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Xavier students have been working together since January to bring a TEDx (x=independently organized TED event) to campus, and in April, this dream is becoming
a reality.
Juniors Nick Turon and Michael Farwell, sophomore Sean Kallmeyer and senior Lyden Foust collaborated with faculty and administration to make the TEDxXavierUniversity event possible.
This event is based on the annual
TED conference that is a four day event filled with speakers
based on the theme of “ideas worth spreading” and is hosted by the non-profit organization TED. At the conference, each speaker has 18 minutes and instead of prefacing their speech with a list of credentials, they launch right into the material ranging from topics such as writing to the future
of medicine to combating modern slavery. After the TED conference became a success, the TEDx program was initiated to enable communities the opportunity to create TED-like conferences on a local level. In order to host a TEDx event, the organizers must become licensed through TED, a licensure that must be renewed for every TEDx event.
When Turon, Farwell, Kallmeyer and Foust received their licensure, they became the first students to get licensed for an event hosting all professional speakers. Once they were licensed, the four students split up the responsibilities
into four committees
and each became head of one committee, namely the speaker sponsor committee, the budgetary committee, the logistics committee
and the marketing committee. Together with mentors, advisers, support from various clubs on campus and administration, they have organized the event from 1-5 p.m. on April 26 in the Schiff Banquet Hall, followed by a one hour reception.
According to the TEDxXavierUniversity chairs, the goal of this event is to bring together alumni, students, faculty, staff and the Cincinnati community
to connect and share ideas.
Earlier this year, the students reached out to regional leaders in innovation, service or leadership
who have an idea that could change the world and are emblematic
of the theme of “touching the hearts and minds of others.” While these speakers may not be paid, all of the speeches are professionally
videotaped and have the chance of being put onto the TED website where videos often become viral.
Speakers for this event include
Andrew Gibson, a global brand manager at Procter and Gamble; Todd Henry, founder and CEO of Accidental Creative; Randy Wilhelm, CEO and co-founder of netTREKKER the leader in delivery of digital K-12 educational content; and Rashmi Assudani PhD., an associate professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at Williams College of Business. A list of the confirmed speakers and their biographies
can be found on their website at http://www.xavier.edu/williams/tedx/.
Online reservations for the event opened March 1 and are quickly approaching the maximum
capacity. After the slots are filled, a waiting list will be created and reservations can be made on the website as well.
Tuesday, June 24, 2025