TEDx is coming to Idaho Falls.

TEDx is coming to Idaho Falls.

12 Speakers will be presenting at the event

Many of us are familiar with TED talks from the internet — videos of dynamic speakers giving entertaining short talks about new ideas. TEDx talks are local versions, and the speakers are getting right now for the upcoming event.

“We actually started out with 72 applicants this year and it was our job to narrow that down. We invited 27 to audition and we have 12 speakers,” speaker coach Maija Liisa Adams said.

So who would want to spend an afternoon listening to a bunch of speakers?

“If you like hearing new and unusual ideas, then this is the place to come,” Adams said. “If you like thinking about ideas and sharing ideas and discussing where it could take you, then this is the place for you.”

There’s a wide variety of ideas that both teach and entertain, like the process of developing a new Pocatello city flag after the current one was made fun of as the ugliest flag in America by a TED speaker a few years ago.

“So we were the butt of the joke at the end of his TED Talk,” speaker Logan McDougall said. “They saw that. We went through the process of getting the new flag, and now it kind of wraps up in a way with a TEDx talk.”

Another talk is entitled, “The Power of Totality: Eclipse Moments.”

“Everyone had a common view of the world for a moment in time just because of science,” Museum of Idaho Director, Karen Baker said. “How can we learn from that experience? How can we go further, and how can we have these moments without an eclipse?”

Craig Osborn addresses the topic, “Creating authentic connections one question at a time.”

“About human connection, but specifically how I connected with my family by simply asking one question a week and having everyone answering that question, giving us the opportunity to understand one another, and gain perspective into each other’s lives,” Osborn said.

So, while most of us will probably not be involved in designing a city flag, or be a beekeeper, or ride in a coast to coast bike race, here’s a chance to hear from people who have done those things, and perhaps to learn something new and be entertained at the same time.

The TEDx event will be held Saturday, March 10 between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Colonial Theater in Idaho Falls . Details can be found at www.tedxidahofalls.com.