Do you know how to tie your shoes properly?
How about ways to conserve freshwater systems or treat disabilities with musical therapy?
From the informational to the heartrending to the comical, TED conferences have for years offered a window into the lives and work of people across the world.
On Saturday hundreds of Chattanoogans joined in that global conversation by packing an auditorium at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. While there has been a TEDxUTChattanooga, this was the first ever TEDxChattanooga conference.
Experts from the most diverse range of fields imaginable took the stage one after the other to speak about experiences, lifting the veil a little for more than 500 Chattanoogans who laughed, sighed and listened along.
The TED conference, an acronym for Technology, Entertainment and Design, got its start in 1984, and its entire mission is to invite people of all kinds to shed light on “Ideas worth spreading.” Under that umbrella, pretty much any educational topic is considered fair game.
The eclectic list of speakers at the independently organized TED event on Saturday was no different, offering thoughts from a comedian, a high school senior, and a biosafety evangelist who said the modern world should embrace genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.
Dr. Elaine Swafford, executive director of Chattanooga Girl’s Leadership Academy, was one of the very first speakers. She explained, to rapturous applause, how restructuring educational systems can lead to dramatic academic improvement. She said she made the unpopular decision to organize CGLA on a business model, and that made a huge difference.
“Businesses aren’t allowed to operate at a loss,” she said. “Schools shouldn’t either.”
She said poor student performance is typically the fault of administrators and faculty, not students. The solution, she said, is for educators to identify root problems and pursue real, workable solutions.
“We teach, we preach, we care, we mentor,” she said.
Another Chattanoogan who has dedicated his life to an issue of social justice, Jerry Redman, CEO of Second Life Chattanooga, spoke pointedly about sex trafficking in Tennessee.
“A heart moved by this is simply not enough,” he said. “We have to become strategic with our passion.”
Redman said trafficking is a $9.5 billion industry in the U.S. but he believes it is absolutely possible to bring that industry to a grinding halt if citizens stand together and reject complacency.
He said, “This is literally a life and death issue and we have to get our thinking and our action right.”
At the very other end of the spectrum of speakers, self-described “bio-hacker” Cole Montalvo explained the many uses of bacteria and encouraged listeners to not put their fingers in their ears whenever they hear genetically modified organisms mentioned.
He extolled the many benefits society stands to enjoy through continued work in genetics. He pointed to products already being made, such as compostable clothing made from bacteria, as examples of creations that could change the world for the better.
Montalvo said even “vegan cheese” is a real possibility.
Audience member Katie Jones, a UTC graduate student studying athletic training, said Swafford’s presentation was “an interesting thought because schools are failing all over, and you can run it like a business and turn it around.”
But Jones was interested in several talks and was glad there was “such a wide variety of stuff.”
An event organizer, Laura Cagle, said she considered the event a success and credited that to the cooperation of community members who helped steer it from the beginning of its planning stages. She said the support has been tremendous as have the results.
“We sold out 500 seats,” she said. “It’s fantastic.”
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.