Arlington Heights woman brings TEDx talks to Northwest Suburbs for first time
Long a fan of the popular TED Talks online, Donna Marie Post of Arlington Heights looked to the discussion platform as a way to bring her community back together coming out of the pandemic.
Now having secured a license with the New York- and Vancouver-based TED Talks nonprofit organization, Post is busy organizing and curating a local version of the ideas conference, set for Oct. 7 at Rolling Green Country Club in Arlington Heights.
It's believed to be the first TEDx event in the Northwest suburbs.
"I've always been a really passionate community connector and a quick start," said Post, a training and development manager. "I've always been one to see if there's an opportunity for a way to bring community together for a shared event around a shared idea."
The inaugural invite-only conference for up to 100 in Arlington Heights is scheduled the day after a larger TEDxChicago event at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park - among some 3,000 independently run events that use the TED branding under license agreements. Similar groups have hosted events in Naperville, Wilmette and Oak Park, where Post connected with organizers when she lived in nearby Forest Park.
Post applied for a license on her own late last year. She's since assembled a team of 22 volunteers to help put on the event, more than a dozen businesses who are sponsors, and a lineup of eight speakers of varying ages, backgrounds and experiences.
They will each speak from anywhere between 8 and 15 minutes on topics ranging from education and the humanities to life and career.
"Our program is about spreading the idea. So we're not really choosing, for example, the speaker or their background and how long they've spoken or the experience that they have," Post said. "Our TEDxArlington Heights is strictly about the idea - is it an amazing idea that fits our theme, which is 'Light a Fire.'"
The lineup features Tony Bradburn, the director for diversity, equity and inclusion in Northwest Suburban High School District 214; Olympic medalist Deena Kastor; boudoir photographer Liz Hansen; nonprofit organization strategist Janine Hill; speech-language pathologist Kristin Chmela; Nicholas Pearce, a clinical professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management; Erin Huizenga, CEO and co-founder of learning experience design company Desklight; and Truman Post, the event organizer's middle schooler who cowrote a children's book and volunteers in the community.
"As a woman of color of Asian descent, (it's important) that we really do everything around amplifying diverse voices, ideas and organizations in our community," Donna Marie Post said. "And since it's on the TEDx stage, it gives the opportunity to spread globally."
Under the first-year license with TED, the Arlington Heights event's capacity is limited, but organizers plan to record the speeches and show them during a community viewing party in the spring at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library.
They also plan to reapply to TED in order to make the conference an annual event and welcome more attendees.
"Our goal is, let's make it great so that we can grow," Post said. "But we have to do it well this year. And we're going to. We're committed to. We're going to light a fire."