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TEDxJacksonville Conference to return to Downtown this fall at new venue

TEDxYouth@Jacksonville volunteers with TEDxJacksonville student engagement team volunteer Allishia Bauman (LtoR: Joshua Obeeres, Gokul Madathil, Esperanza Bauman, Donovan Arnold, Allishia Bauman, Fatima Jalloh, Trinity Webster-Bass and Eesha Reddy). (Tiffany Manning/TEDxJacksonville)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – COVID canceled a lot last year, including our chance to hear local TEDx speakers share their innovative ideas live on stage. But they’re back this fall in a new Downtown Jacksonville venue.

And you still have time to be one of them!

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If you’ve got an idea that the world just HAS to know, pitch it to the TEDxJacksonville team. They’re accepting applications for speakers and musical performers for the annual conference, which celebrates its 10th year in 2021.

Applications can be submitted online and the application window will remain open until June 30.

This year’s TEDxJacksonville Conference will be Saturday, Oct. 23, and the event will be at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts for the first time.

TEDxJacksonville’s conference was last staged at The Florida Theatre in 2019, and the 2020 conference was postponed because of the pandemic.

“We can’t wait to return to Downtown Jacksonville at an exciting new venue in the Times-Union Center,” said Sabeen Perwaiz, the lead organizer and licensee for TEDxJacksonville. “We receive incredible applications every year — and we know the world is ready for the next big ideas.”

The TEDxJacksonville team will work with the Times-Union Center to ensure a safe conference for attendees in accordance with CDC guidelines, the organization said.

In 2020, Perwaiz succeeded founder Doug Coleman as the official licensee with TED for the Jacksonville-based organization. Perwaiz has served on the volunteer leadership team since its founding in 2012. She has volunteered in the roles of co-organizer and executive producer and now takes on the role as lead organizer and licensee for TEDxJacksonville. Perwaiz also serves as Executive Director for the Florida Nonprofit Alliance.

Now in its 10th year since its founding as TEDxRiversideAvondale, TEDxJacksonville put on its first youth conference early in 2020 — with six speakers from Duval County Public Schools sharing their talks at the Florida Blue Conference Center in early March 2020.

TEDxJacksonville and TEDxYouth@Jacksonville talks are produced locally and spread globally via the TEDxTalks YouTube channel with more than 30 million subscribers.

Applications for the conference may be submitted online here: http://tedxjacksonville.com/apply-to-speak/.


About the Author
Francine Frazier headshot

A Jacksonville native and proud University of North Florida alum, Francine Frazier has been with News4Jax since 2014 after spending nine years at The Florida Times-Union.

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