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TEDx conference brings speakers to Naperville

The thrill of stepping out of the ordinary and venturing into a usually-off-limits realm is not just for schoolchildren packed into an adventure-bound bus.

Some 350 adults will explore places such as Fermilab, Argonne National Laboratory and the Homeland Security Training Institute at College of DuPage during the morning portion of the seventh TEDxNaperville conference Friday, Nov. 4.

"Think of it as a field trip for adults," said Arthur Zards, founder and curator of TEDxNaperville.

When they convene at Community Christian Church's Yellow Box auditorium in Naperville in the afternoon, ticketholders will hear from about 15 speakers on disparate topics designed to spark imagination, encourage discussion and provoke thought.

"Our unifying theme is exposure - exposure to ideas and different ways of thinking," said Walt Henry, TEDxNaperville marketing director.

The talks each go from three to 18 minutes in length and can address a multiplicity of issues and ideas.

"You don't really know what they're going to talk about," Zards said. "That's by design. That's the TED model."

TEDxNaperville is an independently organized event, one of about 15,000 TEDx events to date, that sprouted from the TED talks started in California in 1984.

"It really stems from TED, a nonprofit organization formed to spread ideas and share ideas," Henry said. "It started around technology, entertainment and design but branched out to be much more than that."

This year's eclectic collection of speakers includes an FBI-trained hostage negotiator, Grammy-winning singer Peter Himmelman and former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. The six-hour afternoon conference also will introduce the audience to scientists and drug counselors, as well as Mike Byster, a "mental mathematician," and Roger Anderson, who bills himself as a "telemarketer interceptor."

Josh Stumpenhorst, learning commons director at Lincoln Junior High School and 2012 Illinois Teacher of the Year, is one of the speakers. As an educator, he said, he does a lot of public speaking. This is his first time at TEDx.

"There's a challenge to it because it's shorter than a typical keynote," he said, soon after a rehearsal session timed his talk at about 16 minutes.

Without divulging too much about his message, Stumpenhorst said he plans to talk about unconventional solutions to problems in education, or what he calls "the new teacher revolution," which is also the title of his 2015 book.

He said his talk is not scripted, he doesn't use a teleprompter and his appearance on stage is visually punctuated by just a few projected images.

"I'm just telling a story," he said. "It's the story of kids. It's the story of education."

Zards said the conference experience is intended to be unlike any other conference, with few breaks and no tables stocked with brochures.

"We're very experiential. You don't have the time to check your phone, you don't have the time to have a cigarette break. It's energetic, all these different things going on," he said.

A longtime fan of TED talks, Zards said he is licensed by TED to curate the TEDx talks. With that license comes an obligation to abide by TED rules, such as keeping the presentations brief.

Another TED rule requires that a video of a TED talk be shown at the conference.

Last year, he said, the conference screened a talk by Roman Mars on flag design. Though they weren't present at the conference, six Neuqua Valley High School students were inspired by seeing that same talk online to launch a proposed redesign of the Naperville city flag.

Enlisting the help of city officials, business owners and community organizations, their quest resulted in a contest that yielded 131 entries. Though not approved by city officials at this point, a winner was selected through a public online vote and will be revealed at TEDxNaperville.

All the TEDx speakers appear on a volunteer basis, with no compensation aside from reimbursement for travel expenses, Zards said. He said a 63-person team of unpaid volunteers help him present the event.

He said the Yellow Box auditorium can seat 1,200, but organizers are limiting the crowd size to 600 to create a more intimate experience.

Henry said the Naperville church provides an ideal backdrop, with its theater-style seating, video screens and sound system.

"It's actually a beautiful venue," he said.

The crowd typically includes a mix of senior-level executives, business owners and students.

"Last year we sold out," Henry said.

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