Technology, entertainment and design came together for ideas worth sharing at UF’s first TEDx event Saturday afternoon.
“The whole focus of TED is to bring different thought leaders together across the disciplines to engage with each other and share their ideas,” said event coordinator Meaghan Barbin. “Interactivity is a huge aspect.”
TED is an internationally active nonprofit that originally brought together professionals from the fields of technology, entertainment and design and has since expanded to include many other fields. The “x” stands for independently organized.
Ambassadors of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation hosted the event in Pugh Hall. About 70 people attended.
“We have one of the best pools of talent here at UF,” said UF graduate Abhi Lokesh, an entrepreneur at the event. “It would be remiss of us not to tap into that creative pool.”
Jessica Guyton, a UF health sciences senior, said she enjoys TED events.
“Stuff we don’t care about, they bring pieces you can incorporate in your own life no matter what your interests are,” Guyton said. “That’s what it’s about: bringing two different things together.”
Guests included entomology professor Carl Barfield, assistant jazz professor Scott Wilson, dance professor Joan Frosch, distinguished service professor Sanford Berg, husband-wife team Miriam Zach, a musicologist, and Mikesch Muecke, an architect, and astronomy professor Charles Telesco.
Barbin said the ambassadors will host TEDx events annually at UF.
“I think it’s going to be a lot easier going forward to have this event on a regular basis,” Barbin said, “because people now recognize and have seen the faces of the other people around UF who want to make themselves better, who want to learn more about a wide range of topics and who want to make a change.”
