The First TedxCincy, in October of 2010, presented inspiring speakers from varied career paths talking about their passions. On May 10, the second
TedXCincy event explores the theme: "Plugged and Unplugged: The Crossroads of Technology and Artisanship."
"It's always nice to have a topic that has some kind of friction or tension," says David Volker, TedxCincy organizer. "We wanted to come up with something that shows the entire spectrum of Cincinnati."
The search for speakers starts with the organizing team's personal networks and then grows from there. The team consists of Volker, Emily Venter and Michael Bergman, all from LPK, and Mary Riffe of Procter & Gamble.
"We try to search through our networks and find people who are off the beaten path," Volker says. "A lot of times, conferences focus on the cool, new, tech-based things, but we want to also explore what people are creating with their hands."
Volker and the rest of the team are bringing in artists like Jesse Mooney-Bullock, a puppet maker from Northside, Renee Koerner, a local caviar producer, Queen City Project, a group of photographers and designers showing Cincinnati through a different lens. Also on the schedule are Christopher Erb, vice president of brand marketing for EA Sports, and Steve Fulton of GE Aviation. Soapbox Managing Editor Elissa Yancey will kick off the afternoon of talks.
"We work really hard to uncover some of the gems in the city that may be otherwise passed over," Volker says.
While there will be videos, swag and other activities for attendees, Volker says that the speakers make the event what it is.
"We work really hard to make it a diverse line up of speakers," Volker says. "There will be over 500 attendees and we want to have at least one speaker that connects with each person that attends."
By Evan Wallis
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