Even if you didn’t get a ticket, you can still watch all talks and performances live on the TEDxCMU website from http://tedxcmu.com/watch , starting at 10AM EST on Sunday, April 3rd.

“Part conference, part revolution.”  This year, CMU explores the “impossible,” and asserts that hardships and challenges are what society thrives on.  Speakers have been asked to explore challenges in their lives and how they were turned into opportunities.  This year’s line up includes an incredible mix of 9 speakers and performers:  a chief mad scientist, a medical mystery man, a marketing genius, a design guru, and talented musicians, among others.

Last spring’s “Fearless” event was truly incredible, and this year’s looks equally awesome. I’ll personally be tuning into the live webcast from Beijing!

-Suzanne

Harry Potter fans (and to those Dursely’s out there) — we’ll be learning the game of quidditch! (yes there’s a playable muggle version on brooms) Speaking during the “plays” section will be Quidditch Club Pittsburgh who incidentally are ranked fourth in the world.

Here’s a quick bio:

Currently the 4th best team…in the world. Last fall, they headed to “quidditch country,” where they competed against more than 20 teams in the 2009 IQA World Cup at Middlebury. Caped entertainers juggled flaming batons and chanted spells while 500 spectators watched Pitt land in the Final Four, the only first-year team to do so.

The captain of Pitt’s team, John Battaglia, started playing quidditch in high school after he and some friends discovered online videos of game play and the IQA’s official rule book. Battaglia, a junior majoring in business as well as politics and philosophy, was hooked by both the athleticism and ridiculousness of the sport, a hybrid of handball, dodge ball, and literature come to life. In the spring of 2009, he discovered other quidditch enthusiasts—this time at Pitt. They built a team by recruiting friends, Potter fans, athletes, and curious onlookers. Now, they spend Sunday afternoons on the lawn, running drills, practicing aim, inventing strategies, and mystifying passersby. The team is currently defending their honor at the 2010 IQA World Cup in NYC. Go Pitt!

The event will be on November 14th, from 12:00 – 6:00pm in the Public Health Auditorium on Pitt’s campus. You’ll find speakers ranging from esoteric activities that have sprung up (no snitching if you know), lessons from conflicts and stories from people (and a variety of breakfast-themes), and stories of communicating across and beyond standard boundaries (east meets west meets elimination of binaries). Come, meet, be entertained.

We ask that people register so that we have a sense of how many people are coming (so we don’t exceed the room’s capacity), so we can gauge the audience (and come up with interesting activities), and so we can print nametags. Tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell anyone you think would be interested!

Register Here!

Be excited! (We are)

You can view the videos here.

Happy summertime!

Special thanks to Stephen Dewhurst for being our official event photographer.

We removed all personal information and just kept the numbers.

The average TEDxUniPittsurgh registrant had the following stats:
STRENGTH: 6.06
DEXTERITY: 5.12
ARTISTIC SKILLS: 5.97
COMPUTING SKILLS: 5.26
INTELLIGENCE: 7.08
CHARISMA: 7.49

As you can see, we’re an intelligent and charismatic bunch with just slightly above-average dexterity.

Also send your thoughts and experiences from the event to info@TEDxUniPittsburgh.com.

If you weren’t at the event, here’s a super-quick recap of the afternoon:

• NEW Experiences
• DESIGNING Experiences
• HAVING Experience

It was held in the Randy Pausch Interdisciplinary Studio at CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center. We had over 100 guests in attendance.

Our host, Michael Capristo, introduced roboticist Marek Michalowski. Marek gave a talk entitled The Dance of Social Interaction.

We then watched our first TED Talk video of the day, Derek Sivers, How To Start A Movement:

Continuing the New Experiences session, Jesse Schell spoke about education in The Future Is Beautiful.

Then we had a SURPRISE speaker, David Newell, better known as Mr. McFeely of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. He gave an inspiring talk about Fred Rogers and the New Experiences involved in that revolutionary educational program.

Our second TED Talk video was Tom Wujec, Bulid A Tower, Build A Team.

The ETC students were represented well by The Yume Project. On stage were four of the five team members: Christine Barnes, Mike Honeck, Andy Ping Li, and David Teot. Their other team member, Yan Lin, was unavailable for the event. They presented the results of their semester’s work.

J.D. Whitewolf followed with the talk Designing Experiences: How The Brain Works (And What To Do About It!).

After the surprise we watched our final TED Talk video, Jane McGonigal, Gaming Can Make A Better World.

Our final speaker of the day was Daniel Szecket with his talk Jumping In: Choosing vs. Deciding.

Gregory Lehane | Mary Rawson | Tammy Ryan

To conclude the day, we had a one-act play called DINKS. The play was written by Tammy Ryan, directed by Marci Woodruff, and starred Mary Rawson and Gregory Lehane.

But wait, there was one more surprise…

Some lucky people in the audience had a golden ticket in their programs. They each won a book that was donated by O’Reilly books.

See what people have been saying after the event. #TEDxUniPgh

And good luck with your lottery tickets. If you win something please let us know. We want to celebrate with you.

Check back soon for videos and pictures of the event. In the meantime, see what people are tweeting!