TEDxRVA announces final speakers

Over 20 national and local speakers will convene to “re:___” RVA.

March 14, 2014; 8:17 AM • by Nathan Cushing

Update #2 — March 14, 2014; 8:16 AM

Organizers of TEDxRVA have unveiled the final list of speakers for this month’s event at the Virginia Repertory Theatre (see posts below). Those speakers include CEOs, a 21-time Emmy winner, and an Xbox One engineer, among others.

Here’s the final list of speakers:

Duron Chavis • Community activist, urban gardener, and founder of Happily Natural Day.
Lisa Freiman • Director of the yet-constructed Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Anne Goddard • President and CEO, ChildFund International.
Reggie Gordon • CEO, American Red Cross, Eastern Virginia Region, and co-founder of The Ujima Legacy Fund.
Jasmine Lawrence • Program manager on Microsoft’s Xbox One engineering team in Seattle and founder of EDEN BodyWorks.
Mike Muse • Co-founder of Muse Recordings in New York and nationally known commentator on the business of music, pop culture, and politics.
Dr. Andrew Poklepovic • Medical oncologist, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System.
Charlotte Potter and Robin Rogers • Potter is a glassblower, manager and program director. Rogers is a sculptor and assistant manager with the Chrysler Museum of Art Glass Studio in Norfolk.
David Rau • Principal and creative director at 3North.
Chad Varga • CEO of the Chad Varga Company and the nonprofit organization Inspire Now.
Jesse Vaughan • 21-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker
Dr. Tawnya Pettiford Wates • Founder and artist director of the Conciliation Project.
Morgan Yacoe and Dr. Jennifer Rhodes • Yacoe is an artistic and medical sculptor. Rhodes’ is the director of the Center of Craniofacial Care at Children’s Hospital of Richmond.

The above speakers will join a list of previously announced presenters (see below).

TEDxRVA “re:___” takes place on Friday, March 28th at the Virginia Repertory Theatre at 114 W. Broad Street. Tickets are $100. There will also be viewing parties for the event throughout the city.

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Update #1 — February 10, 2014; 10:19 AM

Tickets to the TEDxRVA on March 28th are now on sale. Tickets are $100 per person ($50 for students with valid ID). The daylong event will be held at the November Theatre at Virginia Rep at 114 W. Broad Street. There will also be at least nine viewing parties locally for the event.

The theme for this year’s event is “re___”, which TEDxRVA curator, Andy Stefanovich, described as both an “invitation” and “action” to consider Richmond’s future (see below).

Scheduled speakers include:

Danny Avula • Deputy Director, Richmond Health Department
Amy Black • Tattoo artist at Trademark Tattoo
Archie Lee Coates IV • Partner at PlayLab and co-founder of +Pool
Seth Farbman • Chief Global Marketing Officer at Gap, Inc.
Jim Meehan • Mixologist
Brian Shepard • CEO at UNOS
Ashley Stanley • Executive Director at Lovin’ Spoonfuls

TEDxRVA will also host winners from last November’s Open Mic Night:

Joshua Braunstein • Slam poet and VCU student
Daniel Goldschmidt • Music therapist at Poplar Springs Hospital
Carmen Jones • Musician and fashion merchandising student at VCU

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Original — November 01, 2013

The second TEDxRVA event will take place next year on March 28th at the The Sara Belle and Neil November Theatre. The theme will be be “re___” (as in reimagine, rethink, reinvent, etc).

Organizers will host a launch party Friday, November 1st at 6:00 PM outside the November Theatre of Virginia Rep during the First Fridays Artwalk. There will be a photo booth and a “re___” intention wall.

TEDxRVA curator Andy Stefanovich said about the “re___” theme:

“‘Re___’ is more than a theme. It’s an invitation, an action. It is a call for our community to lean in and bridge the gap. ‘Re___’ leaves a space for you to add your voice to the conversation. Reconsider, reimagine, react, repair, realize…there is no one word that can capture the future of our community, so we’re leaving it open to interpretation.”

Next year’s TEDxRVA event will feature both local and national presenters, videos, and interactive demonstrations. Ticketing information will be announced soon.

An open mic night will take place on November 13th at The Hippodrome to enlist local speakers. Roughly 30 participants will have two minutes to pitch a TEDxRVA talk before the audience electronically selects the two winners. Doors open at 7:00 PM and speakers begin at 8:00 PM. The event is free.

There will be several other TEDxRVA events leading up to next year’s event:

TEDxRVAWomen (December 5th) • collaboration with a TEDWomen talk in San Francisco.
TEDxRVA Adventures • TEDxRVA in action. Details to come.
Second Open Mic Night (January 29th) • video audition and community selection process. Further details to come.

There will also be off-site viewing parities for the March 28th event at VCU, University of Richmond, Reynolds Community College, and Richard Bland College in Petersburg.

Over 500 people attended the first TEDxRVA near the Shockoe flood wall last March.