You probably have come across TED talks on YouTube or in a link from Facebook. They’re very simple, and usually compelling: A speaker standing alone on a stage tells their story in front of a live audience.
This year, the Montclair Adult School, in association with Partners for Health and Montclair State University, is bringing the program to Montclair where on November Saturday Nov. 5, mostly local speakers will take the stage to address the topic “Eat. Play. Live…”
Montclair journalist and author Dana Jennings, who has shared his struggle with prostate cancer public in an ongoing series of blog posts in the New York Times, will moderate. Montclair broadcaster and author Jim Axelrod is a scheduled speaker.
“This is about focusing on people who have something personal, passionate and new,” says Suzy Kass, executive director of the Adult School of Montclair. The theme “Eat. Play. Live…” applies to physical as well as emotional health. “It’s a pretty broad umbrella.”
TedxMontclair (and it’s pronounced “x” not “by”) comes to Montclair under a strict licensing agreement with the TED organization, which prohibits the sponsoring organizations from making a profit and speakers from taking a fee. The $50 attendance fee will cover lunch and technical costs, including live-streaming the event, Kass says.
The program is not limited to local speakers. Among the speakers is 18-year-old Kimberly White of Brooklyn, who just learned to ride a bicycle about a year ago and then became a bicycling advocate. Other speakers without a Montclair connection include sustainable cooking advocate Tamar Adler, “Geography of Bliss” author Eric Weiner and Alan Jenkins, co-founder of the Opportunity Agenda.
TedxMontclair is still recruiting speakers through Sept. 24. If you’re interested, find an application here. Attendance is limited to 100 people. Sign up here.
