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Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:  Shannon Downey  shannon@pivotalchicago.com

TEDxWindyCity

By the People, For the People

CHICAGO –  Four hundred of Chicago’s most impassioned TEDx fans will come together on October 6  for an evening of networking and dialogue surrounding the challenges, innovations and future of our food supply.  This exciting mission-driven and action-oriented gathering titled, “The Best Ideas Since Sliced Bread,” will fill the rotunda of the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (MSI), and will feature an incredible lineup of speakers on topics ranging from food deserts and vertical farming to wild new food-based inventions.  Additionally, a pre-show networking event will include an expo that will feature 10 of Chicago’s most exciting up-and-coming food-based projects and non-profits.

“It’s really important to the team that TEDxWindyCity provide a platform for innovations at all phases of development.  We want our TEDx events to create community and action.  Our hope is that people use the electricity and energy that they create on October 6 to spur action to support these innovators and help them grow, succeed and ultimately to better the lives of all Chicagoans.  We are here to provide the moment and then support attendees in turning it into a movement,” said Shannon Downey, TEDx licensee.

The independently produced event, operated under a license from TED, is being presented by Pivotal Production (www.pivotalchicago.com) and the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (www.msichicago.org) and is aimed at creating dialogue and action as well as giving Chicago’s best and brightest a platform for sharing their thoughts, ideas and calls to action.   The event is sponsored by Google, The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and Chicago Convergence.

“The Best Ideas Since Sliced Bread ” will feature local and national innovators, researchers, and activists whose work has appeared on The Colbert Report, The Discovery Channel, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and CNN and in such publications as TIME, USA Today, Crain’s Chicago Business and Fast Company. They include:

  • Homaro Cantu, Executive Chef, Moto Restaurant; Chairman and Founder, Cantu Designs; star of Future Food on Planet Green channel; featured in MSI’s Fast Forward exhibit.
  • Ben Roche, Pastry Chef, Moto Restaurant; Director of Research and Development, Cantu Designs; star of Future Food on Planet Green channel.
  • Dickson Despommier, Emeritus Professor of Public Health and Microbiology, Columbia University; featured in MSI’s Fast Forward exhibit.
  • Mari Gallagher, Principal, Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group.

Tickets are $40 and include parking and entrance into the MSI exhibit Fast Forward … Inventing the Future, a gallery that highlights global innovators in science, technology, the environment, the arts and more. Guests will also receive admission into the Science Storms and YOU!  The Experience. exhibits.   Tickets can be purchased at www.TEDxWindyCity.com.

More information about the event can be found at www.TEDxWindyCity.com.

Twitter – http://twitter.com/TEDxWindyCity

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/TEDxWindyCity

About TEDxWindyCity

In the spirit of “ideas worth spreading,” TED has created TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxWindyCity, where x = independently organized TED event. At TEDxWindyCity, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California; TEDGlobal is held each year in Oxford, UK, and this November, the TEDIndia Conference will be held in Mysore, India. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where three exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter (twitter.com/TEDTalks), or on Facebook, (facebook.com/TED).


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TEDxWindyCity Tickets

Tickets go on sale MONDAY (August 23rd) at 9am sharp

Tickets are $40 and include:

  • Free Parking
  • Entrance into Fast Forward, Science Storms, and YOU! The Experience
  • Pre-program networking
  • Some additional great stuff (we don’t want to ruin the surprise)

Buy Tickets Here (Starting Monday at 9am) https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/124428

TEDxWindyCity Manifesto

Over the last few months our team has been meeting regulary to craft a brilliant plan for the future of TEDxWindyCity.  We decided an important first step was to reflect on our collective goals and values for the events.

We all agreed that in the end we aim to craft an incredible series of events that 1. are open and accessible to everyone who is inspired by TED   2.  create a community  and 3. provide a platform for people doing amazing things.

We decided a manifesto was in order.  So here you have it!

TEDx WindyCity Manifesto

In the spirit of Ideas worth spreading, TEDxWindyCity will:

  1. Be held in Chicago
  2. Be open to the public
  3. Keep ticket prices accessible
  4. Provide a platform for the inspiring, innovative, revolutionary, moving, ground breaking, and influential
  5. Provide opportunities for projects and programs that are up- and- coming to be seen, heard, felt, and supported
  6. Create a space for community networking and idea sharing
  7. Adhere to our overarching theme in selecting content, speakers, and performers
  8. Support community initiatives
  9. Introduce national and global initiatives and speakers to our Chicago audience
  10. Encourage calls to action
  11. Welcome support and suggestions, leaving egos at the door
  12. Entertain, inform and amuse!

Join in the conversation

TEDxWindyCity has launched a ning community in order to create a space that keep conversations moving well beyond our physical gatherings.  We hope you will use the space to share ideas, build movements, discuss important topics and network.

The TEDxWindyCity team hopes to use the tool to engage the community in building our future events…because, after all, they are YOUR TEDx events.

We invite you to join us at: http://tedxwindycity.ning.com/

TEDxWindyCity Speaker Dawn Hancock on Oprah Radio!

We are so excited to announce that TEDxWindyCity Speaker, Dawn Hancock will be a guest on The Derrick Ashong Experience Radio Show.

This Saturday, February 6th at Noon you can listen LIVE on XM 156/Sirius 195 Oprah Radio or watch LIVE on OprahRadio.com

Did you miss it? Don’t worry…you can listen to it here
(Start at minute 26)
http://www.oprah.com/oprahradio/The-Derrick-Ashong-Experience-2062010-Hour-3-Video