Inaugural TEDxAWC event coming to Yuma
September 6, 2022Speakers sought to discuss “Shift the Drift” theme
Yuma, AZ (September 6, 2022) – Get ready for TEDxAWC – an inaugural event to be held in Yuma!
TEDxAWC will take place on Friday, March 17, 2023, at the Arizona Western College (AWC) Theater, 2020 S. Avenue 8E. The event is an opportunity to inspire creativity and ingenuity, and to honor the voices of AWC students, faculty and staff, and the larger community of Yuma and La Paz Counties.
“Over 130 countries and 1,200 cities have hosted a TEDx event. As the Director/Licensee of TEDxAWC, I am proud that my team is committed to creating a platform of this caliber to amplify local voices within our community, and to help inspire and be inspired by each other,” said Dr. Sara Amani, AWC Professor of Multilingual Composition/Specialist. “This local gathering will be unique and powerful in a community that is already so invested in their individual and collective growth for success.”
The TEDxAWC project was one of eight proposals approved through the 2022 AWC Innovation Fund, where faculty, staff and students had the opportunity to present a variety of ideas in hopes of being granted the funds to make their initiatives a reality. Dr. Amani was awarded $16,500 for her TEDxAWC proposal to implement the project. She was recently able to secure the TEDx official license for the event from TED Conferences.
“Having been involved in TEDx before, bringing my experience and expertise to my hometown is truly an honor,” said AWC Conference and Events Specialist Kaley Zepeda, who is serving as the TEDxAWC Co-Director. “I am thrilled to be a part of a project that will bring new opportunities to the community I love the most!”
The theme for TEDxAWC is “Shift the Drift”: Introducing new perspectives to regularly practiced procedures in different disciplines may not be an easy task. We want to initiate conversations on how to reflect and bring awareness of analyzing what the drift is, determining the need for new ideas worth spreading in our community, and assessing the effectiveness of implementing new changes.
“This is such a wonderful way to learn from a diverse group of people sharing their passion and expertise. I cannot wait to see what speakers from Yuma and La Paz choose to share!” said Lori Stofft, AWC Vice President for Advancement and Executive Director of the AWC Foundation. Stofft will be serving as the TEDxAWC Operations Manager.
Anybody can nominate a potential speaker for this event. Speakers are being sought from all over the region, including students, faculty, staff, and community members. The goal for TEDxAWC 2023 is to have 6-8 speakers.
The TEDxAWC Proposal Submission Link can be found here. A great, well-formed idea can be one of two things:
- Something that’s new and surprising; an idea or invention that your audience has never heard about.
- A great basic idea (that your audience has maybe already heard) with a compelling new argument behind it that challenges beliefs and perspectives.
In other words, an idea is not just a story or a list of facts. A good idea takes certain evidence or observations and draws a larger conclusion.
Those interested in auditioning to be a TEDxAWC speaker should review TEDx Content Guidelines and TEDx Speaker Guidelines to prepare.
Below is a list of expected deadlines:
- 250-word Proposal (Thesis and Basic Outline): Oct 15, 2022
- Acceptance/Rejection Emails: Nov 1, 2022
- Audition (First draft of Script/Detailed Outline): Nov 15, 2022
- Acceptance/Rejection Emails: Nov 30, 2022
- Second Draft/First One-on-One Rehearsals with Coaches: Dec 1-20, 2022
- Final Draft/2 More Monthly Rehearsals (Jan-Feb 2023)
- Final Rehearsal (Week before event)
- Dress Rehearsal (1-2 days before event)
- TEDxAWC Event: March 17, 2023
“We are beyond excited for TEDxAWC to bring such an incredible opportunity for storytelling and idea exchange. It is thrilling that these passions that are unique to our local communities will be shared with a wider audience,” said AWC Strategic Content/Social Media Specialist Sarah Herman, who is serving as the TEDxAWC Marketing Manager.
AWC Professor of Business and Assistant Men's Soccer Coach Fabian Munoz, who is serving as the TEDxAWC Financial Manager, also shared, “It is an honor for me to be part of this endeavor and to connect with the community with the global TED mission of ‘ideas worth spreading.’”
For those interested in attending the main event, be on the lookout for more details on how to purchase admission tickets. As a first-time event, attendance is limited to up to 100 attendees. Those who are unable to secure an admission ticket are invited to attend the Livestream WatchParty in person on campus with AWC students, faculty, and staff. More details are coming soon.
Karla Vera, a recent graduate of AWC who is now pursuing her bachelor’s degree at ASU Local in Yuma, added, “Hosting a TEDx at a community college in a fast-growing community is exciting. It is a great honor being able to experience and be part of the planning and execution of the very first TEDxAWC event. I am thrilled to hear what our speakers will share with our audience.” Vera, who is also a Resident Assistant and a Student Government Association member at AWC, is serving as the TEDxAWC Social Media Lead.
Add this event to your calendar, and follow TEDxAWC on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, to help celebrate the incredible innovations and important ideas that will be featured.
About TEDx, x = independently organized event
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)
About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, often in the form of short talks delivered by leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED conferences, intimate TED Salons and thousands of independently organized TEDx events around the world. Videos of these talks are made available, free, on TED.com and other platforms. Audio versions of TED Talks are published to TED Talks Daily, available on all podcast platforms.
TED's open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; TEDx, which licenses thousands of individuals and groups to host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities; The Audacious Project, which surfaces and funds critical ideas that have the potential to impact millions of lives; TED Translators, which crowdsources the subtitling of TED Talks so that big ideas can spread across languages and borders; and the educational initiative TED-Ed. TED also offers TED@Work, a program that reimagines TED Talks for workplace learning. TED also has a growing library of original podcasts, including The TED Interview with Chris Anderson, WorkLife with Adam Grant, Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala and How to Be a Better Human.
Follow TED on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and on LinkedIn.
Contact:
Dr. Sara Amani
Professor of Multilingual Composition/Specialist
Arizona Western College
Sara.Amani@azwestern.edu
(928) 344-7503