TEDxToronto Presenter Application Deadline EXTENDED to May 22nd, 2013!

In the past 5 years, seven of our talks have made it onto TED.com. And one of the key reasons that TEDxToronto has been able to continually deliver amazing talks, performances, and demos is because of the help Torontonians and Canadians have provided in discovering them.

We need your help to ensure we don’t miss someone fresh, amazing, and inspiring.

In addition to great speakers & performers, we’re searching for the city’s most innovative technology demonstrations to take the stage at TEDxToronto. We want to see the revolutionary products & inventions that are making waves in Toronto and beyond.

There are 7 short days left to apply or nominate, if you think you or someone you know would make a great speaker, performer, or provide a great demo, please APPLY TODAY. 

With Spring upon us, it’s a time for fresh news and fresh thinking.

As such, we’re asking for your help in discovering speakers, performers, and demos that should be considered to appear on stage at TEDxToronto 2013.

In the past 5 years that TEDxToronto has been active, seven of our talks have made it onto TED.com. And one of the key reasons that TEDxToronto has been able to continually deliver amazing TEDxTalks is the participation of the Toronto community in the nomination process.

What makes TEDxToronto so different from any other speaker series is its focus on ideas over speakers. While it’s certainly important to engage an audience and communicate an idea clearly, a TEDxTalk really begins not with the Speaker, but with their Big Idea. Case in point is Dr. Joseph Cafazzo who spoke on the subject of self-care at TEDxToronto 2012.

As a team, we canvas far and wide for speakers with a strong Toronto connection, but we need your help to ensure we don’t miss someone brilliant.

If you think you or someone you know would make a great speaker, performer, or provide a great demo, please APPLY TODAY. 

Painting by Lindsay Campbell

Not Far From The Tree’s Founder and Director, Laura Reinsborough, spoke at TEDxToronto 2012. She shared the story of Not Far From The Tree and how it has captured the hearts and imaginations of so many Torontonians, simply by picking fruit.

You’re invited to celebrate with Not Far From The Tree this Friday!

On November 9th, from 7-10 pm, Not Far From The Tree is throwing a bash to celebrate the season gone by. Come party it up at the Centre for Social Innovation in the Annex.

We will be showcasing local artists, pouring plum and sumac beers from the Indie Alehouse and Bellwoods Brewery, awarding amazing raffle prizes, and serving up specialty pies and preserves.

Everyone is invited.

WHY?  Five years of urban fruit-picking, we want to party!

WHAT: Not Far From The Tree’s End of Season Celebration

WHEN: Friday, November 9th from 7-10 pm

WHERE: The Centre for Social Innovation Annex. 720 Bathurst St.

COST: $10

Get your tickets here or buy them at the door.

About Not Far From The Tree

When a homeowner can’t keep up with the abundant harvest produced by their tree, they let us know and we mobilize our volunteers to pick the bounty. The harvest is split three ways: 1/3 is offered to the tree owner, 1/3 is shared among the volunteers, and 1/3 is delivered by bicycle to be donated to food banks, shelters, and community kitchens in the neighbourhood so that we’re putting this existing source of fresh fruit to good use. It’s a win-win-win situation!

It’s the first day of Movember and appropriately, the TEDxToronto 2011 Talk by Adam Gerone, CEO and Founder of the month-long male-cancer awareness & fundraising event, has been selected as the TEDTalk of the day at TED.com.

TED only chooses one talk a day to feature on TED.com from among thousands of annual TED and TEDx Talks worldwide.  We are extremely proud that Adam’s is the sixth TEDxToronto Talk to be featured on TED.com.

Yesterday we posted the first 4 Talks from this year’s TEDxToronto and will continue posting throughout the month.  Before it’s time to shave off all those ‘staches, we’ll have the entire series of 2012 Talks online.  Watch again or for the first time, share, and be inspired by these ideas worth spreading.

As anticipation builds for this year’s conference, we are thrilled to announce our final batch of speakers. TEDxToronto 2012 will take place on Oct. 26 at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.

Angie Draskovic, Founder and CEO of  ZOË Alliance Inc.

Draskovic founded ZOË Alliance in the hopes of leveraging routine economic activity to help developing nations break the cycle of poverty. Through ZOË, companies can “socially source” promotional and merchandise items from village producer groups to build lasting capacity in these communities.

Stéfan Danis, CEO and Chief Talent Officer of Mandrake

With more than 25 years of experience in executive recruiting, Danis is the CEO and Chief Talent Officer of Mandrake, one of Canada’s largest privately-held search firms. Passionate about social responsibility, Danis has run across the Gobi and Atacama deserts to raise funds for unemployed and distressed executives.

Jon Dwyer, Chairman and CEO of Flax Energy

While studying at Ryerson University, Dwyer developed a thesis that investigated agricultural solutions to the food versus fuel dilemma. His research resulted in Flax Energy’s Food, Fuel, Feed model that makes all three components from one agricultural crop. The company, of which Dwyer is Chairman and CEO, uses an 100 percent food-grade, certified cold-press technology that uses no chemicals in the extraction of oil from flax seeds.

Steven Page, Singer and Songwriter

Best known as the co-founder and former lead singer of the Juno-winning Barenaked Ladies, Page has made his mark on the Canadian music scene. Now a solo artist, the singer has three albums under his belt, including The Vanity Project, Page One, A Singer Must Die and A Different Sort of Solitude. 

We’re positive you won’t be disappointed by these speakers, who will speak on the theme of ALCHEMY – the magical process of taking ordinary common elements, usually of little value, and combining them to make something extraordinary, of great value. Join us in welcoming this group of talented Torontonians to TEDxToronto 2012.

Attend TEDxToronto 2012 – Applications close September 17, 2012.