PHOTO VIA TEDXORLANDO FACEBOOK PAGE
TEDxOrlando (Website) returns Saturday, October 17, with “The Space Between,” with a fairly full-day program of 13 speakers at the Linda W. Chapin Theater inside the Orange County Convention Center’s West Building on International Drive.
Doors open at 10:30 a.m., with talks running from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Inspired by Central Florida’s history of exploration, this year’s theme looks at moments of transition, including the gaps between growth and identity, between ideas and action, and between where Orlando has been and where it’s headed.
- Monument scholar Jose Vazquez (Website) will use research covering 50,000 U.S. monuments and the city’s response after Pulse to argue that people, not statues, carry history forward.
- Orlando-born consultant Carin Rae (Instagram) will deliver “The Diaspora of the ‘No Sabo Kid,'” about growing up in a Spanish-speaking community without speaking Spanish and reclaiming that identity.
- Ken Pozek (YouTube), CEO of Pozek Group and founder of The Orlando Real, will argue that Orlando is ready to move past its tourism-capital label and claim a place among America’s great cities.
- Benjamin Mack-Jackson (Website), founder of the WWII Veterans History Project, has interviewed more than 350 World War II veterans and reported from wartime Ukraine. His talk focuses on what the last eyewitnesses to that war can still teach about division and conflict.
- Psychotherapist Sharife Gacel (Website), who has served as medical officer on NASA-backed analog space missions, will talk about awe as a tool for mental health.
- Richard Hickam (Website), founder of the AdventHealth Orchestra, will make the case for music and creativity in healing.
- Jason T. Mendelsohn (Website), a stage 4 HPV-related cancer survivor, will discuss how stigma keeps people from seeking care in time.
- Accessible travel writer and filmmaker Sylvia Longmire (Website), who lives with multiple sclerosis, will speak about the people we overlook when we fear disability.
- Sandra Fatmi-Hall (Website) of the United Foundation of Central Florida, who will make the case for building leadership in young people before a crisis forces it.
- Wedding dress designer Hayley Paige (Website), who lost the rights to her own name, will talk about owning your identity in a digital world.
- Paleontologist Jimmy Waldron (Website) of Dinosaurs Will Always Be Awesome, co-discoverer of a newly identified giant sea reptile, will speak on science as a process anyone can join.
- Global strategist Dr. Esther Zeledon (Website) of BeActChange will share what her favorite interview question reveals about hiring, leading, and parenting.
- Stand-up comedian and Army veteran Ken Miller (Website), named Grand Prize Winner of the Standup Spotlight Competition by Steve Harvey, will explain how laughter helps people survive hardship.
Tickets range from $52.77 to $74.51 for the upper balcony and $67.26 to $95.21 for the lower balcony. Mezzanine seats run $89 to $126.26, and the orchestra section runs $110.73 to $157.31. Seating within each section is first come, first served.
Parking in the convention center’s West Lot is $20. The theater is on Level 3 of the West Concourse, with entry through the West C Lobby off International Drive, and organizers recommend allowing extra time to park and find it. Food and drinks are available for purchase from convention center vendors.
TEDxOrlando is independently organized under license from TED and run by volunteers.
Tickets are available HERE.
