Event will take place Saturday, Sept. 23
By RJ Crowley, Standard Correspondent
TEDxHartlandHill is returning this autumn, under the organizational guidance and discerning eye of Deborah Greene. After her successful foray into bringing TEDx to the greater Woodstock community last year, Greene is even more enthused this time around based upon two things: An impressive lineup of speakers and the wisdom attained through hindsight.
But first — a quick primer, if you will, into the world of TED. The acronym TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design.The mission of TED is to spread ideas — usually in the form of short, powerful talks — called TED talks. It is a global community that welcomes people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world. TED has broadened its focus in recent years to include big ideas on a wider range of topics, such as global issues, business, education, and health.
Over the past 25 years, TED talks have become increasingly popular, and it’s safe to say that TED talks are now the gold standard for presentations.
So, what is the difference between TED and TEDx? Simply put, TEDx events are independently organized (enter Greene) and, although they follow the same general format as TED, TEDx events focus on specific geographic areas.
“Our topic this year is ‘The Art of Living’…you can’t get much simpler than that. What makes our life better, especially coming out of the pandemic?” mused Greene. “I’m bringing people in, nationally, who will share their ideas on that topic. I also brought in some voices from Vermont because there are so many people here in Vermont whose voices should go farther.”
Indeed, this year’s event offers an impressive and diverse lineup of speakers, including:
Agnieszka Pilat, world-renowned, cutting-edge fine artist who paints with her artificial intelligence robot dog, Basia Spot, from Boston Dynamics; Adrian Tans, Woodstock’s Town Smiler chalk artist; Rachel Feldman, director of the upcoming movie “Lilly,” starring Patricia Clarkson, which tells the story of Lilly Ledbetter and her journey to fight for equal pay for women in the United States; Zarina Kopyrina, musician and Siberian shaman; Jen Ellis, a Vermont teacher and crafter who came to fame for “Bernie’s mittens;” Mike Sugarman, an award-winning journalist who awoke from surgery 15 months ago paralyzed; Tomer Cohen, cofounder of Tech2Peace, a program enlisting the behemoths in the tech industry to work towards peace between Palestinians and Israelis; Sonja and Rachel Wasden, bestselling authors and mental health advocates who tell the story of a mother’s survival and learning to thrive with mental illness as part of their family; Jermaine Moore, founder of the Mars Hill Group, who speaks on building cohesive communities in today’s America; Shanta Lee, artist and contributing author of the Vermont Arts Council’s CreateVT Action Plan; Bon Allen, women’s deadlift world record endurance athlete; Rocket, EatVT blogger; and Avi Loeb, head of the astronomy department at Harvard, who is working to release the taboo of pilots reporting what they are seeing in the sky.
Greene is once again utilizing the “campus” at Billings Farm as the venue and there are two viewing options available. The first is to sit in the theatre itself, where the speakers will present from onstage, and the second is to view the event from the Billings Farm Historic Barn, adjacent to the theatre. In fact, purchasing tickets for the Barn has several inherent benefits.
“It’s a huge beautiful open space,” Greene said, referring to the Barn. “All TEDx [events] happen this way. You have limited space in the theatre, and then there is a second, open space where there is a big screen where people — ticket buyers — congregate, with a bird’s eye view. It’s a more casual environment and there’s food and drink available all day, as well as a bar.” Long Trail, anyone?
“We’re also going to have a Q&A with some of the speakers this year, which we didn’t have last year,” Greene continued. “And the Q&A will take place during lunch in the Barn, so the people who have tickets to the Barn are going to already have seating for that.”
Greene, who has worked professionally in the entertainment world as an actress, director and filmmaker has imbued this event with an eye toward gracious and meticulous detail. For example, there will be three different food trucks on hand to ensure that attendees are gastronomically engaged. Billings Farm will have their own food truck available, along with two others: Munchie Bites and Women of the Woods. There will be coffee, tea and water on hand throughout, stationary crudité tables set up in the Barn for noshing purposes, as well as a number of swag bags.
There is also a Garden Party on-site that will serve as a closing event from 4-6 p.m.
TEDxHartlandHill offers “The Art of Living” on Saturday, Sept. 23 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This full day of dynamic speakers is book-ended by two separate yet connected events. There is an opening event on Friday evening, featuring Avi Loeb, the theoretical astrophysicist from Harvard, sponsored by both Artistree and The Woodstock Inn & Resort. Then, on Sunday morning at East End Park, Zarina Copyrina, aka “Snow Raven,” will perform live beginning at 10 a.m.
“I hope people go to the website and watch some of the videos from last year because they’re so engaging,” Greene encouraged, “And it will give everyone a sense of just how dynamic and engaging the speakers can be. I’m really excited to offer this event once again to the community!”
To learn more, and to purchase tickets, go to: TEDxHartlandHill.org.