TEDxPurdueU speakers share 'Tear up the Box'

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – TEDxPurdueU, Purdue's independently organized TED conference, will host its fifth annual flagship event 2-9 p.m. Saturday (April 9) in Loeb Playhouse.

The theme of TEDxPurdueU 2016 is "Tear up the Box." The theme means it's not enough to just think outside the box, tear it up! Leave the box of convention forever changed for everyone as well as yourself. Tearing up the box is about escaping mediocrity wherever it is found.

The event features eight speakers and performers from the Purdue community and beyond, including:

* Bryan Pijanowski - "Global Soundscapes: A Mission to Record the Earth."

* Bryce Carlson - "Adapting and Becoming."

* Cheryl Cooky - "Real Impact of Decreasing Coverage of Women's Sports."

* Chuck Dietzen - "Maverick Medicine."

* Dave Kieser - founder and president, Midwest Food Bank.

* Emily Fogle – "Vulnerability."

* James Byler - Purdue alumnus, retired Marine, Purple Heart recipient, veteran.

* Jill Suitor – "Do Mothers Have A Favorite Child?"

* Jim Miller - "From Purdue to Google, What a long strange journey it has been."

* Juan Wachs - "Wisdom in Our Hands: What Gestures Tell About Our Intention."

* Kap Tafifi - Samoan fire knife dancer.

* Maryam Ghadiri - "Iran: From A Different Lens."

* Mikel Berger - "Redeeming Entrepreneurship."

* Taimane - "Extraordinary Hawaiian Ukulelist."

* Ted Ullrich - "Why Having a Hybrid Skill Set Makes You Unhireable."

* Tim Newton - Host/MC

Doors open at 1:30 p.m. and the conference begins at 2. There will be three sessions of talks divided by networking and dinner breaks. Following the conference, a special post-event reception will be held for speakers and attendees at in the Anvil, 320 North St., West Lafayette.

Tickets for TEDxPurdueU are available at http://tedxpurdueu.com/ or the Hall of Music Box Office, and cost $15 for students and $25 for the general public.

TEDxPurdueU can be followed on Twitter @TEDxPurdueU and on Facebook.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark discussion and connection in a small group. These events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to "ideas worth spreading." Starting as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support 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 former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs, California. The annual TEDGlobal conference is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily; the recently launched TED-Ed platform for students and educators; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide; and TEDBooks, short e-books by speakers that elaborate on a single idea originally presented on TED's stage. 

Contacts: Grace Cho, TEDxPurdueU Marketing Chair, 919-995-1669, cho184@purdue.edu

Abby Eddy, Purdue Convocations director of marketing, 765-494-9712, aeeddy@purdue.edu