world, says Katie Fox, chair of speaker selection, Our 2013 speakers will discuss small — almost private ways, as well as community-based solutions, technology-based approaches, and methods of shared information and research that have the power to strengthen our smallest ‘communities’ as well as our global one.  Each speaker brings a passion to their work that will engage and inspire our audience.

In alphabetical order, speakers for the full-day event include:

Pedro De Abreu, a non-profit leader, entrepreneur, author and award-winning student. British publishing house Marshall Cavendish recently featured him, along with 24 entrepreneurs from around the world, in the book Young Entrepreneur World: How 25 Teen-Trepreneurs Succeeded and Left World Leaders Scratching Their Heads. Pedro is the founder of the not-for-profit Check Mate Foundation, which teaches chess and leadership to children in South Carolina.

Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson, Director of the Marine Science Program at the University of South Carolina where her research focuses on ocean biogeochemistry, global climate change, and marine toxins. She has conducted research all over the world including the Cariaco Basin (Venezuela), the Sargasso Sea (near Bermuda), Hawaii, and the coasts of California and South Carolina.

Dr. Erica Gibson, medical anthropologist at the University of South Carolina. For the past three years, she has been working with Mexican immigrant women in South Carolina as well as women in Veracruz, Mexico on reproductive health issues surrounding pregnancy and birth.

Rachal Hatton, licensed social worker and Director of Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion Programs at Senior Resources, Inc. These programs match up low-income seniors with volunteer positions in schools and with home-bound elderly.

Dr. Jamie Lead, Endowed Chair in Nanoenvironmental Science at the University of South Carolina. His research focuses on understanding nanoscale phenomena in the environment, including natural nanomaterials, manufactured nanomaterials, and their interaction.

Dr. Oscar Lovelace, rural family physician in Prosperity, SC and an advocate for reformed healthcare policy. Among his many accolades, he was most recently named South Carolina Family Doctor of the Year in 2011 by the South Carolina Academy of Family Physicians.

Chase Mizzell, Student Body Vice President at the University of South Carolina where he studies international business and  entrepreneurship. Chase is also the founder of Second Servings – a food donation program that pairs on-campus dining halls with local homeless shelters.

Chris Robinson, Professor of Art and member of the NanoCenter at the University of South Carolina. His work mediates and seeks cross-disciplinary relationships between art and the complexity of  contemporary science and technology.

Dr. Linda Salane, Executive Director of the Leadership Institute at Columbia College. She is on a mission to train future generations of leaders—women leaders in particular.

J.J Shephard, Ph.D. candidate in computer science. His research focuses on “serious games” that have been used teach foreign languages, generate simulations, visualize complex biological data, and aid inspeech therapy.

Shane Slattery-Quintanilla, documentary filmmaker who wrote, co-produced, and edited The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández, an Emmy-nominated documentary about the killing of an 18-year-old American high-school student by U.S. Marines. He is currently shooting and co-producing The Seventh Fire, a documentary film about the rise of violent gang culture on Native American reservations in Minnesota. Shane is a professor in the Writing for Print and Digital Media program at Columbia College.

Julie Smithwick, Executive Director of PASOs, a community-based organization that empowers grassroots Latino leaders across South Carolina to educate their peers in the area of reproductive health, and improve access to services for women and their families.

Cassie Premo Steele, Ph.D., writing and creativity coach with two decades of experience teaching in university and community settings. She is the author of nine books of scholarship, fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. In her practice with individual clients, she models an experiential practice combining mindfulness, meditation, journaling, and emotional awareness.

Dr. Carl Wells, Assistant Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs at the University of South Carolina. A master trainer and diversity consultant, he has worked with numerous corporations, universities and agencies.

Nick Wilson, principal creative at The Half and Half – a design and printmaking studio in Columbia, SC. Widely known for concert and event posters, Nick has been recognized nationally for design and
screen printing.

Additional musical, visual arts and other performers include Marina Alexandra, Jon Rooks, David Hamiter, Lyon Hill, and Marcy Jo Yonkey-Clayton.

“We want our audience to be just as engaged and open to new ideas as our speakers are,” says Elyn Blackman, media spokesperson for TEDxColumbiaSC. “TEDx creates positive change in communities. We saw this right away after the 2012 conference last January. The connections made at that event have spawned worthwhile projects and collaborations. When the day is done, we want our audience to share and support the people and projects they’ve discovered. They will also think about how they can make a lasting difference in our community and our world.”

Attendance is by invitation only and limited to about 400 people. Hopeful attendees must apply online at www.tedxcolumbiasc.com by Sunday, November 25, 2012. Invites will be e-mailed on or before December 17, and confirmed upon payment of a $25 per person admission fee to defray event costs. Admission includes a box lunch, snacks, coffee breaks and a unique opportunity to be entertained, challenged and inspired by a stellar group speakers and performers from the Midlands of South Carolina. Premium tickets will be available for $75 per person. These will help fund scholarships for other attendees, give the premium ticket holders preferred seating, and they will be invited to a pre-conference reception with our speakers and sponsors. Limited scholarships will be available for those who want to apply but cannot afford the price of admission, with final awards to be determined by the TEDxColumbiaSC team.

About TEDx, where x = indepentently organized event

In the spirit
of ideas worth spreading, TED has created TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxColumbiaSC, where x = independently organized TED event. At TEDxColumbiaSC, TEDTalks video and live speakers will
combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.

Follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com /TEDxColumbiaSC , Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/
TEDxColumbiaSC and YouTube at TEDxColumbiaSC.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Edinburgh, UK. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to organize local, independent TED-like events around the world; and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, and on Facebook at facebook.com/TED.

For information about TED’s upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration