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TEDx, an event that is planned and coordinated independently on a community-by-community basis, will be coming to the PCC campus and will feature speakers from several different facets of the world this coming fall.

The event is being hosted by the TEDxPCC club on campus and is expected to attract about a thousand attendees. While TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is known for the conferences held on a global level, TEDx is known for holding events at the local level to fulfill TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading.”

After being inspired by attending other TEDx conferences, organizers of the campus event developed the theme, “Expanding Horizons of Understanding,” which is based on the idea that all individuals have a shared experience.

“Behind our theme is the idea that we are the sum of our human experiences and sometimes, the problems we have in this world is the lack of understanding between people,” said Eric Espinosa, organizer of the event. “Once we start to share our experiences and show who we are as people to each other, we then expand our horizons of understanding. Once we do that, we grow as individuals.”

For Renee Shaw, co-organizer of the event, TEDxPCC is an opportunity to showcase what the PCC student body is capable of doing.

“We are some of the few students who are doing an event of this size,” said Shaw. “That is one of the beautiful things that PCC has to offer to the TED community, it can show that anyone can have these ideas, it’s just a matter of commitment and creativity.”

While organizers are unable to the reveal names of any speakers participating in the event, they are looking to get some well-known individuals.

“Everything is definitely in the planning process, but we are looking to have some pretty headline names,” said Espinosa. “We are hitting musicians, entrepreneurs, leading scientists, poets, people in the entertainment industry, environmentalists, people from all facets of the world.”

Because this is an event run solely by students, John Wood, adviser for the club, sees it as an opportunity to gain real-world experience.

“It’s not just people putting on an event, it’s a learning opportunity for students that is rich, and taking on something this challenging.” Wood said. “This large of a project is the kind of thing that you learn mammoth amounts from.”

TEDxPCC, which has been in the works since January, is expected to take place in early November in the Sexson Auditorium and will be a day-long event.

Event organizers are preparing to keep attendees entertained from the main events taking place throughout the day to everything else in between.

“We want to bring a world-class conference to a world-class college,” Espinosa said.

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