2014: Unzipped
What an event!
TEDxGreenville 2014: Unzipped took place Friday, April 11, at the Kroc Center in downtown Greenville.
8-9am – Registration, coffee, networking, activities
9am-12:15pm – Sessions I & II: Speakers, performers, activities
12:15-1:30pm – Lunch (provided), networking, activities
1:30-5pm – Sessions III & IV: Speakers, performers, activities
LINKS
Event summary
Presenters
Blog series
Photo album
Video library
Printed program (download coming soon)
Sponsors
Volunteer team
Unzipped — abandoning limitations, pursuing passions, revealing strengths
The word has broad relevance that easily applies to TED and TEDx ideals, and opens up many possibilities. Unlocking new ideas and experiences. Letting go of restrictive masks or emotions. Revealing an epiphany previously hidden. Shedding confining stereotypes and fears. Peeling back layers to discover the heart of a challenge.
When we’re unzipped, intrinsic creative qualities such as wonder, enchantment, exploration, play, and delight emerge naturally. We readily pursue passions. And differences in attitudes, appearance, and lifestyle matter less… or not at all. Existing and thinking differently becomes natural and accepted.
Lisa Marie Corley, curator: I love “unzipped” because it can mean so many different things. It’s ultimately a metaphor for transition — from closed to open, from cluttered to clear, from suppressed to free, from hidden to revealed. The crux of it is that you’re getting rid of things that limit you — as an individual, as a problem solver, or as a member of a team, community, or even a culture.
John Digney, program team: “Unzipped” to me is a pure, simple, and recognizable word that will pique some interest, generate curiosity, and ultimately provide a platform for everything good that is TED and TEDx. From the opening up of minds to the challenging of expectations, the theme will allow us to unveil new approaches, expose opportunities, and reveal uncommon connections as we let go of predictable connotations and look to delight conference participants.
Jake Knight, design team: TEDxGreenville is going to bring an experience where speakers share ways they have gone through transitions or metamorphoses and become something that they didn’t know they could before. In those messages, the audience too will share in a transition, so that by the time they leave the event that afternoon, they’ll feel like they’ve “unzipped” — changed — and become something different that what they were when they walked in the door.
Eddie Smith, program team: A lot of people think about “unzipped” as letting things out. But to me it’s more about the focus you gain by letting your passions out, or giving yourself permission to follow your own passions. When I do that, I find that the work and goals I pursue are more fulfilling, and I naturally tune out all of the other noise that’s so common in our modern, hyper-connected lives.
TimTv, interactive team: Trace any good story or fairy tale. Cinderella has to “unzip” to let out the fairy princess, the ugly ducking has to “unzip” to reveal the beautiful swan. So it’s just latent powers inside of yourself. What brings that out? What helps them come to the surface? That’s our job as TEDx superheroes — it’s to help empower the people. Not by giving them something they don’t have, but by showing them how to tap into something that already exists within them. Removing the obstacles. Parting the clouds. Seeking the way.