This Friday, April 4th, Cortland is hosting a TEDxSUNY Cortland conference to spark conversation between community members, faculty, students, and alumni about big ideas and concepts relating to all aspects of life.
From 6:00-8:00 p.m. in Sperry Room 205, this free event is open to anyone interested in hearing a wide variety of speakers talk about topics such as education, technology, self-care, and more.
Speakers
The TEDxSUNY Cortland event is an independently organized event designed to bring together all members of the SUNY Cortland community to share their original ideas and insights. The conference is authorized by TED, the non-profit foundation which hosts speaking conferences around the world.
This year, Cortland’s theme for discussion is “air”. The theme, inspired by the university’s year-long academic series, will allow speakers to analyze the invisible forces which affect our lives and talk about their opinions, concepts, and theories.
At 6pm, the lineup of 8 speakers will officially begin. Some featured speakers will include Riley Meckley, Jason Page, Kathy Love, and Curtis Czarniak.
Riley Meckley, a Senior at SUNY Cortland, plans to present her topic, “What Influencers Don’t Want You To Know”. As an influencer herself, Meckley plans to share her experiences on social media and the unrealistic standards that are put out into the media relating it back to its impact on “digital air”.
Jason Page, a SUNY Cortland alum and Assistant professor will present his concept which addresses the social dynamics of leisure.
Kathy Love, a SUNY Cortland alum, author, self-care coach and the chief community officer of the Outlier Project, hopes to share the importance of self-care and developing a true connection with yourself.
Curtis Czarniak, also a SUNY Cortland alum, will explore the challenges of public education. Czarniak will argue that the way education is conducted within our school systems today is a problem and it is creating unnecessary challenges for everyone involved.
Thomas Curty, Margaret Setffie, Rodney Koch, and Liz Arnold are also scheduled to speak on Friday. This TED-like experience from all 8 speakers is anticipated to not only enlighten the community but also inspire them to make a change within themselves and others.
Once the night has concluded, the speakers and their presentations can also be found globally online after being published by TED.
How to Register
In order to attend the conference, you must register by this upcoming Thursday, April 3.
On the TEDxSUNY Cortland page, there is a “Register to attend” column on the right hand side. Simply click and it will bring you to the register page.
Once on the page, click the “press enter” button and it will bring you to the next step where you can select the amount of attendees as well as add basic information like your name and email address.
In the spring of 2023, SUNY Cortland had their first debut with TED. The theme for the past event was “Freedom Dreaming” which focused on envisioning a better world, a better future, and the steps needed to get there.
An audience attended both in person and virtually which allowed for more people to engage and participate with the speakers and their presented thoughts.
If you are interested in attending the upcoming TEDxSUNY Cortland event, make sure to register before Thursday.
For more information regarding the speakers and registration, visit this link.