LEWISTON — The curious-minded can stop by the Lewiston Public Library on June 27 to catch a glimpse of a live broadcast from Edinburgh, Scotland, and a preview of Maine’s version of the speaker series TED — “Technology Entertainment Design.”
TED began in Silicon Valley in 1984 and spread beyond California in the 1990s and 2000s. Today there are TED events throughout the year and around the globe. Speakers are chosen for their ability to amaze and surprise an audience and are given 18 minutes to make their presentations.
“It’s a multi-disciplinary, brain-candy affair,” said Adam Burk, executive director of TEDxDirigo, the Maine offshoot. “It’s people from all different fields coming at the rather broad themes from different directions. It’s meant to be surprising, introducing you to new ideas.”
The theme of the Edinburgh event is “Radical Openness.” It will feature presentations by quantum physicists, politicians, journalists, musicians and mentalists June 25-29. Registration to attend the event in Scotland costs $6,000. The video stream at the Lewiston library will be free.
“There are 700-some-odd folks gathering in Scotland and experiencing it live and then there’ll be these live offshoot events all over the world through the TEDx network,” Burk said. “We’re offering one of those nodes here in Maine.”
Most of the talks are recorded and made available on the Internet. Many are streamed live.
The TED organization also licenses smaller “TEDx” local groups. TEDxDirigo, the Maine group, has been presenting local conferences for three years. It will show a live stream of the Edinburgh events from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 27, at the library’s Marsden Hartley Cultural Center.
Local organizers are hoping to audition some of the talent for their fall event, TEDxDirigo Villages, scheduled for Oct. 20 at Bates College.
“We’ll be exploring the concept, from our local neighborhoods to the global village to the virtual village and what it means to be on the planet today,” Burk said. “We’ll come at it, true to TED style, from a variety of perspectives.”
Burke said organizers were working through a list of speakers for October, but people interested can try out and audition at the library’s event next week.
“There are around 15 people who have registered for two minutes to give it their all in front of a live audience,” Burk said. “The audience can pick their choice, and we’ll work with that person to bring them back for the fall event.”
Registration for the Oct. 20 event is $100. People can apply for an invitation at the TEDxDirigo Web site, http://tedxdirigo.com.
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