TEDx Cincinnati will host a “Salon” happy hour event March 9 featuring speakers giving short, 2 1/2-minute talks on a subject of their choice. The audience will vote for an audience choice award, and several of the speakers may be invited to give a longer presentation at the TEDx Main Stage event in June.
The Salon and Main Stage events will be very different, says TEDx Cincinnati Director Jami Edelheit, describing the Salon happy hour as a more relaxed focus on networking. Speakers were invited after filling out applications, but unlike Main Stage speakers they haven’t been coached by event organizers.
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Jami Edelheit
“We don’t really know exactly what they will say,” Edelheit says, explaining that’s part of the beauty of an event that brings people together to listen to each other’s ideas. “The Salon events are really fun and are a chance for people to meet others who you may not usually get a chance to meet.”
One thing both the Main Stage and Salon events have in common is that they bring together larger and larger numbers of people. The Salon has received so much interest that it’s moving to a larger venue this year, The Redmoor in Mt. Lookout, with a proper stage for speakers.
Edelheit is also looking to expand in another way by recruiting new members to the TEDx Cincinnati board, which organizes and promotes the local events. She hopes new blood will help continue growing TEDx Cincinnati into the kind of top-notch organization seen in other cities around the country.
“We are building a community, not just an event,” Edelheit says. “The idea that I think is really important for our city is that TEDx is a platform for people to share ideas in Cincinnati, to get things out of Cincinnati and to bring things into Cincinnati.”
Applications are still being accepted for the June 16 Main Stage event. Tickets are available for both the Salon and Main Stage events
here.
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