Whoa. Whoa! Stop right there. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is one of the most prominent conferences in the world. Tickets to attend the invitation only event are $6,000 and they are sold out one year in advance. Presenters have included people like Bill Gates, Al Gore, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Richard Dawkins. Because our only chance of seeing TED Talks is online, and “in the spirit of ideas worth spreading,” TEDx has been creeping up in local areas like London, Paris, Boston, and now Dallas!

SMU is organizing its own TEDx program. TEDxSMU will pose the question, “What Will Change Everything?” to innovators, thought leaders and activists on Oct. 10 on SMU’s campus. Each speaker is given a max 18 minutes to present their idea.

It shouldn’t work, but it does. It works because all of knowledge is connected. – The TED Conference

Attendance is by application only. The cost to attend is $100, and includes the all-day conference, lunch and a Saturday evening event. 480 people will be selected to attend the live event and another 500 people can watch the event by simulcast. Spend some time on the application. I only wish I hadn’t sent mine out right after reading the news at 1am in bed. Eh. I was excited!

Apply now to attend TEDxSMU.

Southern Methodist University – www.smu.edu
Hughes Trigg Student Center
3140 Dyer St.

TED is therefore best thought of as a global community. It’s a community welcoming people from every discipline and culture who have just two things in common: they seek a deeper understanding of the world, and they hope to turn that understanding into a better future for us all.

What would you say if you only had 18 minutes? How would you inspire others?