Events

The idea behind TED is simple: spread ideas worth spreading.

On October 13th, we at The Academy will inded spread some ideas worth spreading by hosting our third TEDx event, this one under the theme of “Machines and Minds.” You can learn more about the event at www.TEDxYMCAAcademy.com

TED is huge. Every day, 450,000 log on to the TED site. Here’s an interactive map posted just a couple of days ago to show just how broad TED’s reach has become: http://blog.ted.com/2012/09/28/who-else-is-watching-tedtalks-a-visual-map/

The way it works is pretty simple. Over a few hours, we have some really interesting people deliver a talk on whatever they want, as long as it relates to the theme we’ve chosen. We fill the auditorium at the Central Y then have up to a thousand people or so follow our livestream. Later, we post videos of the event on our site and the TED folks watch these. If they really think that one or two are world-class, they post them on their site and that gives our TEDxYMCAAcademy speaker a chance to be seen not by a thousand people, but potentially by hundreds of thousands.

And that’s how ideas worth spreading actually spread.

We think that education should work more like this. Great ideas should become viral ore easily and not get lost in the constant noise of education battles. That’s one of the amazing things about a TED event – it’s not about point and counterpoint, it’s about a buffet of ideas for the mind. You pick and choose what is to your taste.

We’re pretty confident that the event we’re holding on October 13th will be our best one yet. Over the next few days, we’ll finish loading speaker bios to our site. While the event sold out quickly (the term being used loosely, as the event is free), we’ve had many requests for more tickets. While we’re limited by our capacity, please do show up in the auditorium of the Central Y by 09.45 on the day of the event and we’ll fill any and all empty seats. We’ve always been able to accommodate people who show up at the door.

And between now and then, please do spend some time looking at the TED site, get a sense of the wealth of ideas TED speakers share, and a taste of what you’ll be able to sample and enjoy on the 13th.

See you then!

Don Adams, Head of School

The YMCA Academy’s third TEDx event will examine the relationship between the concepts “machine” and “mind” as they affect our ideas about the diagnosis and treatment of learning disabilities, differentiated instruction, and assistive technologies.

For details, or to register, visit tedxymcaacademy.com

Oct 13th 2012
 9:30am-2:00pm
15 Breadalebane St. 3rd floor, Auditorium of the Central YMCA

As many of you know, one of our new initiatives over the past year has been to establish TEDxYMCAAcademy.  It would not be unrealistic to say that the TED and TEDx series of events have become an important part of our popular culture over the better part of this past decade.  Our friends at TED self-describe TEDx events like this:

TEDx was created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading.”  The program is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level.

At TEDx events, a screening of TEDTalks videos — or a combination of live presenters and TEDTalks videos — sparks deep conversation and connections.  TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis.

As The Academy is a Community School in the truest sense of the word, we love being able to include many of you, our Toronto friends, in our event.  In addition, we livestream each TEDx event, bringing thousands of viewers from around the world, as do the videos from the events that we post on our site. Attending (and, for us, curating) a TEDx event is a lot of fun!

So, our TEDxYMCAAcademy 3.0 (it’s hard to believe that we’re already on our THIRD event!) has the theme “Machines and Minds.”  As is the case with theme-based TEDx events, we leave this open to interpretation – it is designed to be intentionally elastic.

We really hope you join us on October 13th.  Tickets are always free and you can get yours here: machinesandminds.eventbrite.com

We are all looking forward to seeing you there!

Don Adams – Head of School