California Lutheran University will be hosting a TEDx conference at Hub101 in Westlake Village, CA on Oct. 6. The conference will be open to the community and will start at 9:30 a.m.

“We wanted this to be a celebration of the students and staff on campus,” co-organizer and senior Greg Hovhanessian said.

According to the TED website, TED is a nonprofit organization that was started in 1984 as a conference where technology, entertainment and design converged.

TEDx is an independent community event that helps bring people together, to share a Ted-like experience. The ‘x’ in TEDx represents the fact that each conference is an independently organized TED event.

“There will be 10 speakers at the event,” said junior Rose Soiland, chief marketing manager of the TEDx conference. “We are valuing quality over quantity when it comes to our speakers.”

The theme of the conference is “outside the box” and those working on the project said they have encouraged the speakers to “introduce new ways of thinking.”

The requirements for selecting a guest speaker included sending in a three-minute video of what their speeches were about and the application. Two of the speakers selected to be part of the lineup are Cal Lutheran staff members.

“We thought this was appropriate because of TEDx’s constant encouragement of innovation,” Soiland said.

Greg Monterrosa, community relations manager at Hub101 and the Center for Entrepreneurship, said the conference is student-run and gives students the opportunity to create a legacy event for the future.

“I think that hosting an event like this is a great experience for the students,” said Mike Panesis, the faculty adviser overseeing the event.

Hovhanessian said the event was originally going to occur the past spring semester, but never happened because of several obstacles and because Scott Silverman, former assistant dean of students and director of Student Life, left Cal Lutheran.

Silverman and Hovhanessian were part of the original group who tried to bring TEDx to Cal Lutheran.

After Silverman stepped down, the license for the conference was handed over to Hovhanessian. The transfer renewed the license and gave the team an extra year to host the event.

“I was looking at going to a TED event and then I realized how expensive it can be, so I decided to host,” Hovhanessian said.

The application process was similar to a college application, Hovhanessian said.

Once the application is completed, TED gives directions about what can and cannot be done regarding the event. The license to host the event is free.

“They have expectations and recommendations for you to follow, but other than that they offer no other help,” Hovhanessian said. 

Panesis said that Hub101 has reached out to the organizers from TEDx events in Santa Barbara and Conejo Valley for advice on the process of putting on this event.

“We want this to be for the students first. We want them to come, listen to the speakers and talk about it to each other and how it might have an impact on their personal lives,” Panesis said.

Volunteer opportunities are available on the day of the event and Monterrosa said that it might be a great alternative for someone who may not be able to purchase a ticket.

Tickets and volunteer information can be found on the TEDxCalLutheran page on the Cal Lutheran website.

Vianca Castaneda-Correa
Reporter