TEDxCharleston Announces Speaker Line Up

A Diverse Group of 14 Thinkers and Visionaries to Share Their Stories at May 15 Event

CHARLESTON, SC – March 13, 2013 – Organizers of TEDxCharleston announced today the speaker line up for “Reinvent,” the May 15, 2013 event:

Winslow Hastie, a 13th-generation Charlestonian, is the Chief Preservation Officer at Historic Charleston Foundation, managing all of its preservation programs and two historic museum houses.
Dave Dawson is the president and founder of The Urban Electric Company, which embraces the return of the craftsman-style approach to lighting design in America.
Rev. Bill Stanfield is a founder and CEO of the Metanoia Community Development Corporation, a grassroots movement of people focused on the holistic redevelopment of some of our region’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.
Simran Singh, the publisher of 11:11 Magazine and the host of the syndicated 11:11 Talk Radio and On the Lighter Side Radio, specializes in metaphysics, spirituality and motivation.
Teresa Bruce is a one-time Olympic hopeful turned writer, broadcast journalist and former Ogilvy PR executive who now lives in Beaufort, SC.
Michael Schmidt is Professor and Vice Chairman of Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina with a focus on translating the microbiological results from the lab into practical solutions.
Justin Forest Nathanson is a filmmaker with his own company, which specializes in video and photo advertising, marketing and production.
Jennifer Baker is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the College of Charleston with an interest in applying ancient ethical standard to modern day life.
Lua Martin Wells works at the Mount Pleasant Regional Branch of the public library and has a passion for the interest-driven, child-led, organic learning style known as “Unschooling.”
Michael Messner co-manages Seminole Capital Partners, LP, an equity investment fund founded in 1995, and is a trustee (along with his wife, Jenny) of The Speedwell Foundation, which supports urban parks and education.
Ricky Hacker is the chef and co-owner of Extra Virgin Oven (EVO) Pizzeria and Craft Bakery located in the North Charleston neighborhood of Park Circle and supports using sustainable ingredients from the surrounding land, sea and air.
Eve Blossom, a trained architect and designer, founded Lulan and WE’VE as a unique for-profit social venture, a collaboration between designers and gifted artisans to create contemporary products and produce stable jobs and economic options.
Brendan James, a contemporary American singer and songwriter with a critically-acclaimed, piano-based style, is on tour with his third album “Hope In Transition,” which includes a special ode to his new hometown, Charleston.
Tiffany Russell, Ph.D. is an educator at Georgia State University with expertise in multiculturalism, African American studies and womanism.

Additional speakers and performers may be announced at a later date. TEDxCharleston will be held at PURE Theater in downtown Charleston on May 15, 2013 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Lunch and a reception are included. Focused on the theme of “Reinvent,” this independently produced event, operated under a license from TED, is an all-day immersion experience at the intersection of science, art, performance and business.

“We are ecstatic to announce these speakers. All of the speakers have some sort of tie to Charleston and have a great story to tell and an idea worth sharing. Our goal for this event was to gather inspiring people with diverse ideas to share the many untold stories of Charleston’s thinkers, visionaries and fascinating teachers. It’s clear that with a line up like this, we’ve done just that. We all look forward to their talks and to being moved and motivated,” said Edith Howle, curator of TEDxCharleston.

Applications to attend TEDxCharleston can be submitted at http://tedxcharleston.org/attend/. The audience will be limited to 100 attendees.

About TEDx, where x = independently organized event

In the spirit of “ideas worth spreading,” TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxCharleston, where x = independently organized TED event. At TEDxCharleston, TEDTalks videos and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.

*This independent TEDx event is operated under license from TED.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Edinburgh, UK. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to organize local, independent TED-like events around the world; and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks, and on Facebook at facebook.com/TED.

For information about TED’s upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration.