Inaugural TEDxDayton Engages Hundreds of Community Members in “Ideas Worth Spreading”

From tickets selling out three weeks in advance to the outpouring of support from volunteers, attendees, speakers and sponsors, it appears TEDxDayton will be an annual event.

Nov. 15, 2013 (Dayton, Ohio) — Today marks the first TEDxDayton and, already, the event has been a success: More than 900 people, a third of them area college students, are attending. More than 30 people are speaking or performing. More than 200 people volunteered an estimated 10,000 hours of time to plan and execute the event. More than 30 businesses and organizations signed on as financial or in-kind sponsors. Tickets for TEDxDayton sold out in only 23 days and three weeks before the event.

TEDx is a global program of independently organized events licensed by TED. TEDxDayton takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at the Victoria Theatre, 138 N. Main St. in downtown Dayton. Infuse & Inspire is the theme for the inaugural TEDxDayton event, where attendees are being introduced to a variety of ideas that will spark deep discussion and connections, inspired by the TED talks mantra of promoting “ideas worth spreading.”

“It’s been so exciting to experience this community’s overwhelming support for TEDxDayton,” said event co-chair Sean Creighton. “Dayton is a community full of passionate, inspired and engaged people, of dreamers and doers in the world. The way this community has embraced TEDxDayton really illustrates this.

“We’d like to thank everyone who made this event possible,” said event co-chair Kristy Rochon. “With this level of support, we hope to make TEDxDayton an annual event.

Follow TEDxDayton on Facebook or Twitter for posts about today’s events, speakers, photos and more. Videos of today’s presentations also will be posted online, and details will be released soon.

TEDxDayton Sponsors

Presenting Sponsor: Wright-Patt Credit Union

Underwriting Sponsors: CoxMedia Group Ohio, GE Capital, Levin Family Foundation, Morris Furniture Co., PNC, Premier Health, Sinclair Community College, SOCHE, UES, Wright State University, University of Dayton

Patron Sponsors: CareSource, Dayton Children’s, GDAHA, Dayton Development Coalition, The Dayton Foundation, Soin International, St. Mary Development Corporation, Tark Inc., Vella Inc., Wright State Research Institute

Media Sponsors: Active Dayton, Dayton B2B, Dayton City Paper, Dayton Daily News, Dayton Local, Dayton Most Metro, ThinkTV

In-Kind Sponsors: Dayton Art Institute, Dayton Visual Arts Center, School of Advertising Art, Shumsky

TEDxDayton Steering Committee Partners

Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton Development Coalition, Dayton Metro Library, Morris Furniture Co., Sinclair Community College, SOCHE, University of Dayton, UpDayton, Wright State University

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California almost 30 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes on a diverse mix of topics. Many of these talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The TED2014 Conference will take place in Vancouver, British Columbia, along with the TEDActive simulcast in neighboring Whistler. TEDGlobal 2014 will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TED Talks are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; and TEDBooks, short e-books on powerful ideas. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world get help translating their wishes into action; TEDx, which supports individuals or groups in hosting local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDNews or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED.

For information about TED’s upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration.

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