TEDx talks come to Bloomington

Two years ago, IU alumni Christian Long and David Krane licensed a TEDx event as a way to give back to Bloomington.

Local volunteers like Luci McKean committed their time and energy to make the event into a showcase for the city.

Now the curator of the second TEDxBloomington event, titled JumpIN!, McKean said the event is an opportunity to bring interesting people to Bloomington to speak about their work.

“JumpIN! seemed like a really good theme to put the focus on people who’ve taken action,” McKean said. “Not just had great ideas, but have actually gone out to improve their communities and improve the world.”

From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, JumpIN! will spark discussions and new ideas at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

Tickets are available for purchase at the door the day of the event. General admission tickets for the day cost $65 or $42.50 with a student ID.

TEDx events are self-organized and licensed from TED, a nonprofit organization that focuses on sharing “ideas worth spreading” and organizes its own annual conference and awards fellowships to innovators around the world.  The TEDx events are meant to localize the TED experience.

“One thing that’s really powerful and important about attending a TEDx event, or a TED event, is it’s not just a bunch of individual talks,” McKean said. “It’s very much designed intentionally for speakers to build on one another.”

She said TED and TEDx themes are also created to be open to a variety of interpretations.

JumpIN! is divided into four sessions, with 20 TEDx presentations in total.
Speakers range from Ryan Germick, the team lead for Google Doodle, to IU First Lady Laurie Burns McRobbie.

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Larry Singell will talk about who becomes a leader.
He said a true leader is not born, but is made by the choices he or she makes that bridge into positions of leadership.

“Leadership is not something that is for the rare few,” Singell said. “The hard problems that we’re going to need to solve in the next century are going to require organizations that are full of leaders, not just a single individual at the top of an organization.”

Bloomington Clay Studio founder Daniel Brian Evans said his talk will focus on his experiences as an artist in Bloomington.

Evans, who also founded I. Fell LLC with Cynthia Brubaker, said artists are as vital to communities in general as the Bloomington community is to his work.

“Bloomington is one of those places that if you can’t find a job, you kind of create a job for yourself,” Evans said. “That’s what I did. I wanted to have something very grassroots, very homespun, and I wanted to keep it about the community and serve the community. The clay studio has always been that.”

While the event will be available for live streaming online, McKean emphasized the benefit of interacting with community members and speakers at the event.

“You’re not just going to be talked at,” McKean said. “It’s really intended to spark your ideas and help you make connections that you wouldn’t normally make.”