TEDxBGSU announces speaker lineup for March 22 event

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Committed to highlighting public good created on campus and in the community, Bowling Green State University has received a license from TED to amplify the ideas and voices of students, faculty, staff and community members at this year’s TEDxBGSU.

TEDxBGSU will take place on Wednesday, March 22 at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union on the campus of Bowling Green State University from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The independently organized event will feature local voices and TED Talks videos under the theme of “For the Public Good.” 

“This year’s lineup of activities and speakers is sure to be an exciting and impactful event for BGSU and the region,” says Kendra Lutes, event organizer and assistant director of leadership programs in the C. Raymond Marvin Center for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement at BGSU. “As always, our goal is to advance BGSU’s goal of being a public university for the public good.”

The public and members of the media are invited to attend the free, in-person TEDxBGSU event, which features 23 speakers.

Speakers at TEDxBGSU include:

  • Dr. Rodney K. Rogers – The president of Bowling Green State University will share his vision for the public good during this special TEDxBGSU talk.
  • Kyrsten Stuckey – The BGSU student, president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and President's Leadership Academy scholar will discuss the significance of finding comfort where you are and learning to face life’s challenges as they come.
  • Vagish Vela – The BGSU alumnus currently pursuing his MBA is the chief marketing officer of Lingua Fonica. He will discuss “You are the Product” and the business model of data collection, examining how instead of paying dollars for a service, we are paying with our personal data. 
  • Elyse Adrian – The political science major and member of BGSU Undergraduate Student Government will speak on “ecobricking,” examining a way to stop single-use plastics. from deteriorating into microplastics by using them as ecobricks for building material. 
  • Dr. Andrea Mata – The psychologist will take the stage to explain “From Murder to Mission: How I Found My Life’s Calling.” 
  • The full list of speakers and the schedule can be found at this link: https://www.bgsu.edu/tedxbgsu/event-information.html

Registration for TEDxBGSU is encouraged but not required. Participants will be able to attend all or a portion of the day, depending on their availability and interest. Registration is available at this link: https://forms.bgsu.edu/220734766474867

In addition to the series of speakers, TEDxBGSU will feature a group public art project on site, a bookstore, door prizes for attendance and more.

Launched in 2009, TEDx is a program of locally organized events that bring the community together to share a TED-like experience. Some of the best talks from TEDx events have gone on to be featured on TED.com and garnered millions of views from audiences across the globe.

TEDxBGSU: For the Public Good is a local, independently organized TEDx event at Bowling Green State University that strives to re-create the unique experience found at TED. At its core, our aim is to foster “ideas worth spreading.” TEDxBGSU seeks to amplify the voices of students, faculty, staff and community members of Bowling Green to share new ideas and inspire change.

For more information about TEDxBGSU, please visit www.bgsu.edu/TEDx

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, TED Talks 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, often in the form of short talks delivered by leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED conferences, intimate TED Salons and thousands of independently organized TEDx events around the world. Videos of these talks are made available, free, on TED.com and other platforms. Audio versions of TED Talks are published to TED Talks Daily, available on all podcast platforms.

TED's open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; TEDx, which licenses thousands of individuals and groups to host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities; The Audacious Project, which surfaces and funds critical ideas that have the potential to impact millions of lives; TED Translators, which crowdsources the subtitling of TED Talks so that big ideas can spread across languages and borders; and the educational initiative TED-Ed. TED also offers TED@Work, a program that reimagines TED Talks for workplace learning. TED also has a growing library of original podcasts, including The TED Interview with Chris Anderson, WorkLife with Adam Grant, Far Flung with Saleem Reshamwala and How to Be a Better Human.

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Updated: 02/28/2023 11:05AM