2015 TEDxChattanooga Speakers
* Linda Bullard - LSMB Business Solutions * Tracey Carisch - 100WaysToChangeTheWorld.com * Christian Collier - poet and educator * Anna George - Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute * The Impressions - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singing group * Karen Mills - comedian and cancer survivor * Cole Montalvo - biohacker and biosafety evangelist * Asami Nakano - Japan outreach for UTC Asia Program * Stephen Palmer - Teach for America * Rachel Raisin - Girls' Preparatory School * Jerry Redman - Second Life, Inc. * Martha Summa-Chadwick - Director of Music Therapy Gateway in Communications, Inc. * Elaine Swafford - Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy * Billy Weeks - Photojournalist
TEDxChattanooga, an independently organized event in the spirit of TED Talks, will feature more than a dozen speakers with Chattanooga stories ranging from a biohacker who made headlines when he confronted a street preacher, to a music therapist who studies the effects of music on the brain.
The list includes Billy Weeks, a photojournalist who started with the Chattanooga Times in 1984, Elaine Swafford, director of the Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy, and members of The Impressions, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singing group that rocketed to fame in the 1960s.
Anna George, director of the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, which recently announced a new building on Baylor School's Chattanooga campus, will speak about what she sees as a global freshwater crisis. Rachel Raisin, a senior at Girls' Preparatory School will talk about her quest to make 1,000 origami paper cranes. And Linda Murray Bullard, owner and operator of LSMB Business Solutions, will speak about how to overcome poverty through exposure, education and empowerment.
The event, scheduled for Feb. 27 at the Roland W. Hayes Concert Hall at UTC, is celebrating the theme of "This might sound crazy, but ," a phrase organizers believe usually is the beginning of inspiring, creative and thought-provoking conversations.
"In Chattanooga, a group of community leaders dreamed up the crazy idea of building a freshwater aquarium on the Tennessee River. Today, 23 years later, the Tennessee Aquarium is credited with igniting the 'Renaissance on the River,' and the revitalization of downtown Chattanooga. We want more examples of crazy ideas in Chattanooga - and the world - that change our society," the group wrote on its webpage.
Early bird tickets cost $40, or $65 including an after party at the Tennessee Aquarium.
TEDx programs are created by TED to allow local, self-organized events to share a TED-like experience. The TED conference provides general guidance for TEDx programs, but the individual events are self-organized.