When the first ever TEDxTuscaloosa event kicks off in April, a former TV reporter turned teacher will be one of the featured speakers. Mark Raines is a former ABC 33/40 anchor who left the TV business to teach journalism to Tuscaloosa City high school students. He is now a teacher with the San Dieguito Union High School District in California.
Another beneficiary of video ubiquity from YouTube to social media has been the TED (technology, entertainment and design) talks. Although TED seems a recent phenomenon, it started in 1984 as an intended one-time event with the slogan “ideas worth spreading.” TED has spread to Tuscaloosa. April 11, TEDxTuscaloosa will be held at the River Market, with eight speakers talking for under 18 minutes each.
TEDx is coming to Tuscaloosa this year with the aim of inspiring and reinvigorating the community through one larger event and four smaller events each year as planned.
TEDx is an offshoot of TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short lectures. TED began in 1984 as a conference to converge technology, entertainment and design. Today TED covers almost all topics, from science to business to global issues, in more than 100 languages.
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — The popular speaking series TEDx is coming to Tuscaloosa, and organizers are looking for speakers to spread their ideas.
“We are searching for thinkers and doers in our community who can share with our TEDxTuscaloosa audience ideas that will impact Tuscaloosa and inspire growth,” Andrew Richardson, lead organizer of the event, said in a release. “As Tuscaloosa continues to evolve as a cultural and intellectual hub for the state of Alabama, we hope this event can foster growth, new ideas, and change for the better.”