Those seeking inspirational new ideas with a side of intellectual stimulation can find both in TEDx San Juan Island, Sept. 23.
“I love them [TED talks] because they give people, who don’t normally get press but have great ideas, a venue,” said Megan Mulhall, who along with her husband, and Gary Franklin coordinated the event since 2015.
It takes place at the San Juan Community Theatre, from 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Tickets are $55 and can be bought at www.tedxsanjuanisland.org, as well as through the theater’s box office.
The agenda includes 12 speakers, two breaks with an opportunity to ask questions, as well as lunch which is included in the price of the ticket. Due to a generous grant from the county Lodging Tax Advisory Committee fund as well as support from the Town of Friday Harbor, Mulhall said they were able to bring the cost down from last year’s $100 tickets. Mulhall explained that TEDx guidelines require that their events be recorded which makes production expensive. She hopes the lower ticket costs make the event more accessible.
“I’m glad we are able to do that, it just feels better,” Mulhall said about the prices.
There are approximately 13,000 TEDx events around the world, according to Mulhall.
Every TEDx event needs to be licensed through the program annually, and a thorough review is given as licenses are reapplied for, meaning event coordinators need be attentive to their guidelines.
The theme this year “What’s Next?” evolved from recent TEDx themes revolving around the future of the world.
“It will be a fun event with exciting high caliber speakers,” she said.
Speakers
John Moalli
Moalli is a materials scientist, who consults with companies on product design, forensic science, and risk analysis. He published a book and several book chapters on polymeric materials, including medical devices. Moalli teaches at Stanford University’s Department of Chemical Engineering.
Jenni Flinders
Flinders, a former Microsoft executive, was recognized for nearly three decades as “Top 50 most influential” and “Top 100 most powerful” women in the IT channel. She joined WINNINGfotos in 2017 working on technology in the mobile photographic field.
Edward Jay Wang
Wang graduated from Harvey Mudd College with a bachelor in engineering where he developed his interest of medicine and engineering. He is now a doctoral student in the electrical engineering department at the University of Washington.
Todd Myers
Myers is the environmental director at the Washington Policy Center in Seattle where he develops market-based environmental solutions. Myers worked at the Department of Natural Resources from 2001-3004, working on issues ranging from spotted owl habitat to protection of old-growth forests.
Eric Rasmussen
Rasmussen is an internal medicine physician and the CEO for Infinitum Humanitarian Systems, a multinational consulting group built on a profit-for-purpose model. He has both undergraduate and medical degrees from Stanford University and a European master’s degree in disaster medicine.
Eliana Gilad
Gilad, author of “Miriam’s Secret,” reveals the ancient wisdom of feminine leadership and alternative medicine techniques of the ancient near east, where she lived for 20-plus years. Founder of voicesofeden.com, her medical research project in a 50/50 percent Israeli-Palestinian hospital has been featured in the worldwide press from CBS, BBC, to the Hindustan Times.
Joe Landon
Landon serves as the chief financial officer of Planetary Resources, Inc., looking to expand the economy of humanity into the Solar System through the development and use of resources found on nearby asteroids. He also serves as chairman of the Board of Space Angels, the world’s most active investor in early-stage space companies.
Tom Vogt
Vogt is a piano playing physician-epidemiologist with experience in health behavior change, health services research, collaborative clinical trials, and cardiovascular and cancer epidemiology. He has served on the faculties of UCLA, the Oregon Health and Sciences University, and the University of Hawaii.
Adam Summers
Summers, who works at the Friday Harbor Labs, began his biological career with a master’s degree from New York University, followed by a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst working on new tissues from sharks, skates and rays. His research areas of comparative biomechanics and biomaterials allow him to capitalize on engineering and quantitative backgrounds while exploiting interests in natural history.
John Nance
Nance, an air safety advocate, best known as the aviation analyst for ABC World News and Good Morning America. A pioneering advocate of Crew Resource Management, He wrote the landmark work “Blind Trust”, widely credited with helping spark a total revolution in aviation safety. Nance is a New York Times Bestselling author of 21 major best selling fiction and non-fiction works.
Vicki Abadesco
Abadesco is the co-founder of Soul Shoppe, an organization that teaches strategies for social-emotional awareness, bullying prevention and empathy building. She’s an author, program creator and product designer who was awarded the Building Vibrant Communities: Activating Empathy to Create Change Award by the Ashoka and Packard Foundations in 2014. Abadesco is a fellow for the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at MIT.
Joshua Lovejoy
Lovejoy is a UX Designer in the Research and Machine Intelligence group at Google. He works at the intersection of Interaction Design, Machine Learning, and unconscious bias awareness, leading design and strategy for Google’s ML Fairness efforts.
