|
Dear Ideators,
Speaker applications are now open for TEDxNormal 2025 happening on April 5, 2025 from 9am-12pm at Heartland Community College. It's the 10th anniversary of TEDxNormal in central Illinois and we're excited to bring together everyone whose life has been changed by being a part of this extraordinary community. As a nod to the original tagline, this year's theme is "Still Anything But Normal!"
As I reflect on what it means to be still anything but normal, I see a theme of continuing to challenge the status quo. It's a refusal to settle for broken tools, processes, and systems because we've always done it this way. It's a true adventure of curiosity and innovation. The world is full of pressure to mass produce, standardize, and quantify life into predictable outcomes. How can we keep making space for new ideas in a risk-averse environment?
Here are some questions about our community that I'd love to hear about:
- How did we get so much farmland here, and where have all the beavers gone?
- What is "Bloomington beige?"
- Is it true that Veteran's Parkway is shaped the way it is because State Farm predicted that cars would travel 100mph?
- Who decides if a historic building is worth saving?
- Why are there so many subdivisions around here?
- How are the sewers holding up these days?
- How much art is here, actually?
- What do our new residents like to do for fun?
- Are we ever going to get high speed rail? Does it matter anymore?
- Will Trader Joe's ever open a store here?
- What can be done to make flying out of CIRA more attractive?
If you've got an idea about any of that (or know someone who does), speaker applications are open until December 15, 2024. We are especially interested in Talks that relate to the TED categories of: Technology, Art & Entertainment, and Social Sciences. The application takes a few minutes to complete. Be prepared to tell us a little bit about you and upload a short video explaining your idea.
| 
