(KNSI) – A popular speaking conference returns to the Paramount Center for the Arts in St. Cloud on Thursday night. Tickets are still available for TEDxStCloud and the event will be live-streamed for free. This year’s event features eight speakers, each giving a brief twelve-minute talk.
TEDxStCloud is Co-Organizer by Brian Hart and Erin Perry. Hart says this year’s theme is “Embrace.”
“The by word of TEDx is ideas worth spreading. And our idea is to spotlight these really interesting neighbors that we live with and give them a chance to talk about something they’re really passionate about.”
Hart says there’s something for everyone at TEDx conferences.
“In a very short period of time, you get an opportunity to hear a really broad spectrum of ideas and perspectives, different speakers, bringing different points of view and one of the hallmarks of a TEDx talk is that there’s always some kind of call to action.”
TEDxStCloud takes place on Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
2021 speakers include:
Annette Atkins – An historian who uses letters, photos, shoes, art, chairs, census records, maps and other artifacts as keys to unlock the past, a past that is full of wonders and mysteries, stories and landscapes to be explored. She works from the belief that opening that door helps illuminate the past and the present. Atkins, a former professor, teaches that our history and our lives stand in such a close relationship to each other that reflecting on either one helps illuminate the other.
James Alberts – Pastor, social justice leader, and board member of ISAIAH MN. Alberts founded Higher Ground Church of God in Christ in 2001. Alberts has been a key leader in forging St. Cloud’s Community Policing Agreement and focuses on ongoing community development.
Mary Bruno – Artist and owner of Bruno Press letterpress print shop. From early days in her father’s workshop, Bruno learned her love for printing. She took that love to the next level when she graduated with a printmaking degree and took over her father’s shop. She describes her work as the sum of hand-carved linoleum block plus handset wood and metal type plus wicked sharp wit.
Charles Eisenreich – Lifelong K-12 educator and administrator and former minor league baseball player, Eisenreich taught and coached at several area schools and served as assistant principal at Tech High School and principal at Tech and Apollo High Schools.
John Harlander – Physicist and designer of optical instruments for astronomy and space physics including for NASA’s recently-launched Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite.
Niloufer Merchant – Psychologist, trauma expert, former SCSU faculty. Merchant specializes in diagnosing and treating mental health disorders related to trauma, PTSD, depression and anxiety. She incorporates holistic approaches, honoring the mind, body and spirit connection. She speaks Gujarati, Urdu and Hindi.
Pete Rogers – Expert in automation and robotic systems integration. Rogers brought more than 13 years in automation and robotics leadership when he accepted his most recent post in 2019 as Central McGowan’s vice president and general manager of automation.
Robbyn Wacker – St. Cloud State University president and academician in gerontology and sociology. Wacker’s passion is to help create conditions that bring out the best in others and to advance the mission of higher education. She is a first-generation college student whose great-grandparents immigrated to the U.S. in search of a better life and settled in Colorado as farm laborers in the beet fields.
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