Julie Ann Grimm
"If you have never heard of TEDx, you need better friends," says Bill Meador.
That's the way the director of community partnerships for the independently organized TEDx ABQ event set up his brief instructions about accessing videos to thousands of talks in cities around the world on technology, entertainment and design —and everything in between.
But the more than 2,000 people who packed Popejoy Hall on the University of New Mexico campus for Saturday's event didn't need to depend on YouTube. Speakers gave short, explosive and evocative lectures that left at times left the crowd gasping, crying, laughing, and most importantly, thinking.
Santa Fe's own Jakub Svec kicked off the day by introducing a tiny nickel plate that stores information through itsy bitsy engraving—so small that it can squeeze the entire King James Bible onto a space smaller than a dime. Svec, a graduate of Monte del Sol High School, says that unlike microfilm or digital storage, the technology by the NanoRosetta company will preserve information for 10,000 years.
Also in the lineup was Charles McMillan, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, who says the importance of math and science education for the very young can't be underestimated.
"The decisions of a fifth grader affect national security," McMillian says, driving home the idea that the community has to encourage involvement in those brainy subject areas to make sure there are people ready tomorrow to replace the scientists of today.
Check our future TEDx ABQ events including a salon on local food systems Oct. 2, a women's event in December, an education program in February and a sustainability series in April.
For more info on TEDx ABQ click here.
