Speaker and performer selection is complete for TEDxCincinnatiChange. Please feel free to nominate a speaker for any of our upcoming TEDxCincinnati talks.
Stacy Sims is all about connectedness. She is a novelist, playwright, entrepreneur, activist, dancer and traveler. As founder of the True Body Project, she explores through movement self-examination and critical thinking about the body and body image. Stacy will discuss how small somatic shifts in the way we unite our minds and bodies can transform our lives, allowing us to become productive, creative and connected to ourselves and those around us.
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David Mack is living his dream. As a nationally and internationally honored writer, artist, author of graphic novels and children’s books, David discovered how to turn his dream into reality. His work as artist and author of the KABUKI graphic novels has earned him acclaim for his innovative storytelling, sophisticated content, mixed media painting techniques and page design. David will present practical applications for discovering your purpose and making that purpose into a reality.
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Daniel Nebert, MD is an expert in the field of evolutionary genetics and genomics. As professor of Environmental Health and Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center since 1989, Dr. Nebert developed the Glo-Fish Project. By injecting green fluorescent protein, or GFP, into the fertilized eggs of zebrafish, Dr. Nebert was able to determine aquaticpollution levels in reservoirs and creeks as the GFP gene responded to these pollutants. Following exposure to the pollutants, the zebrafish could then be detoxified in clean water and reused many times over the course of their three-year life span. Dr. Nebert will talk about the practical implications of this project and how we, as individuals, can get involved.
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Jim Swill is changing the face of spoken word. As a writer, performer and artist, Jim explores the technology-driven side of his generation, how their lives are lived outside the screen world and what that means for individual expression. His work is focused from his personal vantage point as well as from the vital human experience we all share. Jim will discuss issues facing younger generations including optional dilemma, do-it-yourself community, social media and the role of the outsider.
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Alex Shebar is all about people. As the first-ever Community Manager for Yelp in Cincinnati and as founder of the Watch This film project, Alex is passionate about using the internet to connect with people. He believes our online and offline personas are merging and that this is something to be celebrated. Alex is convinced we can use this melding of the virtual and the real worlds to build our own communities, either through our businesses or our personal lives. Alex will talk about being yourself, online and off.
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Ashley Beckett is all about engagement. How we as individuals engage with the charities we fund, how aid workers engage with countries in need, how humanitarian organizations engage with the people they support. With a special interest in the countries of central Africa, Ashley has founded an organization whose mission will be to inspire the growth of peace and the stability of community through the engagement of regional arts and culture. She will discuss refining and redefining how organizations and people interact with the cause itself.
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Andrea Sisson & Peter Ohs of the film design duo Lauren Edward are all about perspective. As newlyweds sent to live and work on a tiny island in Iceland on a Fulbright Fellowship, these two creative filmmakers were transformed by the moving landscape surrounding them, gaining new insight into how design and creativity could be implemented in our own lives to foster health and well-being. This new outlook inspired them to create I Send You This Place, a documentary film about Andrea’s efforts to understand her brother’s mental diagnoses and institutionalization and how the harsh and beautiful Icelandic landscape may be the key to unlocking his mystery, as well as her own. Andrea and Peter will discuss their film and how we can all find well-being simply by changing our perspective.
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Lori Kran is all about cultivating genius. As a Waldorf educator, Lori has seen first-hand how changing the way we teach instead of what we teach can dramatically impact students’ capacity for educational and creative excellence. From her classroom, Lori’s Waldorf graduates are all adept critical thinkers, visual artists, musicians, athletes and compassionate individuals – qualities that empower them to act for change. Lori will discuss her methods of teaching and will challenge the notion that more technology is the answer to our nation’s educational woes.
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Jean-Francois Flechet is the most educated waffle maker in the country. A restaurant owner with three Masters degrees and experience working for a multi-national market research company in Cincinnati, Jean-Francois exemplifies the word change. Inspired by the street vendor food he remembered from his homeland of Belgium, he procured a recipe, bought one waffle iron and began selling waffles at farmer’s markets in Cincinnati. From that one waffle iron has grown a full Belgian-style bistro, a bakery at Findlay Market and a small concept store in Columbus’ North Market – all the while employing a staff of 50 people. Jean-Francois’ success did not happen without the help of many, a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck and he will share this journey in the hope of inspiring others to follow their dreams.
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Ramsey Ford is using design to improve the world. The principles of good design are usually reserved for the wealthiest members of our global society, allowing us to live in relative and complete comfort. As co-founder of Design Impact, a non-profit organization that partners the world’s best designers with global communities in need, Ramsey and his team use the principles of good design to improve the lives of those with the greatest need for improvement. Ramsey will discuss the use of design as a means to empower the world’s poorest citizens.
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Samuel Phillips is all about the frustration of originality. As a writer, Samuel uses a unique inspirational tool – the idea that someone else thought of it first – to create his writing. On a vintage blue Sears typewriter, Samuel takes the exasperation of hearing his ideas from the mouths of other writers and turns it into his own kind of creative process. Growing up in Covington, Kentucky as part of a large African American, Irish and Scottish family, the influences of Appalachia and urban Cincinnati find their way into his work. Samuel will talk about his creative process and the blissfully aggravating way he writes his work.
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Jive Creek Ramblers draw from early blues, folk, rock, and country influences, the Jive Creek Ramblers have honed a uniquely Americana sound that defies categories. “Too raucous to be folk, too earthy to be rock,” has been said of this Cincinnati-based trio. Through a blend of smooth harmonies, scorching guitar, and solid acoustic percussion, the Ramblers have entertained crowds from Indiana to Alabama and a few spots in between. The trio has been together for the past 5 years and is still going strong, crafting tributes to their favorite artists mingled with a host of original material.
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The contemporary musical group known as Honest Abe is all about the present moment. Born out of an impromptu performance at an open-mic night and using cello, violin, djembe and voice, the three CCM-educated musicians perform music that potently and honestly expresses the current atmosphere, wherever they find themselves performing. This style of music directly reflects what it means to be human and interact with other humans, drawing from their classical training to blend past, present and future into one spontaneous and unique performance. Honest Abe will discuss a documentary film chronicling the “courageous failure” of their cross-country tour and perform their singular style of music.
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The League of Cincinnati Steampunks is a confederacy of chronologically anarchistic ladies and gentlemen of varying degrees of gentility and debauchery. Established in the year MMVIII, the League has grown immensely as the popularity of steampunk has risen. They hold monthly Steampunk Salons, cavort with picnics, promenade in festivals, but the highlight of the calendar is the Steampunk Symposium at the end of April. All who feel themselves somehow misplaced in time are welcome to don a top hat, tighten a corset, and join the League’s adventures and mischief. The League is very honored to be a part of TEDxCincinnati’s exploration of change and all the ways that this can appear.
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Sarah Terrell a classically trained harpist is passionate about bringing hope, beauty, and healing to desolate places — physically, emotionally and spiritually. Sarah uses music to connect with people who are often overlooked by society. You will find her playing for patients in hospitals and nursing homes, providing music for guests of a soup kitchen, or leading “jam sessions” with residents of a homeless shelter. Sarah plays a broad range of music including classical, folk, rock, and Celtic to connect with her audiences.
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The Tadcasters create a foot-stomping groove oriented bluegrass space-jam sound. Kind of like riding in the front seat of an open funhouse car with all the side-to-side shake and bounce. Nick LaBoffe (mandolin, vocals), Bill Littleford (guitar, vocals), Josh Moore (upright bass) and Chris Novy (Sputnick-the 16 gallon steel drum and banjo).
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Drums for Peace is an ensemble of craft and performing artists and arts education advocates with a knowledge concentration on percussive traditions of the people of the Americas and the African Diaspora. Engaging the audience as active participants Steven J. Hayes, Baba Charles Miller, Charles Ali Schweitzer, Richard Branham, Nubi Houston, Chase Luikart & Kathryne Gardette will have you Drumming for Peace.
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David Nebert and Milan DelVecchio are the fusion of lighting and fiber design. Both graduates of DAAP, they work to develop intriguing, engaging installations involving David’s passion in lighting design and Milan’s background in fashion design. In the tail end of 2010 they formed Elna and Ei, and after a three month period of design and creativity immersion, they developed their lighting concept, “Elna”, into what can be viewed now at the TEDxCincinnati venue. They plan to continue developing installation works when time permits as well as purchasable products which will complement the installations.
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Bunk News is a collective working in Cincinnati engaged in a range of creative practices that include music and art shows, installations and performances. Bunk News incorporates mediums such as painting, video and sculpture in works created by individual members and through the collective. Bunk also collaborates closely with other local Cincinnati artists and musicians to create work and events. Bunk operates with a strong DIY mentality, and seeks to build an art community that brings people together to enable a less traditional engagement with viewing and making art.
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Additional Speaker/Performers to be announced as we grow closer to the event.