The Macky Auditorium (Courtesy of CU Boulder)
TEDxCU, a student-led organization that organizes speaking events at the University of Colorado Boulder, will host their 11th annual event on Friday, April 7, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Macky Auditorium.
This year’s event is titled “Serendipity.” It focuses on “exploring new perspectives and walking into the unknown,” according to Sophie Gould, the co-chair of TEDxCU.
The event will feature 10 speakers, including CU Boulder students, faculty and other Boulder community members.
“We have three students and three professors that are speaking this year, which is really incredible because [one] of our goals this year was to have more students,” Gould said.
TEDxCU executives selected the speakers through an audition process over winter break. The speakers have been preparing their talks this spring, meeting with TEDxCU speaker coaches for a few hours each week and attending three separate intensive speaker coaching sessions.
“We have people talking about education, science, social issues, personal stories, and I think there’ll be something for everyone in the audience,” said Paul Bontempo, co-chair of TEDxCU.
This year, a limited number of speaker coaches signed up, so Gould coached speaker Orit Peleg, an assistant professor of computer science at CU Boulder.
“Seeing her progress through her manuscript, through her first audition and then to the final stage, I’m really proud of her,” Gould said. “It becomes less of a ‘me’ event and more like I’m cheering her on.”
Bontempo said he is also excited to see the speakers perform their talks and for the TEDxCU team to see their hard work pay off.
“I think a lot of people on the team have persevered through such amazing struggles in their own lives and with the team to make this event happen,” Bontempo said. “I’m so excited for them to get to enjoy the success of it.”
To attend the event, community members can register online. The event is free to attend for CU Boulder students if they provide their student email and identification number.
“I’m excited for people to have some of their ideas challenged, maybe, and to have their perspectives expanded,” Bontempo said.
Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Celia Frazier at celia.frazier@colorado.edu.
