Until last year, the Union Activities Board had hosted an annual TEDx talk on campus as a way to allow students to hear from a variety of speakers on a broad range of topics. The event scheduled for last March was “temporarily postponed for a later date” according to the UAB website.
This hiatus proved to be permanent however when the Union Activities Board announced that TUFFtalks would be taking its place.
“It’s a lot more sustainable for us to keep it in house,” explained Cassie Brinkman, event organizer and chair of the UAB Issues and Ideas Committee.
The TEDx events come with several restrictions on naming presentations, cooperative events, branding, programming and funding. While according to Brinkman, no particular restriction was a primary cause for the decision to drop TEDx, it was felt that more freedom was required.
“We wanted it to be more student and faculty focused,” Brinkman said.
This new focus is initially difficult to discern. Students who enjoyed the TEDx talks previously will certainly get a similar experience in this new event, with even cosmetic details like the name creating obvious parallels. The primary change appears to be an increased freedom in selecting speakers, with a specific focus on NC State and Raleigh.
The list of speakers includes Maggie Kane, who will speak about her new restaurant, A Place at the Table which offers “pay what you want” options, as well as Kalysha Clark who will speak on Poverty in College, and Kari Lewis, with a talk on the relationship between Physical and Mental Health.
The previous TEDx guidelines may have prevented some of these speakers, as well as potential for greater student focus. The new program appears to weigh heavily in favor of advice for students, which may disappoint those who prefer hearing about science and technology, though this emphasis was already apparent in previous years.
“We’re hoping this will be our new annual speaker event and we’re really excited about that,” Brinkman said.
TUFFtalks will be held in the Talley Student Union Feb. 6 at 1 p.m. Check the Union Activities Board website for more details.
