College News

TEDxSJFC Delivers Strong Community Message

12/07/2011

Approximately 65 people filed into Basil Hall at St. John Fisher College on Monday, December 5, for the College’s first-ever TEDx event – also a first for a local college.

The event was organized and led by students in Professor Kyle Reinson’s Business Communication class, a service-learning course. The theme, “TEDx: Understanding Community,” featured five speakers who focused on what community meant to them and their respective organizations.

Student Joe Tyson served as the event host. Speakers included: Chris Hartman, HeadwaterFoods; Katrina Rex, Neighborworks Rochester; Robert Boyd, faculty member at SUNY Geneseo; Rebecca Priest, St. John’s Home in Rochester; and Tom Proietti, Communication/Journalism professor at Fisher and Monroe Community College. All speakers are service-learning partners of the College.

“The event was tremendously bold and inventive, just to take on. It shows vision and a sense for what is cutting-edge. I was so honored to be part of it,” said Proietti.

Reinson worked closely with the students all semester to make the event a reality. “TEDxSJFC was a success because of our service-learning partners and our Fisher students. I could not think of a more practical way to engage students in the subject than a project that would be about ideas worth spreading."

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. 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.

(From L to R: Professor Tom Proietti, Chris Hartman, Dr. Greg Cunningham, Katrina Rex, Rebecca Priest and Robert Boyd)