This content was published: November 30, 2016. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Student leader planning Tedx event May 25, taking applications for presenters
Photos and story by Janis Nichols
It took a second attempt to nail it, but Julio Montelongo, a student leader who also works in the Career Exploration Center Peer Advisor Program at the Rock Creek Campus, captured one of the most sought-after licenses in the college community—the right to sponsor an official TEDx event.
Portland Community College will host its first TEDx event on May 25. All interested PCC students, faculty and staff who would like to submit a proposal for the spring event must do so by Jan. 10. The event will be hosted at the Rock Creek Campus and called TEDxPortlandCommunityCollegeRockCreek.
Montelongo explained that TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today it covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently-run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.
A TEDx event is a local gathering where live TED-like talks and videos previously recorded at TED conferences are shared with the community. TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated on a community-by-community basis. The content and design of each TEDx event is unique and developed independently, but all of them have features in common.
“TEDxPortlandCommunityCollegeRockCreek will be a evening event, facilitated by the Rock Creek TEDx selection committee and scheduled to take place in May of 2017. The goal is to bring people together to give talks that are idea-focused, on a wide range of subjects, to foster learning, inspiration and to provoke conversations that matter,” Montelongo added.
The selection committee has selected the event theme of thinkFORWARD, as described below:
“The future is in continuous motion. It moves with the tides of time, adversity and uncertainty. It is unclear as to where we are headed, but there is certainty that together, we move toward a greater purpose and vision: a vision of hope, adventure and success of the days to come. We challenge the obstacles of doubt, question perspectives that keep us from success and break forward into our future with new ideas, thoughts and dialogue. In times of doubt and unrest, we find that the moments that challenge us to think beyond ourselves are those that help us to grow beyond what we imagine was possible. We are able to thinkFORWARD.”
The selection committee seeks individuals to participate in this spring term event to create talks, artistic and/or musical performances that fall under the theme of thinkFORWARD.
To create an innovative and constructive dialogue, each TEDx Talk Proposal must address the following questions in complete format to be considered for review:
- Describe your idea in no more than seven words, to have a clear-cut idea of your idea/talk.
- In one to two sentences, what would you hope to accomplish through your talk or performance?
- Have you ensured that your idea is factual and realistic? No pseudo or false science proposals will be accepted. Limit to one-two paragraphs.
- How is your idea new and interesting to a broad audience? Limit to one-two paragraphs.
Proposals must be submitted as a separate Word Document and sent as an attachment to tedxpccrockcreek@gmail.com with the subject line TEDx Speaker Proposal Submission, no later than Jan. 10, 2017, at 5 p.m. The attachment must be labeled TEDx Proposal Application Completion.
Final selections will be notified/emailed by 5 p.m., Jan. 16.